Flooding in Pakistan

Updated: 19 October 2010

Pakistan's floods in August have been described by the UN as the worst humanitarian crisis in recent history. More than 1,750 people were killed and 20 million people affected - more than a tenth of the population. Villages were submerged and bridges, roads and communication lines washed away, hampering the aid effort.  

Long and short-term help is needed. Many parts of the country were inaccessible and between 3.5 and six million children are at risk from water-borne diseases such as diarrhoea and cholera. The disaster zone stretches from the Hunza Valley in the north to Sindh in the south.

How is WaterAid helping people affected by the floods?

So far, WaterAid and our partners have provided life-saving support to 7,300 families (51,100 people) living in the worst affected areas. The first phase of our response was primarily to provide relief to the displaced communities focusing on drinking water, sanitation and hygiene services. The second phase will be to continue our efforts towards the rehabilitation of drinking water sources, and sanitation and hygiene facilities.

We are supporting our local partners in the following activities:

Hygiene kits: 
7,300 families have been provided with hygiene kits consisting of soaps, toothbrushes, toothpaste, combs, nail cutters, towels, sanitary cloth, cloth for filtering water, water purification tablets and a water vessel (lota).
 
Low cost latrines:
280 simple latrines have been set up so people have somewhere safe and private to go to the toilet.

Health and hygiene sessions:
144 hygiene sessions have been held to reduce the spread of scabies, eye infections and diarrhoea and other widespread diseases such as respiratory tract infections, skin infections and malaria. The importance of hand-washing with soap and latrine use is highlighted and personal hygiene is discussed. Hygiene messages will be broadcasted on the local FM Radio. In the rehabilitation phase, families will be assisted in building temporary latrines.

Dissemination of Information, Education and Communication (IEC) material:
IEC material with hygiene messages will be disseminated among the affected people who will be asked to adopt and deliver these messages to others. 

Drinking water tankers:
20 units of clean drinking water has been provided through tankers.

Emergency water purification and hydration: 278,000 water purification tablets and 3000 oral rehydration sachets have been distributed. 

Assessment and rehabilitation of drinking water supply schemes:
A technical and social assessment of drinking water supply schemes is being carried out. Based on this assessment, water sources at the communal level will be rehabilitated. Dewatering (pumping out contaminated water), chlorination and aqua tabs techniques will be used to address drinking water quality.

WaterAid will also continue to:

• Encourage partners to mobilise volunteer groups to support affected communities.
• Encourage those partners who are well connected with local authorities as well as the water, sanitation and hygiene clusters to keep up-to-date and coordinate the support given to other local agencies.
• Share information via WaterAid's Technical Support Unit on water disinfection, sanitation and hygiene with partners and affected people.

WaterAid recognises that a natural disaster of this scale requires agencies and organisations to join together in their response. In Pakistan, WaterAid will continue to engage with other national and international agencies involved in the disaster response to provide technical expertise and advice on water, sanitation and hygiene, where possible. We are in close touch with our staff and partners in Pakistan and they will be continuously assessing what contribution WaterAid can usefully make to the relief effort, through supporting the work of the national authorities and international disaster relief agencies in the area.

The images shown here were captured in the immediate aftermath and do not depict the current situation.

How can supporters help?

Supporters can make a contribution to WaterAid' work in Pakistan by calling +44 (0)20 7793 4594.