Unprecedented Floods Affect 20 Million in Pakistan

Pakistan has been hit by the worst flooding in its history, with an estimated 20 million people affected. Monsoons have swept away homes, bridges, and roads, leaving millions displaced and in need of immediate assistance.

“The situation is truly catastrophic,” says Nan Dale, Executive Director of Action Against Hunger’s U.S. headquarters. “Survivors are in desperate need of clean water and sanitation, so our focus is on these areas. We’ll also be helping families whose lives have been turned upside down recover their livelihoods.”

Active in Pakistan since 2005, Action Against Hunger | ACF International is appealing for urgent funding for our immediate and long-term response in hard-hit areas, including the northwestern region of the country and Sindh province.

Providing Emergency Water & Sanitation

With water and sanitation sources completely destroyed in many areas, people have been forced to drink contaminated floodwater that can cause disease. Our first priority is to contain the spread of deadly water-borne illnesses while we work to rehabilitate water networks and distribution systems.

ACF’s field teams will provide access to clean water through water trucking, repair water points, disinfect contaminated sources, and distribute purification tablets. Our emergency response will also include constructing emergency latrines and public sanitation facilities, distributing thousands of hygiene kits, organizing hygiene promotion campaigns, and helping communities clear the streets of rubble and debris.

Bolstering Food Security & Livelihoods

Millions of families have lost everything—homes, livestock, crops, and their only sources of income. Action Against Hunger’s teams are planning “cash-for-work” programs to help families regain their livelihoods and will distribute household items to people left with nothing. As part of our recovery efforts, we will provide vouchers to purchase basic necessities and micro-grants for restarting small businesses.

Action Against Hunger launched its very first humanitarian intervention 30 years ago for Afghan refugees who crossed into Pakistan. We subsequently returned to the country to address food and water insecurity across its southern and western provinces in the 1990’s , and more recently provided emergency assistance after the 2005 earthquake and the 2007 flooding in Sindh province.