Real lives

2008 Floods in Pakistan

© UNICEF/PAKA/Paradela

More than 2 million people have been affected by the floods provoked by four days of heavy rains after cyclone Yemyin hit the provinces of Balochistan and Sindh in the southwest of Pakistan during June this year. Many areas have been cut off due to rising water. 

In Balochistan, the most affected districts are Kech, Jhal Magsi, Bolan, Jaffarabad, Khuzdar, Sibi and Lasbella.  In Sindh, districts Dadu, Jacobabad and Kambar are the worst affected by floods.

As part of the UN team’s immediate response to the floods emergency, UNICEF started dispatching supplies including tents, UNIMIX (food supplement for children and women), health kits, toilet slabs, jerry cans, water bladders, water purification tablets, tarpaulin sheets and baby blankets etc. to the flood-affected areas. UNICEF supply of emergency items continues to these areas and efforts to minimize harm to children and women is top priority.

UN Flash Appeal with UNICEF component

Islamabad, 19 July 2007 - The United Nations launched a USD 38 million Flash Appeal on 19 July in Geneva to assist hundreds of thousands of people in southwest Pakistan struggling to survive widespread flooding in the aftermath of cyclone Yemyin, which ravaged Balochistan and Sindh in late June.

An estimated 2.5 million people have been affected by the flooding which followed four days of drenching cyclonic rains leaving 296 people dead, 195 missing and over 377,000 people displaced. While some have found sanctuary with friends and relatives, others are living in school buildings, or in improvised roadside shelters enduring scorching heat, dust storms and severe deprivation.

UNICEF’s share of the UN Flash Appeal is 6.3 million dollars for the children and women affected by the floods. With this amount, UNICEF is planning to continue providing safe water to the displaced, restore water and sanitation services that have been damaged by the disaster, distribute hygiene kits as well as sensitise children and their families with hygiene messages.

UNICEF will also support the establishment of supplementary feeding programmes to prevent a deterioration of malnutrition among children and pregnant and lactating women, and therapeutic feeding programmes to address the needs of children suffering from malnutrition. UNICEF also aims to support the promotion and protection of breastfeeding. UNICEF will support essential health services through mobile health teams and the provision of medicines, supplies and equipment. What is more, UNICEF and its partners will immunize 630,000 children between the age of 9 months and 13 years against measles to prevent any measles outbreak in these high-risk areas.

UNICEF is planning to provide essential school supplies to ensure that all school children affected by the floods have access to education supplies and activities essential to the normal development of children. In addition, UNICEF with partners is preparing to build the capacity of teachers in dealing with traumatized children in schools.

© UNICEF/PAKA/Paradela

Furthermore, UNICEF will register separated, unaccompanied and other children and simultaneously trace and reunite children with their families or make temporary alternative arrangements for unaccompanied children in order to prevent trafficking and other forms of exploitation. UNICEF will also develop mechanisms to ensure that vulnerable children and their families are prioritized in the distribution of basic relief services.

One week after the floods that came in the wake of cyclone Yemyin, on 10 July, UNICEF had launched an Immediate Needs document requesting 5 million dollars in order to meet the urgent needs of the affected children and women by providing access to safe water and sanitation facilities, nutritious food (Unimix) and essential medicine.
 
“United Nations agencies and NGOs are working closely with the Pakistan authorities to bring urgent assistance to those affected by this disaster,” said John Holmes, the United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator, speaking at the launch of the appeal in Geneva. “I urge the world to respond urgently and generously to this appeal. If we don’t act quickly their plight is likely to deteriorate further.”

This Flash Appeal is the result of collaboration between the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) of Pakistan, NGOs (local and international) and the United Nations. The projects identified in the appeal will provide urgent assistance over the next three months, focusing on shelter, water and sanitation, health, food security and early recovery activities. Detailed needs assessments were carried out jointly by the Government and humanitarian community during the second week of July.

 “The humanitarian community is relying on international donors to fund this Flash Appeal to ensure that the impact of this disaster is contained, and that the most vulnerable receive the assistance they need,” said Jan Vandemoortele, the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for Pakistan. “The cyclone has hit one of the poorest parts of Pakistan. The needs and challenges are immense.”

"The Australian government announced on 23 July that it would contribute US$ 847,000 million to UNICEF for immediate water supply and sanitation needs. The Belgian government also announced it would contribute nearly US$ 548,000 to UNICEF water and sanitation activities in flood-affected areas."

Click below to read floods related human interest stories:

Reaching to the children and women affected by floods in Pakistan.
Ishakhil Larama village, Peshawar, August 2008 – It is shortly after midday on a hot and humid day and Saima sits on a string bed, her baby on her lap.

Safe spaces for women and children after cyclone Yemyin
SINDH PROVINCE, Pakistan, 10 January 2008 – After Cyclone Yemyin struck southwest Pakistan six months ago, an estimated 17,000 women were left vulnerable to neglect, abuse and violence.

Rebuilding schools destroyed by floods in southwest Pakistan
DAT VILLAGE, Balochistan, September 2007 – The sound of children chanting echoes in the quiet brown hills around the shattered village of Dat. It is early morning and students are still making their way to school, blue satchels slung over their shoulders.

Measles Vaccination and Sanitation Facilities Reach Flood-Affected Communities in Southwest Pakistan.
Khurmastan, Khuzdar district, Balochistan, 27 July 2007 – It is 11 am in the village of Khurmastan and the small medical tent is one of the only places that offer a cool respite from the sun’s beating rays and hot winds.

Rebuilding from the ground up in the aftermath of Cyclone Yemyin
BALOCHISTAN, Pakistan, 23 July, 2007 – When Cyclone Yemyin tore into Northern Balochistan one month ago, it took only a short period of time before the village of Kuch Valari was completely submerged under raging torrents of muddy waters.

After the southwest Pakistan floods, life will not be the same for Imtiaz
NASIR ABAD CAMP, Balochistan, 16 July 2007 – “It was night time. It rained so much. I was all wet and I was scared.”

Najma's ordeal: surviving the floods in southwest Pakistan
SINDH PROVINCE, Pakistan, 10 July 2007 – The first thing that Najma remembers from the night of the floods was a voice shouting in panic: “Water, water!” It was midnight when the 14-year-old and her five siblings stumbled through the darkness.

Relief efforts begin to reach flood-affected children and families
NEW YORK, USA, 5 July 2007 – Hampered by flash floods and blocked roads, relief efforts have started reaching the most vulnerable since Cyclone Yemyin struck Pakistan last week.