ISLAMABAD: The Japan International Cooperation Agency’s (Jica) Pakistan Office has provided 9,000 mosquito nets, 80,000 ORS and 400,000 water purification tablets to support the people affected by recent floods in districts of Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

On the request of governments of Punjab and KP, the Japanese government and Jica Pakistan Office decided to support the worst affected districts of the two provinces.

In Punjab the target districts are Dera Ghazi Khan and Rajanpur, while in KP, the target districts are Kohistan, Dera Ismail Khan, Tank, Nowshera and Charsada.

The expected beneficiaries of this support are around 80,000 families with pregnant or lactating women and children under five, a press release by Japanese embassy said on Tuesday.

According to the Post Disaster Need Assessment (PDNA) on Pakistan Floods 2022, around 650,000 pregnant women are facing challenges in getting access to maternal services, nearly four million children lack access to health services and substantial increase of communicable diseases such as diarrhea, malaria, dengue and cholera has been observed.

Jica is utilising its ongoing technical cooperation projects “the Project for Strengthening Maternal and Newborn Health Care in Punjab” and “the Project for Strengthening Continuum of Care for Mothers, Newborn and Child Health in Primary Health Care Settings in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa” to provide support to flood-affected districts of the two provinces.

Qatar’s solar power stations

Meanwhile, the Qatar Charity office in Pakistan has installed several solar power stations and water pumps in two areas of Sindh to provide clean water to its residents, and it is expected that more than 3,000 people will benefit from it.

Qatar Charity installed three solar-powered stations and 10 manual water pumps in Sinjar region.

In the Khairpur region, three similar water stations and 10 hand pumps were installed to protect the people them risks of polluted water, especially since the targeted areas are experiencing scarcity of water resources.

Qatar Charity says it has completed 92 projects in the field of water and sanitation in three regions of Sindh in 2022, focusing on remote villages deprived of essential services.

Published in Dawn, December 28th, 2022