ISLAMABAD, Aug 3: Pakistan sits on the frontline of disasters, and communities already living in extreme poverty are simply not being given time to recover from the last blow they were dealt; said the head of World Vision Pakistan, Alexander Davey.
One year on from the worst ever floods, the aid agency calls for relief efforts to be ramped up for at least another year just toget families back to their pre-flood standard of living.
Last year’s floods, which affected more than 20 million people, were the fourth major emergency to hit Pakistan in almost as many years.
Children face heightened vulnerability after any disaster; but in Pakistan serious issues such as malnutrition are already a cause for concern.
The flooding washed away crops, destroyed 5.4 million acres of land and, as food prices rise, child malnutrition has increased to almost 25 per cent in worst-hit areas like Sindh.
“World Vision is responding to Sindh’s high malnutrition rates through community-based nutrition sessions and has set up more than 20 mobile clinics,” said a press release issued by World Vision Pakistan.
In the past year, the aid agency reached an estimated 1.5 million people with food distributions, clean drinking water, hygiene kits, blankets, shelter and by establishing women and infant-friendly spaces across three of Pakistan’s four provinces.
Yet, as monsoon rains and melting mountain snow cause river levels to rise, up to five million people could be at risk once again. Families are being asked to prepare for evacuation in case river banks, damaged by last year’s flood, do not hold.
“Pakistan’s cycle of disasters create a generational impact that is hard to break: with schools damaged or teachers lost, children drop out of education; what’s left of belongings often needs to be sold off; families become increasingly sick as they have less to eat but must work more. How can you afford to start rebuilding your home, when there’s no money to put food in your child’s mouth?”
It said in the past year, World Vision reached an estimated 1.5 million people across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh and Punjab through food distributions, clean drinking water, sanitation, providing hygiene kits, tents, blankets and kitchen utensils.