Shahdadpur, Sanghar district: Residents collecting their belongings on a higher ground outside village. Photo: Tariq Masood Malik/Oxfam

Pakistan floods

Please click here to see Oxfam Australia’s current response page to the floods in Pakistan

More than 9 million people were affected by 2011’s monsoonal flooding in Pakistan, which occurred primarily in the southern province of Sindh and parts of Balochistan.

Approximately 6 million acres of land were damaged by the floods (an area nearly as large as Haiti), and in Sindh province 73% of crops were destroyed. Nearly 1.6 million homes were damaged or destroyed in Sindh, leaving 700,000 people homeless.

One year later (and two years on from the original devastating floods), a large majority of people is still in need of urgent humanitarian assistance. The funding to this disaster has been extremely sluggish. Aid efforts of the UN agencies, Oxfam, the government of Pakistan and other humanitarian agencies are under threat as funds are dwindling fast and new contributions are not coming in fast enough.

“Communities hit by the floods are enduring an exceptionally tough time and the lukewarm response to the crisis isn’t helping. With funds drying up, millions will find it extremely hard to make it through the next few months. Donors and the government of Pakistan must step up their response immediately,” says Neva Khan, Oxfam’s Country Director in Pakistan.

What Oxfam is doing

Oxfam’s emergency response in Sindh province has reached more than 1.1 million people affected by the floods, providing clean water supplies, sanitation facilities, hygiene promotion, hygiene kits, kitchen kits, animal fodder and tool kits.

Over the coming months, we’re aiming to reach almost 4 million people, and will expand our cash-for work and income generation activities.

In November 2011, Oxfam produced the following documentary, which tells the stories of four women affected by the floods.

Lessons from a continuing disaster

“Pakistan floods emergency – Lessons from a continuing disaster” is a new report from a coalition of international and national aid agencies — including Oxfam — which calls for ongoing, long-term support in Pakistan.

While the combined efforts of Pakistani officials, donors, UN agencies, NGOs, Pakistani citizens and affected communities themselves have saved thousands of lives and provided vital assistance to millions of people, at least 2.5 million people are still living without basics such as food, clean water, shelter, and healthcare. Malnutrition is alarmingly widespread, and local agriculture is struggling to recover.

The report warns that Pakistan’s next disaster may be a matter of months away, and urges the government to intensify its efforts to limit the impact of future disasters.