World Vision to assist thousands affected by new flooding in southern Sindh

This year, an estimated two million people have been affected so far, with more than 70,000 people being displaced from their homes, many of whom were still struggling to rebuild their homes and lives.

"There is dire need for food, shelter as well as water and sanitation facilities for the displaced communities - especially children and their mothers, who are most vulnerable to water-borne diseases like malaria and dengue fever, " warns Umer Farooq, who is coordinating World Vision’s emergency response in Sindh.

This year’s flash floods and overwhelmed waterworks have washed away hundreds of mud homes and forced thousands more to flee, abandoning their harvests of rice and cotton. More rain is forecast in the coming days.

There is dire need for food, shelter as well as water and sanitation facilities for the displaced communities - especially children and their mothersOn Friday, 26 August, World Vision Pakistan and its partners, Helping Hand and Muslim Aid, will begin a series of aid distributions to 5,000 flood-affected families in the Badin district of Sindh; the worst-affected district of this renewed flooding. Families will receive tents, mosquito nets, water purifying tablets and other essentials.

“World Vision is extremely concerned about children affected by this new bout of flooding. Children face heightened vulnerability after any disaster, but the floods have increased the risk of water-borne diseases, such as malaria – one of the biggest killers of children under five,” said Alexander Davey, National Director of World Vision Pakistan. “Our teams are assessing the extent of the devastation on families in Sindh and we’re on standby, if necessary, to ramp up our response.”
More than 220,000 people are still living in relief camps – and, now, they have been forced to evacuate onto higher ground and roadsides, leaving even these temporary homes behind.

Last year, in response to the devastating floods that swept the length of Pakistan covering an area the size of the UK, World Vision extended its operations from the north of the country and was one of the first aid agencies to reach many of Sindh’s cut-off communities.

World Vision assisted 1.5 million people affected by last year’s floods, providing food, shelter, healthcare, long-term livelihood assistance, and other interventions to people in Khyber Paktoonkhwa (KPK), Punjab and Sindh provinces.

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