What Oxfam is doing
For the second year in a row, massive floods have struck Pakistan, wiping out homes and crops and affecting millions. Oxfam and our partners have delivered aid to more than half a million people in need - focusing first on search-and-rescue operations and meeting basic needs for clean water, sanitation, and hygiene.
last updated 4 November 2011
Numbers tell a story of vast destruction in Pakistan. More than nine million people in Sindh and Belochistan provinces have been affected by this year's floods - many of whom were still struggling to recover from last year's flood disaster. An area of at least 6.7 million acres has been inundated, and an estimated 73% of standing crops have been destroyed. One and a half million homes have been damaged or destroyed, and 1.8 million people displaced, and nearly twelve thousand schools serving more than one million children have been damaged or transformed into shelters.
There is a severe risk of a public health crisis, so after carrying out rescue operations, Oxfam and its local partner organizations have moved quickly to ensure access to clean water and sanitation. The risk of widespread malnutrition is also high. Yet the humanitarian response to this disaster is badly underfunded, and aid providers are facing the possibility of having to scale back their work.
“Over two months into the crisis, millions of people are still without basics," says Neva Khan, Oxfam Country Director in Pakistan. "If relief operations stop, it could lead to an unimaginable catastrophe."
Oxfam's response to date:
Search and rescue: Working with local partners, Oxfam has helped evacuate more than 58,000 people who were stranded by the floods.
Public health: We have reached more than 270,000 people with clean water; more than 30,000 with sanitation facilities; and more than 110,000 with hygiene kits - interventions that are crucial to preventing outbreaks of waterborne disease like cholera.
Livestock: More than a million farm animals have died in the floods. Oxfam is providing animal fodder to 14,000 households to help remaining animals survive.
