What Oxfam is doing

last updated 15 February 2012

 

Numbers tell a story of vast destruction in Pakistan. More than five million people in Sindh and Belochistan provinces were affected by the floods of 2011 - many of whom were still struggling to recover from the previous year's flood disaster. An area of at least 6.7 million acres were inundated, and an estimated 73% of standing crops destroyed.   One and a half million homes were damaged or destroyed, and 1.8 million people displaced,  and  nearly twelve thousand schools serving more than one million children were damaged or transformed into shelters.  

Oxfam and its local partner organizations  moved quickly to ensure that those who were displaced by the floods had access to clean water and sanitation, and the combined efforts of Pakistani officials, donors, UN agencies, non-governmental organizations, Pakistani citizens, and the affected communities themselves saved thousands of lives and provided vital assistance to millions of people. But the humanitarian response was badly underfunded, and six months on, though most families have returned to their homes, more than 2.5 million men, women, and children are still living without access to basics – food, water, shelter, sanitation, healthcare.

Oxfam is calling on donor countries and the Pakistani government to renew their efforts to respond to the ongoing emergency.

Oxfam's response to date:

Search and rescue: Working with local partners, Oxfam  helped evacuate more than 58,000 people who were stranded by the floods.

Public health: We 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  died in the floods. Oxfam provided animal fodder to 14,000 households to help remaining animals survive.