Two girls from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Nowshera, collect water from a water station installed by Norwegian Church Aid and local partner Taraqee Foundation (Photo: Ivar Munthe/NCA)
July 2010 brought one of the worst natural disasters of recent history to Pakistan. Flooding destroyed 1,7 million homes and at least 18 million affected people needed emergency relief to survive. Five months later, and the emergency is far from over.
”Donations from Norway and around the world have saved lives and helped a great number of people through the most critical phase during and immediately after the flooding. But needs are still great. Now winter is coming. The cold season has started and has add to the many problems people are struggling with,” explains emergency coordinator Ivar Munthe, who has this week returned from three months in Pakistan with Norwegian Church Aid.
December and January are the hardest winter months in Pakistan. Snow has already started falling in the north. Winter will be a trial for those still living under canvas or who lost their belongings in the flood.
– Don’t forget Pakistan!
”In southern Pakistan some areas are still under water, and many families have been unable to return to their homes. People have settled on hillsides and higher ground. Food distribution is taking place, and healthcare is available, but there are still a great many who don’t have access to the help they need,” says Munthe.
Further north, floodwaters have receeded but the challenges are still great.
”In the northern regions, where the flood hit first, people are beginning to move back home. This is a positive development, but the work is still difficult. People who lost their homes gathered in camps or moved into public buildings like schools which they vacated when schools reopened after summer vacations. Now that they’re returning home, they are spreading out again across large areas, which makes it harder for organisations to reach them with aid during the critical phase when they start rebuilding their homes,” explains Munthe.
Ivar Munthe takes part in relief material distribution activities along with local partner Diocese of Peshawar in Nowshera (Photo: Imran Muniri/NCA)
Of the total amount of money thought to be required to deliver aid to the flood victims, only half has been donated.
”It feels as if the world has already forgotten the flooding in Pakistan,” says Munthe.
NCA’s efforts on the ground
NCA began its flood relief activities quickly through local partner organisations . Our focus has been on delivering fresh water as well as safe sanitation and hygiene conditions to the flood victims as well as tents and blankets. In the first, acute phase after the emergency, we also distributed food items and provided mobile health services through our local implementing partners in KPK and Balochistan provinces.
So far, Norwegian Church Aid has reached about 105 000 people with much needed assistance with help of ACT funding partners, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and through NCA own funds.
Aid delivered so far:
- Food rations for 2590 families
- 4 mobile health clinics
- 4 large water purification units
- 1 500 sets of household equipment
- 25 200 blankets
- 520 tents
During December, we will install 340 water pumps and 900 toilets.
”We are now planning a new phase of relief activities with the support of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and ACT funding partners beginning shortly after New Year. And then we’ll also continue to focus on delivering water and sanitation, as well as tents, food items and warm clothing for the winter,” says Munthe.
Clean water is essential to disease prevention (Photo: Arne Sæverås/NCA)