Pakistan
Floods Appeal
Pakistan
Floods Appeal
Your donations are helping people in Pakistan recover from last year’s historic floods.
DEC charities and their local partners saved lives in the aftermath and are helping families build their resilience as they face future climate disasters.
Lakshmi and other women no longer have to travel 2km to access safe drinking water thanks to the solar panel water supply installed by DEC charity International Rescue Committee and its local partners in Sindh after the floods. Photo: Khaula Jamil/DEC
The DEC Pakistan Floods Appeal has raised £48 million since the historic floods last summer, including £5 million matched by the UK Government.
Your donations have helped hundreds of thousands of people get through the disaster, providing them with emergency shelter, clean water, food, healthcare, cash payments and livelihood support.
Gulab, with his wife and children in Sindh, Pakistan, are being supported by DEC charity IRC to restore clean water and toilets after the floods through village committees. Photo: Khaula Jamil/DEC.
How we helped after the floods
In the first six months of the response, DEC funds provided emergency food, temporary shelter, winter survival items and cash support to families who lost their homes and belongings.
DEC charities reached communities that were cut off from accessing medical facilities with urgent healthcare, while safe drinking water and hygiene kits helped keep people safe from the risk of disease.
To ensure the protection and wellbeing of children and women, DEC charities opened safe spaces providing education, information and couselling services.
Work also began on restoring people's livelihoods and reducing the impact of future climate disasters, with an emphasis on long-term recovery and resilience.
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The mobile health clinic truck now featuring stories of flood survivors revisits parts of Sindh that were previously submerged, bringing moments of joy as well as healthcare to local communities. Photo: Khaula Jamil/DEC
Truck art stories
Trucks in Pakistan are elaborately decorated to celebrate local culture - people, places, events and stories.
Trucks are also vehicles of aid delivery - such as this one that served as a mobile health clinic funded by DEC charity CAFOD as part of the Pakistan Floods Appeal response last year.
The DEC worked with Pakistani truck artist Ali Salman Anchan to tell the stories of flood survivors supported by the appeal, recognising their courage and resilience.
From 10-year-old Ayra in Sindh, whose life was saved by a mobile health clinic, to farmer Maula Dinno who can grow crops again thanks to learning climate-smart techniques, this truck tells the stories of people your donations are reaching.
FOOD, SHELTER AND CASH HELPED FAMILIES SURVIVE
With 33 million people affected by the floods in Pakistan, DEC charities distributed emergency food packs containing wheat, rice, oil and other staples through local partners.
Families who lost their homes were given tents, tarpaulin and blankets, as well as household items, clothes and winter survival kits. Cash support was provided for vulnerable families to buy essentials like food, medicine and fuel.
Your donations helped thousands of families survive in the immediate aftermath of the disaster but many still live in temporary shelter and struggle to access food.
“Some days we would hold our children in our laps and promise them we would cook food after the waters recede. They would fall asleep to these promises,” says Guddi, a mother of two from Sindh.
Guddi with her two children and the goats she bought with cash provided by the local partner of DEC charity International Rescue Committee. Photo: Khaula Jamil/DEC
“The sight of an overcast sky would terrify us. We were scared of what would happen next… that our children may drown. We were homeless, with no plan of how to rebuild our homes.
“The [aid] workers at the centre consoled us and said that help is on the way. They assured us that we would not die of hunger, and that we would get medical aid if needed. They advised us to think positively, and were a great support during times when we were anxious or worried.
“We were not able to take care of our cattle during the floods and lost them all. So my husband and I decided that we would spend the cash support on a goat. Soon the goat had two kids. We use milk from the goat and can sell its offspring to buy essentials like flour.
"My children affectionately call the goat 'phoodni' or 'pateri' - nicknames they have heard! I find it funny that they come up with these names and call out to the goat."
HEALTHCARE AND CLEAN WATER HELPED SAVE LIVES
The floods caused extensive damage to health facilities and water supplies, leaving people at serious risk.
DEC funds were used to set up mobile health units that reached communities cut off medical access, providing primary healthcare, maternity services, nutrition, and free medicines.
Your donations also helped DEC charities work with local partners to repair water points in rural locations, distribute hygiene items and raise awareness of safe practices.
"People travelled to our mobile health unit on boats as the water level was so high. We provided medications and antibiotics, and were able to treat almost all the health issues that people had," says Dr Saiqa from Sindh.
Dr Saiqa checks a child for skin disease at a mobile health unit in Sindh, Pakistan, that DEC charity CAFOD has supported with funds from the appeal. Photo: Khaula Jamil/DEC
“We have been going to flood affected areas where there are no medical facilities, setting up mobile health units so people in the area can visit us.
“Health issues that have been triggered by the floods last year include diarrhoea, acute respiratory tract infections, skin diseases, eye and ear infections, typhoid and malaria. Women and children are malnourished.
“It was very stressful working at that time. The rain was contant. We struggled to drive through the water. Even doctors were falling sick. The mental stress was enormous.
“We still travel quite far to villages and also provide post- and ante-natal care to women, and guide them on family planning. Pregnant women rely on traditional birth attendants (dai) for their deliveries and this often results in post partum haemorrhages or deaths because they are not trained sufficiently.
"People don’t know how they will manage if there are more rains this year. But people here are resilient – they know they need to stand on their own feet and somehow protect themselves and their children. I wish I could do more to improve people’s condition here.”
EDUCATION AND PROTECTION SUPPORTED WELLBEING
To ensure the protection and wellbeing of children and women after the floods, DEC charities worked with local partners to open child-friendly spaces and safe spaces for women.
Temporary Learning Centres allowed children to continue their education in a safe learning environment and also provided opportunities for recreation and learning life skills. Women were supported with protection kits and access to information including protection against gender-based violence.
Your donations also funded individual and group mental health counselling sessions for more than 26,000 people.
“The school was totally destroyed. It was a pile of rubble but the villagers agreed to clean the debris. We set up the tent school in the same area and made it beautiful. The children were thrilled,” says schoolteacher Yasir.
Yasir teaches a class at a Temporary Learning Centre set up DEC charity Save The Children's local partner in Sindh, Pakistan, to help continue their education after floods destroyed the local government school building. Photo: Khaula Jamil
“When I came here I observed that the children were very disturbed. They had seen houses collapse, people die, cattle die and their bodies floating in the stagnant water.
“Their parents were struggling to put meals on the table so they did not want to ask them for money to buy school supplies. We encouraged people to send their children to the school so their education would not be stalled because of the floods.
“We gave the children stationery and hygiene kits to take care of themselves. Now they come to school with bright, clean faces. We also teach them about [child protection].
"We have 175 students here in total, 67 boys and 108 girls. The space is decorated by the children. They feel proud and happy and feel a sense of ownership.
"I want the children to love their education, to persist with it. They all have big dreams and I just want to play my part to help them fulfil those.”
LIVELIHOODS AND RESILIENCE HELPS BUILD BACK BETTER
The floods destroyed crops and farmland, leaving families who relied on small-scale agriculture without food or a source of income.
DEC charities and their local partners are providing nutritional support to those most vulnerable and helping farmers recover their livelihoods by providing seeds and fertiliser, livestock, cash-for-work and training in climate-smart agricultural techniques.
Over the two years of the DEC response, your donations will help build the resilience of rural populations in Pakistan to face future climate disasters like floods and drought.
Tap segments to see a breakdown
Humanitarian programmes in the first six months
- Shelter
- 35%
- Water, sanitation, hygiene
- 22%
- Multi-purpose cash
- 17%
- Food
- 7%
- Healthcare
- 6%
- Livelihoods
- 6%
- Protection
- 5%
- Education
- 2%
Latest updates
The latest on the appeal and the humanitarian situation in Pakistan.
Jump to
How farmers in Pakistan are learning new methods to combat climate change
19 September 2023
Dr Muhammad Mazhar Alam is Senior Health and Nutrition Advisor at Concern Worldwide, Pakistan explains how DEC funds are being used to teach farmers in Pakistan climate friendly techniques.
Following the flooding last year, 33 million people were affected, and 4 million acres of agricultural land was lost along with over a million livestock in areas where many depend on the land for their income.
These techniques are designed to help protect farmers against future climate related disasters.
Preparing communities for future climate disasters in Pakistan
7 July 2023
Extreme flooding during the monsoon season in Pakistan last summer was made more likely by climate change, according to a major study.
As global temperatures continue to rise, weather patterns are becoming more unpredictable, increasing the risk of weather-related natural disasters.
Using disaster risk reduction measures such as these can help reduce their impact, DEC charities have been working with flood affected communities in Pakistan to help prepare them for future climate related disasters.
Mobile health clinics provide a lifeline to flood-hit communities
26 June 2023
A nurse checks the blood pressure of a patient at a mobile health clinic in Sindh.
The floods damaged many healthcare facilities across the country, and roads that people used to get to them.
To help people in remote areas access treatment, DEC charities have established mobile health clinics headed up by local medical professionals. Teams go out in vans stocked with essential medicines and equipment, targeting areas where people don’t have access to medical support, providing on-the-spot help.
The clinics play a significant role in bridging the gap between people who live in remote, rural areas and essential medical care.
The King meets with representatives from DEC charities
8 June 2023
The King meets with the DEC at Buckingham Palace on 8 June 2023. Photo: Andy Aitchison
His Majesty The King met with representatives from the charities of the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) today (8 June 2023) to hear about the impact of UK donations to the Pakistan Floods Appeal which helped hundreds of people in the first six months of the response.
During the meeting with His Majesty The King at Buckingham Palace, DEC Chief Executive Saleh Saeed spoke about how DEC charities and their local partners had provided life-saving aid in the months following the floods and spoke of his visit to the affected areas late last year.
Putting women's needs at the heart of emergency response in Pakistan
8 March 2023
For International Women’s Day, DEC Chair of Trustees Sue Inglish reflects on the stories of women she met in Pakistan’s flooded villages.
Trustees Sue Inglish, Melanie Hind and DEC chief executive Sale Saeed travelled to Pakistan in December to visit DEC-funded projects in flood affected areas.
During the visit, the team saw how cash support is allowing women to meet their family’s needs, mobile are clinics providing access to healthcare and more.
The projects visited are run by DEC charities Concern Worldwide, Oxfam, and Islamic Relief.
Pakistan Floods Appeal raises £40 million including £5 million in UK Aid Match
12 December 2022
The DEC #PakistanFloodsAppeal has raised £40 million thanks to your donations, including £5 million in #UKAidMatch.
— DEC (@decappeal) December 12, 2022
Water has still not receded in some areas and families are struggling to survive without food, shelter and healthcare.
Thank you for your ongoing support. pic.twitter.com/r69Ok5Y0nB
DEC charities meet His Majesty The King, as Pakistan Floods Appeal tops £38 million
29 November 2022
CEOs and experts from the 15 charities that make up the DEC today met with His Majesty The King to discuss the impact of funds given by the UK public to international humanitarian crises, and how the changing climate is affecting the world’s most vulnerable communities.
This was coupled with the news that the DEC's Pakistan Floods Appeal has now raised an astounding £38 million, thanks to the generosity of the British public with donations also from Their Majesties The King and The Queen Consort and Their Royal Highnesses The Prince and Princess of Wales.
The appeal also received £5 million in UK Aid Match from the UK Government.
Supporting mothers and babies affected by the Pakistan floods
29 November 2022
The extreme flooding that hit Pakistan left hundreds of thousands of women in need of maternity services. DEC charities are helping by providing food, shelter and mobile health clinics.
Read some of the ways DEC charities have been supporting pregnant women in the wake of extreme flooding.
England cricket captain Ben Stokes donates to the Pakistan Floods Appeal
28 November 2022
I’m donating my match fees from this Test series to the Pakistan Flood appeal ❤️🇵🇰 pic.twitter.com/BgvY0VQ2GG
— Ben Stokes (@benstokes38) November 28, 2022
Millions of women suffering worst health impacts amid unhygienic conditions
21 November 2022
Cop27 climate summit in Egypt focuses on gendered impacts and water, Pakistan’s flood survivors are still facing the worsening impact on their health, reports Stuti Mishra for The Independent.
Women and young girls who survived the August flooding are suffering from urinary tract infections (UTIs), reproductive issues and other health complications, activists from Water Aid Pakistan told the Cop27 summit.
Three months on from the flooding, stagnant water provides a breeding ground for water borne diseases, at time a where access to medical treatment is still very challenging.
