Pakistan
Floods Appeal
Pakistan
Floods Appeal
Your donations helped DEC charities provide urgent relief to flood-affected families, supported them to rebuild their lives and livelihoods over the past two years, and strengthened their resilience to face future climate disasters.
This appeal is now closed and all appeal funds have been spent.
Sultana is able to grow food for her family after receiving cash support, wheat seeds and fertiliser from DEC charity CAFOD. Photo: Khaula Jamil/DEC
In this section
This appeal is now closed. See the impact of your donations over two years.
In the summer of 2022, Pakistan experienced some of the worst floods in its history. Lives were lost and livelihoods and homes destroyed. One in seven of the population were affected.
The DEC Pakistan Floods Appeal raised £50 million from the generous UK public, including £5 million matched by the UK Government. DEC charities reached more than 3 million people* with aid over our two-year response. Supported communities are now stronger, more resilient and better equipped to face future climate disasters.
*While efforts have been made to avoid counting people more than once, some individuals may have received assistance from multiple member charities offering different types of support.
Tap segments to see a breakdown
How funds were spent (March 2023-February 2024)
- Water, sanitation and hygiene
- 29%
- Livelihood support
- 23%
- Healthcare
- 18%
- Food
- 9%
- Cash support
- 8%
- Protection
- 4%
- Education
- 4%
- Disaster risk reduction
- 3%
- Other
- 2%
MOBILE HEALTHCARE IN REMOTE VILLAGES
The devastating floods damaged 2,000 health facilities across Pakistan, leaving people living in tents especially vulnerable to poor health and the outbreak of disease.
DEC funds were used to set up mobile health clinics with teams going out to remote communities cut off from medical access.
Your donations helped provide lifesaving healthcare including maternity services, nutrition support and free medicines. In one year of the response, 452,800 people received basic medical care and 33,000 children were treated for malnutrition.
“My daughter's health was restored and she started eating and drinking again” - Sultana
Sultana with her daughter Ayra, whose health is much better after receiving treatment and nutritious food. Photo: Khaula Jamil/DEC
The floods in 2022 caused widespread food shortages that meant Sultana and her husband struggled to feed their children. Their eight-year-old daughter Ayra faced such severe acute malnourishment that she would regularly faint at school. Fortunately she was able to get free life-saving treatment when a mobile health clinic supported by DEC funds reached her village.
“Ayra had become so weak that she would faint while sitting in school and had lost her strength to walk. I would carry her to school in my arms because I didn’t want her education to suffer.”
As well as access to medical care, DEC charity CAFOD supported Sultana’s family in multiple ways, providing an integrated response to meet the community’s many needs. They received tools, seeds and fertiliser to plant their own crops and a cash grant so they could prepare the land, which means they are no longer in debt like they used to be every year.
“This really made a huge difference. Whenever I think of the people who sent us aid and assistance, I just want to say thank you to them and I send my prayers to them for helping us.”
ACCESS TO WATER FOR FAMILIES AND FARMS
The floods caused extensive damage to water supplies, leaving people without access to clean water to drink, to grow food or feed their livestock.
Your donations provided access to clean water for drinking and cooking to 183,700 people during one year of the response through repairing water points and systems. The water supplies also helped irrigate agricultural land so farmers can restore their livelihoods.
DEC charities and their local partners also provided access to sanitation facilities, distributed hygiene items and raised awareness of safe practices over the last two years.
“We were amazed to see one organisation giving us so much support” - Sakhi Baksh
Sakhi Baksh with his five children who now have enough to eat thanks to the solar water plant that means he can easily water his crops. Photo: Khaula Jamil/DEC
Sakhi Baksh is a farmer from Sindh who lost his home, belongings and his young nephew in the floods. His children and parents fell ill while they were away in a shelter, and he couldn’t pay for treatment or provide food for them. His debts increased and this took a toll on his mental health.
“I used to feel very sad and cry a lot because I felt very lonely.”
The support from DEC charity Action Against Hunger has been life-changing for Sakhi Baksh. A solar water tank was installed near his home giving his family access safe drinking water and the ability grow their own food again. He also received vegetable seeds, fertilisers, tools for farming and cash support. And the children in his family who were suffering from malnutrition received therapeutic food. All of this support has meant Sakhi Baksh can now support his family, save money for his children’s education and pay medical bills, although he fears what the next monsoon season may bring.
“I would like to urge people reading my story to think about humanity and show compassion and love to the people around them. If we could all remember to do that, the world would be a much better place.”
LIVELIHOODS AND RESILIENCE
Your donations supported 94,300 people to earn a living again, between February 2023 and February 2024. Families without enough land to grow crops were supported with poultry farming and goats, provided with skills training and cash grants for small business.
The DEC response has improved the resilience of supported communities in multiple ways including climate-smart agriculture training, improving awareness, and planting more than 110,000 trees to help mitigate the impact of future flooding.
“The entire village has started to see things differently” - Tasleem
Tasleem was able to save enough money to buy her husband a motorbike to support her thriving tailoring business. Photo: Khaula Jamil/DEC
After suffering severe losses in the floods two years ago, Tasleem was determined to turn her life around for the sake of her children’s future. With a cash grant and training from DEC charity CARE International, she has been able to restart and expand her clothing business.
“I didn’t receive an education because it wasn’t considered something good back in my childhood. But our mindsets are changing.”
Tasleem’s business is now doing so well that her husband has been able to quit his job as a brick labourer and work with her as a salesperson. She has made enough money to buy him a motorbike he uses to sell the clothes in local villages. She can also pay for the repair of their flood-damaged home and plans to give her daughters the education she never had.
“I sit with my children and talk to them about the importance of education and business and I encourage them to think big. My girls will definitely get educated.”
Jerome Combes, Grant Manager for the Pakistan Floods Appeal at the DEC, visiting a DEC-funded livelihood support programme in Pakistan.
Future resilience
"Disaster Risk Reduction is work conducted to make disasters less likely to happen, or less damaging when they do happen. Agricultural training for farmers has helped teach climate-friendly methods of growing crops, helping to reduce the impact of drought and future flooding," says Jerome Combes, Grant Manager for the DEC Pakistan Floods Appeal.
"DEC charities have focused on enhancing the resilience of communities in Pakistan through an integrated response, working with local partners, community-based organisations, local authorities and government ministries.
This planned development means villages are able to organise themselves - as well as long-term infrastructure - and I can feel that people are not afraid for this project to end."
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.
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.
Latest updates
The latest on the appeal and the humanitarian situation in Pakistan.
Jump to
Pakistan Floods Appeal is now closed
23 April 2024
The Pakistan Floods Appeal is now closed and appeal funds will be spent up until August 31st 2024.
Over the past two years 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.
If you would still like to donate to help people affected, you can donate to the following appeals from DEC member charities:
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
