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Save the Children Assists Children and Families Still Under Threat from Pakistan Floods
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REUTERS/Stringer Pakistan: Flood victims wait for relief workers at a flooded neighbourhood near Jhal Magsi, 550 km (344 miles) from Karachi June 29, 2007. Pakistan police fired teargas on Friday to break up a protest by angry cyclone survivors as rescuers struggled to reach communities cut off by floods affecting 900,000 people. REUTERS/Nadeem Soomro (PAKISTAN) |
Westport, CT (July 10, 2007) — Save the Children is continuing to provide vital humanitarian relief, including food and shelter materials, to thousands of children and family members left homeless by some of the worst flooding Pakistan has seen in decades.
More than 2.1 million people in Pakistan have been affected by the disaster, and more than 100,000 people have been evacuated from their villages, according government officials. Thousands of families have lost homes, food stores, crops, livestock and the ability to earn a living.
The southwestern provinces of Balochistan and Sindh have seen the greatest destruction.
Save the Children is providing assistance to communities in five districts in Balochistan and one area in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). The aid agency is distributing family food packs, which contain one-week rations, in Balochistan — where in the coming weeks it plans to reach more than 5,000 families with food, shelter materials, and necessities such as hand soap, water purification tablets and kitchen equipment. Save the Children also will distribute food, water and hygiene kits to affected families in Khyber district.
"Children have lost their homes and schools — all that is familiar to them — and we have immediate concerns for their health and safety," said Rudy Von Bernuth, who heads Save the Children's emergency response team. "In some areas where Save the Children is working, 80 percent of homes have been damaged. This means children are living in the open, and the threats to their health and safety are increasing."
Save the Children teams are continuing to assess the situation for children in the flood zone. In areas where schools have been destroyed or are being used as shelters for displaced families, the agency is working with local communities to resume school-based activities and identify areas where children can safely play.
With more than 20 years of experience assisting children in Pakistan, Save the Children also responded to the deadly earthquake of 2005, assisting thousands of children and their families through the immediate emergency. The agency continues to assist families in the earthquake zone.
Read more about Save the Children's emergency response work around the world
