THATTA DISTRICT, SINDH, PAKISTAN: “God give me the strength so we can rebuild our house to be able to live the life we were living previously. My entire house has collapsed along with some of our belongings that have gone underground with it. My house had two rooms and was made of mud.”

“We need shelter, and please help us get shelter. We have been buying some food with the little money we have. We just eat one time in a day and sometimes just water or roti (flat bread),” requests a displaced man living along the roadside in Mirpurkhas, speaking on behalf of his community as one of its elders.

MIRPURKHAS DISTRICT, SINDH, PAKISTAN: “My mother-in-law is a midwife. She will assist in my delivery, but if there is going to be an emergency, I do not know what I will do?” says Thezu, from flood affected Prem Nagar Village. With a lesser preference for doctors assisting with the delivery of babies, Thezu shared that three of her five children were delivered by her mother-in-law.

 

While a Special Flood Control Room is set up in the Presidential camp office Bilawal House on Tuesday, the news of low-lying areas still under water continues to exhibit in national media. In the meantime, Chairman NDMA admitted before Senate that the Authority has no disaster policy. The flood victims continue to weep for the dead and wait for the missing.

MIRPURKHAS DISTRICT, SINDH, PAKISTAN: Among 1.8 million people displaced by floodwaters are farmer Jam Joseph, his wife Mebhai, and their four children.  The family belongs to Satra Water Village, five kilometers away from the higher ground where the displaced family has been residing for the past two weeks. Satra Water Village which remains submerged by floodwaters is a place where 200 houses once stood. The family was able to evacuate on a boat to higher ground as water approached the village. Pointing in the direction leading to the village, Jam said, “Everything was going well, and we were saving. Everything has been lost now. Three acres of my crops have been submerged in water and the wheat we saved for home consumption. I grew chili, wheat, and cotton on the land that belonged to my father.” Jam was quick to share, “Water never before reached this village even our ancestors said the same to us.”

Heavy rains and flooding throughout Sindh Province have left millions vulnerable to serious health risks. The UN estimates that 5.4 million people have been directly affected, with 1.8 people being displaced. Many affected communities are facing the destruction of their livelihoods two years in a row. The conditions in which the affected population is living present major health risks, particularly for women, children, the elderly, and marginalized minority communities.

As the humanitarian community reports the findings of needs assessments, the plight of the affected, particularly the displaced population, is a dire situation which requires immediate response. Over 5.4 million people are affected, 1.8 million of whom are displaced. Shelter, food, healthcare and medicines, and protection are needed. Within these broad categories exists a plethora of needs that the millions of affected individuals face for which immediate attention is required, particularly for women, children, the elderly, the disabled, and marginalized communities.

Today, the world celebrates the International Day of Peace. The UN established an international day dedicated to encouraging individuals, organizations, and nations all over the world to create practical acts of peace together. The day is a both a commemoration of the ideals of peace and a symbol of the ongoing efforts of the UN and the world to attain peace. In 2002, twenty-one years after it was first established, the International Day of Peace was cemented as a permanent institution to mark the world’s progress along the path towards peace. Since its inception, it has grown in scale, coming to include millions of people across the globe who participate in events of varying sizes to celebrate the day. This year, the celebration follows the theme ‘Make Your Voice Heard’, in tribute to individuals everywhere who have rallied together for peace.

In Pakistan’s southern province of Sindh the flooding catastrophe remains bleak and dull for thousands presently homeless. With floodwaters drawing closer in and destroying crops, families in Umerkot District took refuge along roadsides and on higher ground while some are still trying to evacuate from their villages. As one travels between districts, similar situations and challenges are evident. Unquestionably, immediate assistance of basic necessities is direly needed to help communities with their hardships. Addressing the needs of displaced communities is much beyond being able to provide food, shelter, and clean water but to join in the plight of women, children, and families whose scale of problems are vast. Still, the months ahead are going to be difficult, and the fields depict signs of an overwhelming calamity. Across the district, the apparent signs of strain obscure the faces of displaced families who are among the poorest of the poor. As governments and humanitarian agencies respond to this latest disaster, the country, a year later, has yet to recover from the consequences of the 2010 floods.

Church World Service-Pakistan/Afghanistan (CWS-P/A) in collaboration with Sphere Office Geneva for the first time conducted a Sphere Focal Point Forum from 15-16 September 2011 in Bangkok, Thailand.

Understandably so, focus has been on the worst-affected districts, particularly Badin and Khairpur. However, places direly in need of assistance seem to be forgotten amidst widespread devastation across Sindh. With little media attention and little outside help, communities are left to fend for themselves.

As relief efforts continue in Sindh, aid agencies have called for urgent donations for the province’s flood victims. “Food assistance is currently being given to half a million people,” World Food Program’s spokesperson mentioned. Meanwhile eight districts of Sindh are declared calamity hit by the Government of Pakistan.

Continued heavy rains in Sindh Province have compounded the crisis which started last month.

A further 29 deaths have raised the death toll to 226 while the number of homeless has now surpassed 300,000.  Four and a half million acres of land, including 1.2 million homes, farmland, and relief camps in Badin, have been flooded.  Crops have been lost, including an estimated 13% of the cotton crop, a major source of income for the region.  Link roads in the Pangrio area have been wiped out by the rains, leaving 25,000 people isolated and without any access to relief services.

CWS-P/A was delighted to host a reception in honor of ACT Alliance General Secretary John Nduna’s first visit to Pakistan and Afghanistan along with partners and friends from the humanitarian and diplomatic community. Mr. Nduna received recognition for his 25 years of service and the efforts he has contributed to humanity around the globe.

The situation in Sindh has worsened due to torrential rains which continued over the weekend. The monsoon rainfalls which began a month ago have caused huge displacements while nearly one million homes have been destroyed or damaged.

In a meeting with the Humanitarian Coordination Team in Islamabad, the National Disaster Management Authority appealed for international humanitarian assistance nearly a month after monsoon rains started devastating parts of Sindh Province. The government called for a coordinated response and, accordingly, expressed current expectations for the humanitarian organizations to contribute their intended response plans to a United Nations Flash Appeal. Five clusters have been identified: food, health, WASH, shelter, and protection.

Disease Early Warning Surveillance (DEWS) confirmed two cases of cholera ogawa types and a single case originally from Surkhrood District in Afghanistan during the mid of August. All health implementers took part in a meeting held by the Provincial Public Health Directorate (PPHD) and Communicable Disease Control Department (CDC) for emergency preparedness response on the outbreak. The meeting covered among others a review on the confirmed cases in Surkhrood, Nuristan, and Kunar while discussing the campaign in eight districts in Nangahar.

A seventeen-week course on communication strategies designed by CWS-P/A’s Promoting Good Governance program focuses on training for Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to develop knowledge of basic communication tools. The tools help in enhancing advocacy capacity and through practical and interactive methodology empower CSOs to engage with mainstream media.