Pakistan

Floods emergency response

Already hit by devastating flooding in 2010 which affected 20 million people, Pakistan once again finds itself at the mercy of a monsoon which has reached an astonishing intensity in the last few weeks.

Handicap International is already active working in the affected areas. Our teams are taking rapid action to assist the most vulnerable people by distributing emergency kits containing blankets, tarpaulins, cooking utensils, mosquito nets etc.
> Visit our Pakistan emergency page

A woman injured in the earthquake receiving support and a walking frame, Pakistan

^{© J-L Rossier/Handicap International}

Handicap International came to Pakistan following the earthquake in October 2005, which affected between 3.2 and 3.5 million people. The disaster resulted in many spinal cord injuries and amputations; some as a result of relatively minor injuries being untreated at the time of the earthquake.

Our team set up emergency rehabilitation projects to help those people with injuries related to the disaster, and to support people with disabilities whose needs were being overlooked by the relief effort. Once the emergency phase was over, Handicap International remained in Pakistan for the post-emergency phase to carry on providing support to people with disabilities and to work towards addressing their longer term needs.

In June 2009, our team launched an emergency mission to provide aid to civilians who were displaced and injured in the fighting between Pakistan's army and the Taliban. We are continuing to respond to the devastating flooding that struck the country in August 2010.

Key Facts - Pakistan

• Population: 184.8 million
• Household Consumption: $1,669 per year
• Life Expectancy: 67 years
• Human Development: ranked 125th out of 169 countries
_{Source: UNDP HDR 2011}

Stories from the field

'Our house is still under water'

Ahmed, 25 years old, his wife Bibel, 18 years old, and their son Dildar, 5 months old are from a family of tenant farmers who were displaced from their home in a village beside the river Bank in Sindh Province.

Providing access to drinking water

Philippe Pascal has worked on humanitarian missions since 1995. This year, he returned to Pakistan for six months as a project manager in the southern province of Sindh where he set up several projects.

'We lived on nothing for 15 days'

Fakir Muhamad and his family own and farm 16 hectares of sugar cane and rice fields. They were forced to leave their land, near the River Indus in Sindh province, following the flooding in August 2010.

Our projects

Emergency mission to assist flood victims
In response to the heavy floods in September 2011, our teams are taking rapid action to assist the most vulnerable people by distributing emergency kits containing blankets, tarpaulins, cooking utensils, mosquito nets etc.

Following the floods in 2010, we worked to ensure victims have access to clean water and basic needs (blankets, shelters, etc...), as well as the provision of healthcare. Our teams are distributing clean drinking water and giving out hygiene advice to help prevent epidemics of diseases like cholera. In addition, we are providing the most vulnerable people with temporary shelters (sheets), blankets, cooking kits and hygiene kits. We are also employing teams of local people to clear up the waste and debris swept along by the floods, and remove stagnant water from towns, enabling the population to return and limiting the spread of disease.

Supporting displaced people
Handicap International mobilised its teams to provide aid to people caught up in the fighting between Pakistan's army and the Taliban in 2009.

Disaster risk reduction (ended May 2010)
Aimed at including people with disabilities into disaster risk reduction projects related to earthquakes in the north of Pakistan, and ensuring the needs of people with disabilities are included in disaster prevention projects, planning and response.