Pakistan is witnessing its worst flooding in 80 years. Unprecedented water levels have had truly devastating effects on the country, its infrastructure and its people -from the extreme north, in Gilgit, all the way downstream to Kotari, in Sindh. See the OCHA Map outlining the current situation (United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs).

Devastating floods in Pakistan have claimed over 1600 lives and displaced over 18 million -- or 1 out of every 10 people in the country -- and the disaster shows no sign of abating. Significant resources are flowing into the region to provide immediate relief. But access to relevant, up-to-date, timely, and authentic data from the affected communities, specifying the hardest-hit areas and precise locations of displacement, remains elusive. These gaps in data gathering disrupt initiatives for immediate assistance and for long-term policy planning.

It was initially estimated that some 20 million people (12 million being women and children) had been displaced more than 2,000 were thought dead, and crops covering an area of 5 million acres had been submerged in water. Nearly 3 million people, in total, have been displaced from the banks of the Indus in Sindh alone. The actual figures are almost certain to be much higher, as many people still remain missing and the waters have yet to recede. Pakistan has lost an estimated $1 billion just in agricultural revenue. Infrastructure around the Indus River has been destroyed. Gilgit-Baltistan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, and Balochistan were severely affected by the flood in its first phase, and now the floods have hit Sindh. The affected populations are in a dire state—an already impoverished people especially women have lost all of their belongings, including homes, farms, crops, and cattle and means of livelihood.

The army and the government have engaged in sporadic intervention, and have declared the handling of the crisis beyond their capabilities. NGOs and individuals have done what they can to fill the void. But nothing, of course, can ever be sufficient. Reports from the ground suggest that only a small fraction of the affected have been housed in temporary camps; the rest are sitting out in the open by the roadside, on railway tracks, and bridges, with nothing more than the clothes on their backs. All are at high risk of hunger, and water-borne diseases. There are reports of increasing desperation; food trucks and convoys run by NGOs have been attacked.

HomeNet Pakistan
HomeNet Pakistan is involved in flood relief activities and providing facilitation in the collection of funds and donations in kind for those affected. Also for UNIFEM, they are collecting case studies of the affected home-based workers in the flood affected areas of Punjab in order to assess the loss and vulnerabilities of women and men alike. Majority of them are displaced and homeless now. The immediate need is for food, shelter, and medical help. In the camps of Multan where the majority from the Muzffargah have come for rescue, epidemics are affecting children and women. There is going to be food scarcity in the coming months as agricultural land has been washed away.

Donations are coming from International communities and local philanthropy but the main challenge is the provision of basics needs to vulnerable women and men and children. No drinking water is available and some people who are trapped or stranded are desperately in need of food.

HomeNet Pakistan is meeting with the Federal Advisors to chalk out a combined and coordinated strategy to provide relief to the flood-affected areas and will share its strategy on this website shortly.