Friday 23 September 2022
The Overseas Aid & Development Commission has agreed to make a donation of £20,000 to the United Kingdom for UNHCR to help to alleviate the ongoing effects of the severe Monsoon Floods in Pakistan.
Over 30 million people in Pakistan have been affected by exceptional rains and devasting floods across the Country. This has left 6.4 million people in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. More than 1,300 fatalities have been reported, with over 950,000 houses either damaged or destroyed, and 2 million acres of crops ruined. 80 districts of Pakistan have been affected including the provinces of Sindh, Balochistan and Khyper Pakhtunkwa. Extreme and intense rainfall is expected to continue in September and October to exacerbate an already dire situation.
UNHCR teams are on the ground distributing aid. Pakistan is one of the world's largest refugee hosting countries with more than 1.3m refugees. UNHCR has been working in specific regions of Pakistan for over 40 years in response to the Afghanistan situation. As part of UN-wide effort, UNHCR is supporting the response to scale up humanitarian assistance to refugees and host communities affected by the monsoon rains.
Guernsey's donation will support 1,688 households, or up to 10,000 people, with basic essentials such as tents, tarpaulins, blankets, sleeping mats, mosquito nets, kitchen sets, buckets, jerry cans and solar lamps.
Deputy Chris Blin, the President of the OA&DC, said:
"A number of regions of Pakistan have been devastated and our thoughts are with all those people who have been terribly affected at this time. The scale of the flooding and the ongoing impact on communities is unprecedented and, in such situations, refugees tend to be the hardest hit."
"Newly released data shows that Pakistan is 161st out of 191 countries on the United Nations' Human Development Index and therefore well within the lowest quartile. Countries in the lowest quartile are the poorest in the World and this is where the Commission targets its work. Of course, Pakistan is also a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, which is particularly current following the sad demise of its Head, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. The Commission will continue to monitor the situation and will look to provide further support if appropriate."
