One year on from the worst ever floods hit Pakistan, international aid agency World Vision calls for relief efforts to be ramped up for at least another year just to get families back to their pre-flood level of living. World Vision in Pakistan is committed to the longer-term rehabilitation of affected communities and is helping restore families' livelihoods across the country by running early recovery and development projects, distributing seeds and agricultural tools, and offering training and cash for work programmes.
Head of World Vision Pakistan, Alexander Davey, said: "Pakistan sits on the frontline of disasters, and communities already living in extreme poverty are simply not being given time to recover from the last blow they were dealt." Children face heightened vulnerability after any disaster, but particularly in Pakistan where serious issues such as malnutrition were already a cause for concern. The flooding washed away crops, destroyed 5.4 million acres of land and, as food prices rise, child malnutrition has increased to almost 25 percent in worst-hit areas like Sindh.
In the past year the aid agency has reached an estimated 1.5 million people with food distributions, clean drinking water, hygiene kits, blankets, shelter and by establishing women and infant-friendly spaces across three of Pakistan's four provinces.
Yet, as monsoon rains and melting mountain snow caused river levels to rise, up to five million people could be at risk once again. Families are being asked to prepare for evacuation in case river banks, damaged by last year's flood, do not hold. Alexander also said, "Pakistan's cycle of disasters create a generational impact that is hard to break." How can you afford to start rebuilding your home, when there's no money to put food in your child's mouth?' "One year on, Pakistan's most vulnerable are barely even starting out on the long road to recovery."-PR
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