Pakistan - A silent disaster continues to affect Pakistan, with millions of people still affected by last year’s floods. Although damage was not as widespread as in the massive floods of 2010 and 2011, a third pummeling last September left many people, particularly in Sindh, near destitute.

Almost 400,000 houses have been classified as badly damaged or completely destroyed. The situation is particularly dire for the elderly and for female-headed households who have neither the physical nor financial capacity to relocate to other areas, nor do they have any means to rebuild.

While IOM and other organizations have implemented various relief programs and have supported almost 100,000 households, shelter needs are immense. The Canadian International Development Authority (CIDA) has just donated CDN $1,500,000 towards IOM’s shelter programmes which is a welcome boost. Funds will be used to supply shelter materials and tools.

“Recurrent flooding and donor fatigue has led to less funding, making it exceptionally challenging for agencies to respond to the vast humanitarian needs across the country. The 2012 floods affected more than 4.8 million people across the country and six months on only half of their needs have been met. These funds from CIDA will allow us to add to the 67,500 families we have already helped,” says IOM Pakistan Chief of Mission Enrico Ponziani.

For more information, please contact

Enrico Ponziani
IOM Islamabad
Email: eponziani@iom.int