UN launches relief operation in rain-hit Sindh

[Lahore_Real_Estate]

UNITED NATIONS - UN humanitarian agencies have swung into action to help communities in southern Pakistan hit by monsoon rains that claimed nearly 200 lives and damaged about one million homes in an area still recovering from last year’s catastrophic floods, according to a news release.
An estimated 4.2 million acres of land have been inundated by floodwaters caused by torrential rains during the annual monsoon season, with Sindh province the hardest hit and Balochistan also badly affected. About 200,000 people are displaced from their homes and require immediate assistance.
The Pakistani govt has called on the UN to support its own relief efforts and a joint Pakistani-UN humanitarian team has visited some of the affected areas and met with local officials to discuss the disaster, the news release said. The UN and Pakistan have begun a rapid needs assessment in Sindh, with shelter, food, water, sanitation, hygiene and health care expected to be the priorities. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), which said that overall needs remain ‘huge’, reported that nutrition and promoting an early recovery in affected areas will also be key challenges.
Staff Reporterfrom Islamabad adds: The first convoy of trucks carrying food from the UN World Food Programme (WFP) arrived in Badin district on Sunday for distribution to thousands of households hit by flooding across Pakistan’s southern Sindh province.
Initial distributions plans will see 500,000 of the worst affected people receive a one-month food ration. Distributions are expected to start on Monday. “We have been closely monitoring the unfolding situation and are ready to respond,” said WFP Pakistan Acting Country Director Dominique Frankefort. “The situation is clearly critical and deteriorating for many who have seen their entire livelihoods washed away. WFP is mobilising every possible resource to make sure their needs are met as quickly as possible, says a press release issued here on Sunday. Following a formal request from the Pakistan, WFP is working with the NDMA, as well as the provincial authorities, other local agencies and partners to provide emergency food rations.
to those worst affected by the flooding. WFP food basket includes wheat flour, pulses, vegetable oil, salt, high energy biscuits and specially designed baby food ‘wawa mum’ to prevent malnutrition.
Latest government figures indicate that nearly five million people have been affected by flooding following heavy Monsoon rains, with lower Sindh province bearing the brunt of the inundations and parts of upper Sindh also affected.
A joint NDMA, WFP and OCHA rapid needs assessment is on-going in 12 flood-affected districts using questionnaires and methodology that was already prepared as part of contingency planning. This will determine the scale and duration of the assistance to be provided by WFP.
WFP is currently assisting over 1.4 million people affected by the 2010 floods through early recovery programmes that run until the end of 2011.