Flood response: Oxfam in action
 |
| A girl with an Oxfam shelter kit after her home was destroyed in the floods. |
One year on from the devastating floods, Oxfam has provided support to over 2.4 million people with humanitarian aid in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, Sindh and Azad Jammu Kashmir.
We've provided safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene facilities, as well as tents and cash grants. We've also been running cash-for-work programmes, where people in need of help are paid to carry out vital rebuilding and rehabilitation work.
Thank you to everyone who has donated to our Pakistan floods response.
Oxfam's response: your dollars in action
Oxfam has provided support to over 2.4 million people with humanitarian aid in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, Sindh and Azad Jammu Kashmir.
- Oxfam has provided clean water to over 1.6 million people by installing water tanks, repairing wells and water pipes, and trucking water to communities with no safe water supply.
- We have reached more than 1.4 million people with our hygiene kits and health promotion work. Hygiene kits contain items such as bars of soap, towels, cloth that can be cut into sanitary towels for women, plastic kettles for washing and buckets with lids.
- We have helped more than 600,000 people to meet their immediate, minimum food needs and also to protect, diversify and recover their livelihoods.
- We’ve helped provide shelter for over 232,000 people.
- In the initial phase of the aid effort, we helped safely rescue and evacuate over 240,900 people trapped by the floods.
Oxfam's ongoing response
| Throughout Pakistan, people are bracing themselves for the monsoon rains which caused devastating floods last year. |
Around 37,000 people affected by the floods are still living in camps in Sindh alone. More than 800,000 families are without proper homes and more than a million people still need food.
As Pakistan faces another monsoon season and the likelihood of more disasters, Oxfam's latest report show the country is not prepared. Many flood defences, such as river embankments, that were destroyed in last year’s floods and have not yet been properly repaired, increasing the likelihood of breaches in future floods.
The Pakistan government’s emergency response to last year’s floods has saved thousands of lives, but the slow pace of recovery and reconstruction leaves millions of people unnecessarily exposed to another disaster.
We're calling on the government to invest more in its disaster-response infrastructure, including flood-resistant housing, early warning systems and better funding for first-responder organisations.
- Read Oxfam's report: Pakistan’s resilience to disasters one year on from the floods.
Read full paper (PDF 1.23MB)
Read summary (PDF 665KB)
We’re also calling for comprehensive land reforms, especially for women, to prevent families from being pushed further back into a spiral of poverty.
“Pakistan needs to act now,” says Pakistan country director Neva Khan. “Investing in measures today that reduce the impact of disasters is essential to save lives and safeguard development gains in the future. It will ensure schools built with aid funds are not washed away and that farmers can keep the crops they have toiled over. A year after Pakistan’s mega floods it’s time we learnt this lesson.”
Oxfam is there
Oxfam responded immediately to the Pakistan floods, helping with rescue and evacuation efforts and providing essentials to those who have lost everything.
 |
| A man marooned by flood waters, alongside his livestock, waves for relief handouts in the Rajanpur district of Pakistan's Punjab province on 9 August, 2010. |
 |
| In the initial phase of the aid effort, we helped safely rescue and evacuate over 240,900 people trapped by the floods. |
 |
| Oxfam is helping with household water treatment using PUR purification sachets, making dirty water safe for drinking. One sachet of PUR treats about 10 litres of water in about 30 minutes. Water is strained after PUR has been added and the solids have settled to the bottom. |
 |
| Oxfam water tanks in Nowshera, in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan. Oxfam and partners are providing clean water to over a million people. |
 |
| Oxfam has provided over 1.3 million people with hygiene kits. The kits contain items such as bars of soap, towels, cloth that can be cut into sanitary towels for women, plastic kettles for washing and buckets with lids. |
View more photos of the Pakistan floods 2010
You can help
Oxfam aims to respond immediately to humanitarian emergencies and natural disasters, but we can only do this if we have funds ready when they are needed. You can help:
- Donate now to Oxfam's Disaster Response Fund
- or call on 0800 400 666
 Oxfam Coffee Break More than 2000 coffee breaks to be held this Fair Trade Fortnight, May 5-20. |
 West Africa food crisis In 2012, countries across the Sahel are again facing a serious food crisis. Oxfam is there but we need your help. |
 No arms for atrocities The world needs an effective Arms Trade Treaty. Take action and sign our petition calling for a safer world. |
 Voices from Vanuatu Arvie and Thomas are helping young Ni Vanuatu learn lifelong skills. Read their stories. |