(Courtesy photo)
Global disaster relief organization ShelterBox USA, which is based in Santa Barbara, is deploying an emergency team to Pakistan to respond to devastating flooding and determine what aid it will provide.
ShelterBox, which provides emergency shelter and other essential items following disasters and during prolonged conflicts, will also launch an emergency fundraising appeal.
“With roughly a third of the country underwater, the humanitarian need in Pakistan from this climate change-fuelled disaster is staggering – and it will only grow,” said Kerri Murray, ShelterBox USA president.
“ShelterBox’s mission is to ensure no one goes without shelter after disaster, and our team in Pakistan will assess which communities are most in need, and how we can best meet the emergency shelter needs,” she said.
More than 33 million people across Pakistan have been affected by the flooding, and more than 1,100 people have died as homes have been sunk or been swept away.
The ShelterBox team aims to be on the ground in Pakistan this week to work with local partners, including local Rotary districts, to assess shelter and other humanitarian needs and map a response. The team will focus on the hardest hit areas first, including Sindh, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), and Balochistan.
“The flood waters are fast and lethal, and they do not discriminate,” said Haroon Altaf, ShelterBox regional director for Asia. “They are sweeping away anything in their path including people, homes, and livelihoods
“When there is so little dry land, and entire communities cut off, the logistics of getting shelter aid to the people in greatest need presents a complicated challenge.”
Of Pakistan’s 160 districts, 116 have been affected by the flooding. Sixty-six have official declared a “calamity” as waterways that feed the Indus River that runs through the country have burst through their banks. Nearly half a million people have crowded into relief camps after losing their homes.
ShelterBox has responded to flooding in Pakistan previously, including a 2010 response that served thousands. It also has experience responding to flood disasters, deploying aid to at least 75 since it was founded in 2000. It has also responded to flooding in Sri Lanka, Paraguay, Kenya, Malawi and Peru.
ShelterBox provides emergency shelter and other essential items to families who have lost their homes to disasters or conflict. The organization was nominated for a distinguished Nobel Peace Prize in 2018 and 2019. For more, visit ShelterBoxUSA.org.