Flooding Relief: How To Help Pakistan

By The WBUR Newsroom
Aug 19, 2010, 3:47 PM
3 Comments

Flood-affected people walk past the rubble of collapsed houses near Nowshera, Pakistan, on Aug. 8, 2010. (AP)

Since late July, monsoon rains have triggered heavy flooding in Pakistan, affecting millions of people. So how can you help? We’ve compiled a list of relief organizations accepting donations to aid victims.

Aid Groups

Boston-based Oxfam America, which focuses on issues of poverty and injustice, has a goal of providing more than 1 million people with clean water, sanitation facilities and other essential aid.

Grassroots International, a Boston-based international development and human rights organization, does not have a program in the nation but has put together a list of Pakistani groups for donors who wish to directly support groups working in the region.

The International Rescue Committee, which has had a presence in Pakistan since 1980, is accepting donations through its Crisis Watch Web page.

The American Red Cross is working with its partners, including the Pakistan Red Crescent Society, to assist those affected.

CARE is distributing emergency shelter materials and supplies, such as mosquito nets, plastic floor mats, water purification tablets, hygiene kits and kitchen kits.

Save the Children has staff in the region and is mobilizing to rush aid to displaced children and families who need essential supplies.

The United Nations World Food Programme is delivering emergency food supplies to families in the hardest-hit areas, hoping to reach up to 2 million people.

UNICEF’s United States Fund is providing hygiene kits and repairing tube wells and has helped set up 24 medical camps.

Doctors Without Borders is working to reduce the risk of epidemics in Pakistan, as conditions created by flooding compound the possibility of outbreaks.

Church World Service is distributing food packages and tents for tens of thousands of families and the organization’s mobile medical teams are providing emergency care.

Have other relief organizations we should add to our list? Let us know in the comments.

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Deborah Cake

Doctors without Borders is in Pakistan doing relief work. Please support their efforts too.
Thank you.
Judith Kohatsu

Add some of the mainline church related groups such as UMCOR (United MEthodist Committee on Relief), Church Word Service, Mennonite Service Committee etc – These groups usually do 100% pass-through (i.e. no overhead) as the operating costs are paid by the church organizations themseleves. It’s an economically more efficient and effective way to give. Most of the organizations pair and cooperate with each other and local partners on the ground.
Janet Parker

Mercy Corps is also playing an active role in relief efforts in Pakistan. More info at mercycorps.org.