WFP scales up operations to complement government’s flood response

ISLAMABAD: The World Food Programme (WFP) continues to ramp up its emergency operations for the Pakistani families devastated by the floods, a statement said.

The life-saving food and nutrition assistance and recovery and resilience-building support are being rolled out, with an aim to reach 2.7 million people who are facing emergency level of food insecurity (IPC-4) and need urgent humanitarian aid.

The WFP is also increasing its logistical support to the Pakistan government.

Nearly eight million people are still reportedly displaced, 644,000 of them are in relief camps. The floodwaters have receded in some areas but scores of communities still remain cutoff, creating challenges for the delivery of aid.

There has been an outbreak of waterborne diseases, with 4.4 million cases of cholera, dengue and malaria reported nationwide, turning the flood emergency into a health crisis.

Some 600,000 pregnant women in flood-affected areas have no safe place to deliver babies, while five million children do not have immunisation and nutrition care.

The floods have exacerbated previously high levels of food insecurity and malnutrition for the millions of people.

The latest WFP and FAO assessment indicates that the number of people requiring emergency food assistance will increase from the pre-flood estimated 7.2 million to a staggering 14.6 million from December through March 2023.

WFP Response

By October 5, the WFP has reached over 700,000 flood-affected people with food and livelihood assistance in Balochistan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh, the country’s most hard-hit provinces.

Some 11,200 children under 2 and 12,007 pregnant and breastfeeding women have received specialised nutritious foods to help prevent and treat malnutrition and boost immunity against diseases.

The WFP is using 27 boats from the Provincial Disaster Management Authorities (PDMA) to ferry food, reaching 52,000 people (8,000 households) in hard-to-reach areas of Sindh.

Since early September, it has supported the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to handle 28,467 m3 of relief cargo and supported transportation to more than 50 different locations across Pakistan via 2,000 contracted trucks.

It has also coordinated the arrival of vessels at the Karachi Port, flights in Karachi, Sukkur and Islamabad airports, as well as trains arriving at the Pakistan border carrying relief items, as large amounts of bilateral in-kind relief items arrive at a level that exceeds the NDMA’s logistical capacity.

The month-long Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) is under way under the leadership of the Ministry of Planning and Development with the technical support of the Asian Development Bank, European Union, World Bank, and the UN.

The WFP is represented under the agriculture and food security sector, which is led by FAO, under the nutrition sub-sector and under the disaster risk reduction for crosscutting themes.

The report, with key recommendations, will be finalised by October 15.

After concluding the relief response, the WFP will gradually starts transition to recovery and resilience activities to help communities rehabilitate climate-smart infrastructure and restore livelihoods.

On October 4, the United Nations in Pakistan revised its flash appeal in view of the evolving needs on the ground, seeking $816 million to reach 9.5 million people.

The WFP’s scale-up requires $225 million, including $185 million in food and agriculture, $31 million in nutrition and $9 million in logistics.

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