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04-07-2011 | Latest News , Asia & Pacific

IFRC Pakistan Flood Operation: 1 Year on

ENG

4 B-Rolls available to preview and downloads with SHOTLIST

VIDEO 1 - WATER AND SANITATION PROGRAMME (SHOTLIST ATTACHED)


The July/August 2010 floods that inundated Pakistan destroyed sanitation and sewage systems and contaminated water sources. Pipelines, irrigation channels, bore holes and hand pumps were partially damaged or fully destroyed.


People were in immediate need of safe drinking water, as waterborne diseases were on the rise. The IFRC, Pakistan Red Crescent Society (PRCS), and its Movement partners put in place a water and sanitation program in the three most affected provinces.


Plans included the construction of hand pumps to provide clean drinking water, and latrines and washrooms to discourage open defecation. Water supply schemes, sewage and drainage systems would also be restored.


PRCS volunteers also conduct community-focused hygiene promotion sessions to encourage hygienic practices to minimize the risk of disease.


The longer term recovery programme will continue the work already started, benefitting 15,000 families.


VIDEO 2 -
Shelter Programme Sindh, Pakistan (SHOTLIST ATTACHED)


Monsoon floods in July/August 2010 left millions of people across Pakistan homeless, forcing many of them to live under the open sky, before finding shelter in camps for the internally displaced. Hundreds of thousands of homes were damaged or destroyed.


The IFRC and Pakistan Red Crescent Society (PRCS) conducted assessments in the flood hit areas of Sindh and Punjab and identified families who lost their homes completely. On the basis of the assessment, IFRC/PRCS initiated a shelter pilot project in the Thatta district of Sindh province. Using cash grants, 18 of the most vulnerable families in two villages would receive new one room houses. Following local custom, the houses are made of wood and timber, however, more durable construction methods are being utilized to ensure the structures are safer during the next disaster.


The shelter project is part of the integrated recovery programme for the IFRC/PRCS floods operation. Its aim is to reach and help 11,500 families in Sindh and Punjab.


VIDEO 3 - PSYCHOSOCIAL SUPPORT PROGRAMME Sindh, Pakistan
(SHOTLIST ATTACHED)


When monsoon floods forced millions of Pakistan's poor out of their homes in July/August 2010, many were left carrying emotional scars from the trauma they had experienced. One year later, some still complain of having trouble focusing, sleeping, staying asleep, and express fear of the sound of running water.


The IFRC, Pakistan Red Crescent Society (PRCS), and its partners have implemented a psychosocial support programme (PSP) to help survivors get back on their feet and resume a normal life. It falls under the health programme and is being implemented across the country, although the focus is on Sindh in the south, the province hit worst by the flooding.


PRCS volunteers visit villages daily and talk with the men and women, getting them to relate their experiences, and in the process, helping the work through their trauma. Through the Danish Red Cross, women and men are being trained on how to use sewing machines, which will help, not just their emotional stability, but their ability to earn a living. PRCS volunteers also initiate play activities with the children: singing, dancing, drawing, and sports.


The footage contained here is of the PSP being implemented by the Danish Red Cross in Dadu, Sindh province.


VIDEO 4 - LIVELIHOODS PROGRAMME
(SHOTLIST ATTACHED)


The monsoon floods that ravaged the lives of millions in July/August 2010 proved to have a devastating effect on people's sources of income. Since Pakistan is an agrarian economy, most people depend on farming, growing mainly wheat, sugarcane, maize and rice as food staples. When the floods came, not only were their ready crops destroyed, but the land remained uncultivable for the next several months.


The IFRC, Pakistan Red Crescent Society (PRCS), and its partners implemented a livelihoods programme, under which they distribute seeds and fertilizer to farmers. IFRC and PRCS are also providing cash grants to replace the assets farmers lost during the floods, and to help them re-establish an income generation activity to help rebuild their lives. The programme is being implemented in the provinces of Sindh, Punjab and KPK.


In addition, the Danish Red Cross has opened community centres in Sindh which serve as sewing training centres for flood-affected women and men. These women and men learn sewing for personal gain and to make it a source of income generation. The community centres serve as a social gathering point where PRCS volunteers also hold health and cultural activity sessions with men, women and children.


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