Pakistan Fundraiser for Saira Ismail

Support Mercy Corps' work in Pakistan

Economic growth in Pakistan is constrained by ongoing regional instability and conflict, which contributes to domestic instability and violence.  Rates of tuberculosis, maternal and child mortality, and malnutrition are some of the highest in South Asia.  Better governance remains a critical need for equitable development.  

Mercy Corps' work in Pakistan centers on the 5 key areas listed below:

• Emergency Response: 
• Agriculture & Food: Helping dairy farmers increase their incomes by keeping their animals healthy
• Health: Increasing access to tuberculosis treatment; training health workers and midwives to improve maternal childbirth and newborn health
• Economic Opportunity: Providing training in key skills and connecting trainees with local employment opportunities
• Disaster preparedness: Working with local authorities to develop long-term disaster prevention efforts like reducing soil erosion to mitigate future flooding

Deadly floods in Pakistan displace millions

Across Pakistan, one in seven people have been affected by the devastation of unprecedented rainfall and flash floods.  The U.N. estimates that 33 million people have felt the effect of the deadly floods, which ave killed more than a thousand people and displaced 7.9 million people since June 2022.

Balochistan, a province that is not usually affected by monsoon season, has been inundated with flash floods.  The economically under-developed province is the worst-affected, receiving more than 5 times its average rainfall.  The floods have destroyed infrastructure, making the area extremely difficult to access.  Mercy Corps Pakistan is responding in the province, distributing food, water, and cash, with a focus on reaching large families, women-led households, and people with disabilities.

The spread of waterborne disease is on the rise.  The number of people with malaria, typhoid, diarrhea, skin diseases, and eye infections is growing exponentially in the camps for people who have been displaced.  

"It make take the country years to recover from a disaster of this scale," said Farah Naureen, Mercy Corps' country director for Pakistan at the time of the floods.  "The rising flood waters have extensively destroeyd livestock and crops, jeopardizing millions of livelihoods, resulting in enormous immediate relief needs, and compounding the current humanitarian crisis in Pakistan."