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Guernsey will be making a donation of £20,000, via the UK, to help people affected by the ongoing floods in Pakistan.
The island's Overseas Aid & Development Commission has agreed to make the donation by contributing through the UNHCR "to help to alleviate the ongoing effects of the severe Monsoon Floods".
The OADC said it has been informed that more than 30 million people in Pakistan have been affected by the exceptional rains and subsequent devastating floods across the Country.
This has left 6.4 million people in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, with more than 1,300 fatalities reported, and more than 950,000 homes either damaged or destroyed.
Further to that, two million acres of crops have been ruined.
Pictured: File image of a young girl in Pakistan, in a flooded area. (Pixabay)
80 districts of Pakistan have been affected including the provinces of Sindh, Balochistan and Khyper Pakhtunkwa. Extreme and intense rainfall is expected to continue in September and October to exacerbate an already dire situation in those areas, and others.
As Pakistan is one of the world’s largest refugee hosting countries with more than 1.3m refugees, UNHCR teams are already on the ground distributing aid. They have been working in specific regions of Pakistan for more than 40 years previously too. That work was in response to the Afghanistan situation.
As part of UN-wide effort, UNHCR is supporting the response to scale up humanitarian assistance to refugees and host communities affected by the monsoon rains.
Guernsey’s donation of £20,000 will support 1,688 households, or up to 10,000 people.
They'll be provided with basic essentials such as tents, tarpaulins, blankets, sleeping mats, mosquito nets, kitchen sets, buckets, jerry cans and solar lamps.
Deputy Chris Blin, the President of the OA&DC, said this help will go to those who need it through the work of the teams already on the ground.
Pictured: Deputy Chris Blin said the situation in Pakistan warranted our financial support.
“A number of regions of Pakistan have been devastated and our thoughts are with all those people who have been terribly affected at this time. The scale of the flooding and the ongoing impact on communities is unprecedented and, in such situations, refugees tend to be the hardest hit.”
“Newly released data shows that Pakistan is 161st out of 191 countries on the United Nations’ Human Development Index and therefore well within the lowest quartile.
"Countries in the lowest quartile are the poorest in the World and this is where the Commission targets its work.
"Of course, Pakistan is also a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, which is particularly current following the sad demise of its Head, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
"The Commission will continue to monitor the situation and will look to provide further support if appropriate.”
Pictured top: File image, of an area of Pakistan affected by the floods. (Pixabay)
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