IOM appeals donors to fund to support 30,000 flood hit families in Sindh
Releases Video Highlights calling for shelter needs in province
IOM has launched a video highlighting ongoing shelter needs in communities in Sindh and Balochistan provinces hit by devastating floods in 2011. Following the successful completion of the pilot, IOM now appeals to international donor agencies and the private sector for funds to help another 30,000 families.
The release coincides with the launch earlier this week of the Pakistan Floods 2011 Early Recovery Framework, which appealed for an additional USD 440 million to scale up early recovery interventions to help thousands of flood-affected families to rebuild their lives.
The video focuses on emergency shelter and essential non-food relief items distributed in Sindh by IOM and the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID.)
"The film shows how plastic tarpaulins are often preferable to tents, as they are easier to transport, cheaper and can be reused during the reconstruction phase," explains IOM Pakistan Emergency Officer Izora Maskun.
"We also recorded how the solar lamps in the relief packages helped women and children in the temporary settlements and areas of return and made them safer places," she adds.
Assessments indicate that the vast majority of those displaced by flooding have now returned home.
But around 337,000 houses have been completely destroyed, leaving families with little or nothing with which to rebuild. Agencies seeking to help families rebuild or repair their homes report that to date they only have committed donor funding for some 51,000 homes.
Affected families list their priority needs as housing, health services, agricultural inputs and replacement animals.
IOM has now received DFID funding for a pilot project to build one-room, flood resistant shelters in southern Sindh and to provide early recovery shelter support for 7,500 families.