ISLAMABAD: The United Kingdom has announced an additional £1.2 million (Rs454 million) in anticipatory flood response funding for Sindh, raising its total humanitarian assistance to Pakistan this season to £2.53m (Rs958m).
With floods predicted to hit Sindh imminently, the UK said it was acting swiftly in support of the Pakistan government’s coordinated response to help communities prepare before disaster strikes. The funding will be channelled through NGOs to strengthen early warning systems, organise community evacuations, identify vulnerable households, pre-position essential supplies, protect livestock and prepare evacuation centres.
“These measures are lifesaving, through seeking to protect communities before disaster hits,” the British High Commission said in a statement. British High Commissioner Jane Marriott CMG, OBE noted that Sindh was in a “critical window” to prepare and reduce the impact of the upcoming floods. “For every dollar spent on prevention, up to seven dollars are saved in response. More importantly, lives are saved, and destruction is avoided,” she said.
The latest package complements £1.33m (Rs503.6m) announced on August 22 for early response and relief in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Gilgit-Baltistan. That support includes dry food rations, search and rescue operations, mobile medical camps, rehabilitation of drinking water systems, restoration of irrigation channels and livelihood assistance for farming communities.
The UK has also contributed to the Start Ready Disaster Risk Financing system in Pakistan. From this mechanism, £500,000 (Rs189m) has been released to reach 20,000 people across Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to anticipate and mitigate humanitarian impacts from future flooding.
