August 18 2010

Relief packages for flood-affected families in Pakistan

18/08/2010 - SOS Children's Villages Pakistan is cooperating with other local NGOs to support families with desperately needed supplies. We help with purchasing and distribution of food and sanitary packages. In a second phase, orphaned, abandoned, lost children could find shelter and security in any of the eight SOS Children's Villages in the country.

Photo: Reuters/Eduardo Munoz, courtesy www.alertnet.org
Photo:   Reuters/Eduardo Munoz, courtesy www.alertnet.org

SOS Children's Villages Pakistan stands firm in its offer for accepting children which certainly is an equally important effort when others have left the scene already. Mrs Souriya Anwar, President of SOS Children's Villages Pakistan, said: "Fortunately none of the SOS facilities anywhere in the country are affected, nor are they are likely to be in the future, as they are in safe areas. However, large areas of the country and millions of people are affected. And the monsoon rains will continue for weeks. We have offered to the concerned authorities in all regions that we will take responsibility for any orphaned, abandoned, lost child."

For an immediate phase SOS Children's Villages Pakistan is not ready to provide direct emergency aid (in terms of logistics and staff) but is coordinating aid efforts with reliable local NGOs. "The first is the Concerned Citizens Society of Pakistan through which we are sending food parcels. The demand is unlimited", said Mrs Anwar.

Photo: Reuters/Akhtar Soomro, courtesy www.alertnet.org
Photo:   Reuters/Akhtar Soomro, courtesy www.alertnet.org

This emergency aid will not be operated by SOS Children's Villages Pakistan but by Concerned Citizens of Pakistan (CCP) who carried out big emergency programmes after the earthquake in 2005 and for internally displaced persons in the Swat Valley. SOS Children's Villages Pakistan has already cooperated with CCP in the past.

SOS Children's Villages Pakistan will purchase the food and sanitary supplies locally, make the packages and hand them over to CCP for distribution to affected families in the northern areas of Pakistan and in the south of the province of Punjab. Ramadan has also started; therefore it is even more essential that the people are provided with food which is produced locally.

Each of the packages (à USD 20) will help one family of 6-8 persons for ten days. Our target is to finance up to 100,000 packages.

Each package will contain wheat flour, lentils, rice, cooking oil, sugar, tea, milk powder, salt, chilly powder, washing soaps, toilet soaps, candles and matches.

WE URGENTLY ASK FOR YOUR HELP!