September 1, 2010

CHICAGO – International Disaster Response (IDR) of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) announced Aug. 31 it has committed an additional $110,000 to respond to human needs in Pakistan, where widespread flooding from monsoons has greatly affected the country.

The ELCA will provide $50,000 to Church World Service (CWS), New York, for mobile health clinics in Pakistan, and it will provide $60,000 to Lutheran World Relief (LWR), Baltimore, to be sent to United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR)/Muslim AID. The ELCA previously gave $100,000 to CWS for initial relief efforts.

The Pakistan National Disaster Management Authority reported approximately 17.6 million people have been affected by the floods, wrote Megan Bradfield, IDR associate director, ELCA Global Mission, in an Aug. 31 memo. Pakistan's population is slightly more than 166 million.

The greatest health needs are for access to health services, sustained supplies of medicines, vaccinations against various communicable diseases, particularly for young children and pregnant women, and restoration of public health facilities, Bradfield reported.

"Though floodwaters are beginning to recede in many areas, parts of Sindh continue to battle with severe flooding," Bradfield reported. Sindh is one of the four provinces of Pakistan.

Almost 900,000 people are in camps and "spontaneous settlements," according to the Sindh Provincial Disaster Management Authority.

Reports from some parts of Balochistan, the largest province in Pakistan, point to "a worsening situation, with thousands of affected people cut off and increasing rates of water-borne disease," Bradfield reported. Critical needs remain in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, another of Pakistan's provinces, with a continual risk of outbreaks of diarrheal disease, she wrote.

CWS is providing emergency health assistance through its mobile health unit in the North West Frontier Province, Bradfield reported. "The agency's health teams and mobile health units are focusing on providing preventive and curative health services," she wrote.

"The priority of (the) health relief and recovery program is to provide basic services to flood survivors returning to their areas, where health facilities are completely or partially affected by the flood," Bradfield wrote.

The ELCA's initial $100,000 gift, sent in early August, was used to provide shelter, and home kits with materials such as plastic sheeting, cans for carrying water and other liquids, cooking supplies and soap. CWS expects to develop a long-term action plan by the end of September.

With LWR and UMCOR/Muslim AID, the ELCA funds will be directed to two specific responses: water, sanitation and hygiene needs; and food, shelter and nonfood items, Bradfield reported. UMCOR/Muslim AID plans to distribute hygiene kits to about 500 families and provide clean water to about 5,000 families. Priority will be given to the neediest people.

The ELCA funds through LWR and UMCOR/Muslim AID will also be used to distribute food packs and tents to Pakistani families with the greatest need.

To provide financial gifts for Pakistan flood relief, go to https://community.ELCA.org/NetCommunity/SSLPage.aspx?pid=580, on the ELCA Web site. Gifts may also be given by phone at 1-800-638-3522, or they may be sent to ELCA Disaster Response, 39330 Treasury Center, Chicago, IL 60694-9300. Please write "Pakistan Flooding" on the check's memo line.

ELCA News Service