With an estimated 252,000 homes damaged or destroyed and some four
million people affected by rapidly rising flood waters,  the
need for emergency shelter and other relief items in the north and
centre of the country is growing daily.

While the government's National Disaster Management Authority
(NDMA) reports that over 50,000 tents have now been distributed to
affected families by the government and humanitarian partners, the
group of aid agencies contributing to emergency shelter, which is
coordinated by IOM, notes that more will be needed as the floods
move from north to south, displacing growing numbers of people
downstream in Punjab and Sindh provinces.

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width="185">"The immediate challenge for shelter cluster
agencies is to distribute available stocks of tents,
tarpaulins  and other essential relief items like jerry cans
for clean water, particularly to areas still cut off by flood
waters and damage to roads and bridges," says Brian Kelly, who
heads IOM's emergency response unit in Islamabad.

"The other challenge is to get more donor support to procure
more emergency shelter materials as soon as possible. We (the
cluster) have at least 5,000 more tents in the procurement
pipeline, but this emergency is still developing and procurement
takes time – something we don't have," he adds.

The emergency shelter cluster coordination mechanism brings
together some 30 humanitarian organizations including UN agencies,
international and local NGOs, international donors and the Pakistan
government.

An IOM operations team will today complete a distribution of 100
all-weather tents and 1,000 relief kits to destitute families in
the most affected Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) Union Councils of
Charsadda district, including Gulbela, Nakai and Agra.

Each kit consists of 6 blankets, 4 quilts, 4 sleeping
mattresses, 4 sleeping mats, 2 jerry cans, 2 mosquito nets, 2
plastic buckets, 1 kitchen set and 3 kg of washing soap.

In KPK, the province worst hit by the floods, IOM is also
supporting government and partner aid agencies through
dissemination of public information messages to protect
flood-affected families from waterborne diseases.

Six public service announcements (PSAs) are being broadcast
repeatedly on three FM radio stations targeting Peshawar,
Charsadda, Nowshera and Swat districts. They advise people to try
to use clean drinking water in order to avoid acute watery
diarrhea, cholera and other diseases. They also provide helpline
numbers for families to locate separated or lost children.

In KPK many flood survivors continue to live outdoors along the
roads, while others have taken shelter in over 300 collective
centers, including schools, mosques and other public buildings
which survived the deluge. Five informal camps have been
established, as well as over 100 spontaneous settlements. 

For further details, please contact:

Saleem Rehmat

Tel. +92-300-856-0341

E-mail: "mailto:srehmat@iom.int">srehmat@iom.int

or

Chris Lom

Tel. +66.819275215

E-mail: "mailto:clom@iom.int">clom@iom.int