IOM and shelter cluster partner agencies are directing more
incoming aid to southern Sindh, where rising floodwaters running
parallel to the Indus River have caused fresh displacement in Dadu
district.

With shelter needs increasing by the day in Sindh and Punjab,
shelter agencies are rapidly expanding emergency operations in both
provinces. The move marks a shift away from Khyber Phaktunkhwa
(KPK) to the north.

In Sindh, the scene of the worst devastation, an estimated 6.9
million (out of 18.6 million people nationwide) have been affected
by the floods, according to the Provincial Disaster Management
Authority (PDMA). According to the National Disaster Management
Authority (NDMA), at least 1.25 million houses nationwide have been
damaged or destroyed.

"The number of people in need of emergency shelter is now
estimated at 8.75 million and growing as more areas are submerged.
The shelter cluster agencies, which are coordinated by IOM, have so
far reached about 1.83 million people. That leaves over 6.92
million people living in extreme conditions without basic shelter,"
says IOM Regional Representative for West and Central Asia Hassan
Abdel Moneim Mostafa.

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In Sindh's Dadu district, thousands have been evacuated from the
towns of Mehar and Juhi in recent days to some 300 government
displacement camps in the district or further south in Jamshoro and
Hyderabad districts.

Today IOM and local NGO partners will complete the distribution
of 2,000 shelter and household kits in the district. Over the
weekend, a further 1,000 shelter kits were distributed in Badin
district and 5,480 in Thatta district.

IOM and partner agencies are now distributing shelter materials
in Ghotki, Kashmore, Jacobabad, Shahdad Kot, Larkana, Thatta and
Dadu districts.

Akram Chand, a 30-year-old father of five, lost his house in
Lakhu Mul village over a month ago when the floods submerged much
of northern Sindh. The family is now living with 100 other families
in a makeshift settlement at Khawra Stop near Ghotki town under
US-donated plastic sheets given to them by IOM.

"We faced a double disaster. First heavy rains brought down our
houses and then the rest was swept away by the floods when canal
banks broke. All we have received in aid so far are these plastic
sheets, blankets and kitchen sets from IOM," he says.

While shelter needs remain vast in Sindh, tens of thousands of
families in Punjab are also still living in the open and waiting
for help to arrive.

Over the weekend this came in the form of 23,345 tents and
shelter kits, together with essential household items, which IOM
handed over to NGO partners including Muslim Hands, ACTED, Caritas,
People In Need Foundation, DASE Organization and NRSP for
distribution in Rajanpur, DG Khan, Multan and other Punjab
districts.

Thousands of families in Khyber Phaktunkhwa (KPK) also still
need help. A recently completed IOM assessment in KPK identified
1,400 families in need of emergency shelter kits, blankets, buckets
and jerry cans, which IOM will distribute in the coming days.

IOM is also ramping up its mass communications programme, which
informs flood victims of humanitarian services and prevention
measures against water-borne diseases.

As part of the programme, public service announcements on
health, water and sanitation improvement are currently being aired
on FM radio channels in Malakand and tribal areas over a two-week
period.

For more information on IOM's activities in Pakistan, to
download the IOM Appeal or to donate to IOM's flood response,
please go to: "/jahia/Jahia/pakistan" target="" title=
"">http://www.iom.int/jahia/Jahia/pakistan.

For information on the Emergency Shelter Cluster, please go to:
"http://sites.google.com/site/shelterpak2010/" target="_blank"
title="">http://sites.google.com/site/shelterpak2010/.

For additional information please contact:

Saleem Rehmat

IOM Islamabad

Tel: +92.3008560341

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

or

Eliane Engeler

Tel:  +92.300 852 635

E-mail: "mailto:engeler.iom@gmail.com">engeler.iom@gmail.com