Flood Damage Relief in Pakistan
Flood Damage Relief in Pakistan
Flood Damage Relief in Pakistan
From June to August 2022, Pakistan experienced heavy rainfall due to the monsoon and other factors, resulting in large-scale floods in many areas. One-third of the country was flooded in August, and the Pakistani government declared a national state of emergency on August 25, 2022. 1,700 or more people were killed by the floods, and 33 million or more people, or approximately one in seven of the nation’s population, were affected.
In the affected areas, many houses were washed away, flooded, or collapsed, and those who lived in these houses were forced to live as evacuees. In addition, farmlands and livestock, which are the source of income for the people, were severely damaged, making it difficult for disaster victims to rebuild their lives, and it is expected that it will take a long time to recover.
In the wake of this disaster, Zensho decided to provide aid to help stabilize the lives of those affected by the disaster, in line with its corporate philosophy “to eradicate hunger and poverty from the world.” In order to support the food needs of people in difficult circumstances, we decided to distribute food in Dadu District of Sindh Province, which is one of the most seriously stricken areas and where approximately 850,000 people have been affected.
Decision on Emergency Relief
After Zensho and ZENSHO Group Worker’s Federation decided to provide emergency relief through a joint labor-management decision in September 2022, we organized a fund-raising campaign at the Group’s stores. In parallel, we have held discussions with various related organizations to determine what kind of aid should be provided using the donations received from customers and employees.
The decision was then made to use the total amount of 9,459,141 yen raised to donate to the disaster victims through the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan in Japan and to distribute food in the severely affected Dadu District of Sindh Province through Japan Emergency NGO (hereinafter “JEN”), a local emergency relief organization.
Food distribution in Dadu District
In Dadu District, where the food distribution was conducted, approximately 850,000 people (half or more of the population of Dadu District) were affected by the floods. In addition to the severity of the damage, the inland location of the area made it difficult for international organizations and other aid providers to reach the area.
After Zensho’s decision to provide aid, JEN’s local staff, who had already been working in Dadu District, conducted another survey of the damage to the people who would be appropriate targets for this project. Villages for food distribution were selected according to the following criteria: houses that were halfway or completely destroyed, households that had not yet received food aid, and households with physically challenged people, pregnant women, and infants. In the villages where food was to be distributed, a beneficiary identification committee consisting of residents and JEN staff visited each household in the area to identify households to which food was to be distributed and to confirm the situation.
Then, from February to March 2023, JEN’s local staff carefully packaged staple foods such as rice and flour, as well as beans and tea, which Pakistani people eat on a daily basis, and distributed them to 507 affected households (approximately 3,550 people) in Dadu District.
JEN staff interviewing village residents
Food distribution
A woman who is to give birth to her fourth child receiving food
Overview of Food Distribution
| Distribution dates: | For three days on Tuesday, February 14, Wednesday, February 15, and Thursday, March 9, 2023 |
|---|---|
| Location: | Dadu District of Sindh Province in Pakistan |
| Number of people receiving food: | 507 households (approximately 3,550 people) |
| Details of food provided: | 10kg of rice, 20kg of flour, 5L of cooking oil, 6kg of beans, 5kg of sugar, 1kg of tea leaves, and 1kg of milk powder (mainly for tea) per household |
Zensho Employees Visited the Affected Area
In May 2023, three Zensho employees visited Dadu District to assess the damage caused by the floods, the effectiveness of the aid provided, and with a view to providing further aid in the future. They visited five villages where food distribution was actually carried out, and directly asked the disaster victims about the situation at the time of the floods and the effectiveness of the food distribution. Many of the beneficiaries expressed their gratitude for the food that they received (thanks to Zensho’s support), as well as the difficulty they had in obtaining relief supplies at the time of the floods.
The Zensho Group will continue to provide aid that meets local needs through what we see and hear locally and through ongoing information gathering.
Residents living in shelters
Evacuated from their homes
and still living in shelters
At the time of the floods, the water level rose to the point where the color of the wall changed
Land that has dried up after flood waters receded
Crops
are having difficulty growing
Distributed food shown by beneficiaries
After two months,
they were still being used with great care
Interviewing the village residents
Interacting with the village residents and being given a folk art hat to wear
Featured in Business News of Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO).
Zensho’s relief efforts for the flood victims in Pakistan and its visit to the affected area were featured in JETRO’s Business News. Click here to read the article.記事はこちら
Visited the Affected Area in May 2023
While there has been little media coverage of Pakistan, which has suffered tremendous damage, and local aid from other countries has been scarce due to difficulties in coordination, we have decided to provide aid to such areas based on our vision “to eradicate hunger and poverty from the world.”
When I visited the affected areas, I found that the situation was more severe than I had imagined, and although there are many people who live under these conditions from day to day, no continuous aid has been provided. Even under such serious circumstances, we were impressed by the words of the disaster victims to whom we provided food aid saying, “You have truly saved our lives” and “Thank you for providing not only rice, flour, and oil, but also some luxury items, such as tea.”
We would like to thank JEN for conducting this relief effort, and for the transparent screening process by visiting the affected areas door to door, sometimes by boat, in the midst of the floods. We believe that this enabled us to provide food aid to those households that truly needed it. We are also very grateful for their consideration of our safety and other issues during our visits to the affected areas.
We will continue to visit areas where aid is required and continue to engage in support efforts in order to provide relief supplies directly to those in need, so that we can help them become self-reliant.
Tatsuya Hasegawa, Executive Officer, Zensho Holdings Co., Ltd.
