DEC Pakistan Floods Appeal

The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) has launched an appeal on 1 September 2022 for those affected by the floods in Pakistan.

Devastating floods have hit Pakistan, killing at least 1,100 people and leaving more than six million in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. A third of the country (an area almost the size of Great Britain) has been submerged, according to the government, in what the UN Secretary General António Guterres has called a “climate catastrophe.”

More than a million homes have been destroyed or badly damaged, leaving many homeless and exposed to the elements. Around 33 million people are affected overall - one in seven Pakistanis. Whole villages have been cut off, with rescuers struggling to reach them.

Huge swathes of agricultural land have been affected, with crops swept away and three quarters of a million livestock killed, which will mean many people going hungry in the longer term. There is also a high risk from water-borne diseases spreading in affected areas.

Life-saving aid

Aid agencies are scrambling to respond to meet people’s basic needs such as food, clean water and shelter, and the government of Pakistan has called for international assistance to provide humanitarian aid.

DEC charities are providing life-saving aid either directly or through local partners, but need more funds to scale up their operations, particularly with conditions expected to worsen as the rains continue. Although World Vision is a DEC partner, we are not working in Pakistan. So we are calling on supporters to pray and give via the DEC appeal for other organisations to do all they can to help.

The situation as of 1 September 2022:

• At least 1,100 people have been killed and 1,500 injured due to the flooding.
  
  
• Over six million people are in need of humanitarian assistance.
  
  
• 33 million people are affected overall, 15% or one in seven of the population.
  
  
• According to the government of Pakistan, a third of the country has been submerged.
  
  
• 218,000 houses have been destroyed and 662,000 have been damaged – meaning over a million homes have been destroyed or damaged.
  
  
• The worst hit areas have seen five times as much rainfall as the 30-year average.
  
  
• Two million acres of crops have been affected and at least 794,000 livestock have been lost.

Join us in praying for Pakistan

Please join us and share our prayers with your church - for the children and families of Pakistan, and for all those responding locally, offering practical support and compassionate care.

Pray with us

Prayers for those who have lost

Heavenly Father as we try to comprehend all that is happening in Pakistan our hearts grieve for what we are witnessing. We ask for you to be with all who have suffered loss in these terrible floods. For those who have lost homes, we pray for shelter and community. For those who have lost livelihoods, we ask for financial security. For those who have lost loved ones, we pray that they know comfort in their mourning.

Prayers for those providing help

Lord God we pray you give strength to all those who are providing support in Pakistan. For the government, for emergency services, for faith leaders and for neighbours. Give them all the endurance, resilience and compassion they will need. We pray especially for those who are sacrificially helping others whilst also coping with their own losses.

Prayers for the world’s response

Lord we pray for world leaders as they decide how to respond. We pray that you stir hearts into generosity towards the people of Pakistan. We pray also that our leaders will know humility and courage as they wrestle with the climate crisis that has contributed to these floods.

Prayers for the floods to subside

And Father God, author of creation who shaped this earth by your power and might, may the waters subside quickly and the land be restored.

Amen

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4, NIV)