UK Announces Additional £1.2 Million for Anticipatory Flood Response in Sindh

ISLAMABAD, Sept 4 : The United Kingdom has announced an additional £1.2 million (approximately PKR 45.4 crore) in humanitarian assistance to support anticipatory flood response efforts in Sindh. With this new allocation, the UK’s total humanitarian support to Pakistan this year rises to £2.53 million (around PKR 95.8 crore), benefiting more than 400,000 vulnerable people across the country.

The new funding is being channeled to non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Sindh, where floods are predicted imminently. The assistance aims to strengthen community resilience and reduce the impact of potential disasters by enabling:

• Early warning systems and community evacuations
• Identification of vulnerable households requiring urgent assistance
• Pre-positioning of essential relief supplies and livestock protection
• Preparation and readiness of evacuation centres

British High Commissioner to Pakistan, Jane Marriott CMG, OBE, underlined the importance of timely action. She said:
“Sindh is in a critical window to prepare and reduce the impact of the upcoming floods. For every dollar spent on prevention, up to seven dollars are saved in response. More importantly, lives are saved, and destruction is avoided.”

This latest support builds upon £1.33 million (PKR 50.36 crore) previously announced on 22 August for early response and relief operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, and Gilgit-Baltistan. That package covered distribution of dry food rations, search and rescue operations, mobile medical camps, rehabilitation of drinking water systems, restoration of irrigation channels, and assistance for livelihoods and agriculture.

In addition, the UK has contributed to the Start Ready Disaster Risk Financing mechanism in Pakistan. Under this scheme, £500,000 (PKR 18.9 crore) was recently released to reach 20,000 people across Punjab, Sindh, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, helping communities anticipate and mitigate the humanitarian impacts of future flooding.

With climate change intensifying the frequency and severity of floods in Pakistan, the UK’s proactive support emphasizes the importance of anticipatory action to save lives and minimize destruction before disaster strikes.