How to help Pakistan

Extreme flooding across Pakistan devastated the lives of millions of people, including this displaced Afghan family who took shelter in Pakistan’s north-western Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

More than 985,000 Afghan refugees live among host communities in the worst-hit Balochistan & Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces.

Photo: ©UNHCR/Usman Ghani

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How to help Pakistan and refugees impacted by the floods

Since mid-June, more than 30 million people in Pakistan have been affected by the devastating floods, leaving 6.4 million people in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.

As winter bears down, families who were already forced to flee Afghanistan are now facing winter after losing their homes and livelihoods to the catastrophic floods.

Our colleagues on the ground reported that the scale of the destruction that people have faced is unimaginable. Nearly 300,000 houses were fully destroyed and more than 650,000 had been damaged by rains and floods. Many families were left living under open skies with nothing to protect them from the elements. Others are crammed into makeshift camps.

UNHCR has already donated more than 1.2 million core relief items to assist 50,000 flood-affected families, as well as emergency cash assistance to the most vulnerable refugee households.

But refugee families and their host communities still need your support. Here are five ways you can help Pakistan today…

Make a donation and send help now

UNHCR teams are on the ground already distributing life-saving support to affected communities, including many of the 1.3 million Afghan refugees who have been generously hosted in Pakistan for over 40 years. You can make a donation here.

Fundraise for displaced families in the region

Fundraising for those affected by the devastating flash floods and monsoon rains is a great way to help raise money. There are lots of ways to get involved – from taking on a sporting challenge to organising an event at work, home or school, or simply asking for donations instead of birthday or wedding gifts. For more information, please visit our fundraising page.

Learn about the connection between climate change and displacement

Around 84% of the world’s refugees live in ‘climate change hotspots’, areas which are more likely to be affected by the adverse impacts of climate change. The effects of climate change, like extreme weather events, are hugely detrimental and increase the vulnerability of refugees and displaced people. To learn more about climate change and disaster-related displacement, please visit this page. Climate change is a conflict multiplier and the need to support displaced people is more important than ever. For more ways to help those displaced by conflict and disaster, sign up to our newsletter here.

Be a part of fighting misinformation

If you’re sharing content related to the Pakistan floods emergency, please only share from accredited sources like UNHCR, OCHA and World Economic Forum. If you’re unsure of whether a news source is accredited, please visit this website to help you spot misinformation.

To help children of all ages learn about global refugee issues, UNHCR has produced a range of teaching materials and selected online resources for teachers. To find out more and to sign up, visit the UNHCR Teaching about Refugees pages.

Become an advocate

Engage with your networks, community leaders and elected officials – online and offline – about welcoming refugees in your community. For more information on this, take a look at our website.