Pakistan

Healthcare, including nutrition, hygiene, and maternal and child health, is a prime focus for Concern Pakistan. Last year, we implemented ten health initiatives, including eight emergency responses and two development and recovery projects across 20 districts in Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Balochistan provinces. These programs reached nearly 1.3 million individuals in 2023, many of whom were affected by the 2022 floods in Sindh and Balochistan. Our emergency health services have included mobile medical camps, distributing hygiene and NFI kits, and leading awareness-raising sessions on health risks.  

Our nutrition programs focus on areas with high malnutrition rates (particularly in the wake of the 2022 floods), and provide treatment and prevention of under-nutrition while also working with local authorities to build the technical capacities of healthcare providers. Our standard-setting Community Management of Acute Malnutrition is complemented by our Surge approach, in which communities plan for anticipated, seasonal spikes in under-nutrition and work proactively to prevent and respond to these spikes. 

We also work with communities to prioritize menstrual health and hygiene as an essential component to the well-being and empowerment of women and adolescent girls and work to enhance menstrual hygiene management activities at health facilities, as well as within schools and communities.

In addition to our health programs, we have a special focus on access to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services and ran eight programs to this effect in 2023. This included the rehabilitation and installation of water infrastructures in communities, including health facilities and schools. We’ve also prioritized resilient structures like elevated platforms and other disaster risk reduction (DRR) features to ensure that these water points withstand future disasters. 

We have constructed latrines at both the household level and within health facilities and schools, along with handwashing stations. We also provide hygiene NFI kits (including menstrual hygiene) to families, schools, and health facilities, and promote good hygiene practices with training and demonstration sessions. 

Our WASH activities in Pakistan also include a focus on environmental health, which helps to curb the spread of vector-borne diseases.

Our integrated livelihoods programs in Pakistan include projects focus on food security, DRR, and climate change and operate in 12 districts, primarily in rural and suburban communities. Because these communities largely rely on agriculture for both their livelihoods and food security, we focus on building the resilience of rural communities given the effects of the climate crisis, including improving crop and vegetable production and helping out with livestock management.

We distribute unconditional cash grants to highly-vulnerable households and also work with families to develop off-farm livelihoods. We work with participants to develop the right skills and acquire the skills they need, including marketing and general business skills, along with the tools. This includes working with the refugee community living in Pakistan, where we have worked with the UNHCR’s MADE51 model to market products developed by Afghan refugees.