CRS supports victims of Pakistan floods

(Vatican Radio) Relief efforts continue in Pakistan and Afghanistan after floods caused by heavy monsoon rains inundated parts of the region earlier this week. More than one hundred people were killed in both countries, and local populations are now bracing themselves for further flooding in September, the typical monsoon season.

Catholic Relief Services is among the aid agencies on the ground in Pakistan. Andrew Schaefer is the Country Representative for CRS Pakistan, and he spoke to Giulia Cirillo about what is being done to support victims of the latest crisis.

Listen:

“There have been floods since 2010. […] In 2010 it was almost a fifth of the country, twenty, thirty million people were affected, it was massive. This year we don’t have official numbers, but right now about 165.000 people are affected."

“We are coordinating with the government and Caritas Pakistan on doing our assessment, to help understand what are the needs. […] We’re working with them to see if there’s any way that we can complement their relief efforts.”

“It has the potential to get worse. […] There could be the potential for flash floods as well as some of the riverbanks flooding farmland and villages.”