Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Disasters Emergency Committee launches urgent Pakistan flood relief appeal

The DEC, made up of 15 UK charities, is urging everyone to donate whatever they can spare to help relief efforts.

Luke O'Reilly
Wednesday 31 August 2022 19:01 EDT
A boy and girl wade through mud near their flood-hit home in Charsadda, Pakistan (Mohammad Sajjad/AP)
A boy and girl wade through mud near their flood-hit home in Charsadda, Pakistan (Mohammad Sajjad/AP) (AP)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

The UK’s Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) has launched an urgent appeal to help millions of people devastated by the floods in Pakistan.

The DEC, made up of 15 UK charities, is urging everyone to donate whatever they can spare to help relief efforts.

DEC chief executive Saleh Saeed said that their priority is to protect lives as waters continue to rise.

“Our priority right now is to help save and protect lives as waters continue to rise,” he said.

“The scale of these floods has caused a shocking level of destruction – crops have been swept away and livestock killed across huge swathes of the country, which means hunger will follow.”

Mr Saeed acknowledged that the appeal comes at a difficult time for many Britons, as they struggle with the cost-of-living crisis.

“DEC charities are doing all they can but donations from the British public will make a huge difference in enabling them to reach more people,” he said.

“We’re urging everyone to give whatever they can at what we appreciate is a difficult time for us all.”

Pakistan has seen exceptionally heavy monsoon rains which have triggered flash floods, affecting 33 million people and damaging around one million homes.

The death toll is reported to be at least 1,162 people, with six million more in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.

On Tuesday, the United Nations launched an appeal for £138 million in emergency funding for Pakistan.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in