Photo: Holden Basch/Mercy Corps Mercy Corps staff distribute cash vouchers to families affected by violence in Pakistan.

May 28, 2009

Humanitarian crisis in Pakistan grows

Some 18,000 families a day are fleeing the conflict between government forces and Taliban militants, according to the UN — fanning fears of the biggest civilian exodus since the Rwandan genocide of the 1990s. More than 2.4 million have fled their homes this month.

Mercy Corps is helping thousands of affected families who lack sufficient food, bedding and medicine by providing cash vouchers to meet their essential needs.

Your gift to Mercy Corps will help us respond to families fleeing violence in Pakistan and around the world.

Yesterday, seven members of our response team distributed cash vouchers to 125 families taking refuge in the district of Mardan. Over the next four months, Mercy Corps will deliver vouchers to 20,000 affected families. The vouchers are redeemable for a $45 check that can be cashed at numerous local banks.

These cash transfers will help displaced families and their hosts get what they need quickly to meet their wide-ranging and disparate needs. Most left their homes with nothing but the clothes on their backs, and are taking refuge in impoverished communities whose own resources are being stretched dangerously thin.

We're also taking steps to help some of the estimated 70,000 pregnant women who've been displaced by the current fighting. We plan to set up a number of birthing stations in Mardan to help deliver babies and provide post-natal support to mothers.

Please help us expand our emergency efforts in Pakistan and in other communities in need around the world.

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