Responding to the Floods in Pakistan

Updated: September 24, 2010

Situational Information

• Pakistan Flood Incident Reporting: PakReport is a centralized database for gathering information on disaster-related variables, using information communicated through SMS and reports available in the media. With your help, PakReport can create a useful map of the crisis, available and accessible to all. All it takes is a simple text message to 3441 relating your observations of the flood.

• U.S. State Department: Updated information on the federal response to the disaster, as well as links to text donations and videos.

• AlertNet: A humanitarian news network from the Reuters Foundation that provides detailed news updates on the extent of damage and ongoing humanitarian relief efforts.

• ReliefWeb: A project of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. This Web site serves as a clearing house for information related to the floods and ongoing situational reports.
  
  
• The United Nations system, through its Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), is on standby to offer rapid assistance to Pakistan and its people.
  

Philanthropy’s Response

Send updates on your efforts to , and we’ll include them here.

Community Foundations

• Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta
  The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta is responding to the needs in Pakistan through engagement of our 600+ individual donors and their families.

Corporate Foundations and Giving Programs

• The Amgen Foundation has made a $100,000 donation to the Pakistan flood relief efforts; $50,000 to International Medical Corps and $50,000 to UNICEF. In addition, the Amgen Foundation will match staff members’ contributions on a 1:1 basis through the Matching Gifts Program.

• Bank of America
  In addition to lowering our minimum donation threshold for our 1:1 employee matching gift program to $1 (until October), Bank of America intends to support the following organizations that are providing on the ground response and relief for victims of the Pakistan Floods:

  • $100,000 for Midland Doctors MDAUK http://www.mdauk.co.uk/about-us.html to support on-the-ground emergency physicians, medical supply response, and the temporary hospital in Peshawar.
  • $75,000 for Save the Children www.savethechildren.org to support their on-the-ground shelter, food, hygiene kit distribution, and mobile health teams. Part of the funding will also support Save the Children’s relief and response efforts to help flood victims in Ladakh, India.
  • $75,000 for World Food Program www.wfpusa.org, to support their emergency food service for thousands of displaced individuals and families over the next three months.

• Cisco Corporation
  The Cisco Foundation has a $250,000 disaster aid campaign (employee donations matching) in place, in response to this disaster. The NGO’s listed in our campaign currently are: CARE, Islamic Relief USA, American Red Cross International Response Fund, and the British Red Cross.

• General Mills Foundation
  In response to the recent severe flooding in Pakistan that has led to widespread displacement and destruction, the General Mills Foundation will contribute $250,000 to CARE International’s Livelihood Rehabilitation efforts.
  • General Mills’ support of CARE’s Livelihood Rehabilitation program will help affected individuals and families rebuild and better prepare against future flooding. CARE will also help farmers rehabilitate their crops and protect their farms from further damage. General Mills does not have employees or operations in Pakistan.  “The worldwide community is being called on to support the on-going relief efforts and General Mills, as a global corporate citizen, wants to do its part to help," said Ellen Goldberg Luger, the General Mills Foundation's executive director. "We hope General Mills’ gift will spur others to support the relief efforts.  We are grateful and proud to support CARE’s efforts to address the long-term relief needs of individuals and families in Pakistan."

• Intel Foundation
  Intel has agree to match our employees’ donations 1:1 up to $2,000 per employee.  So far we have received evidence of donations totaling $20,000.  Our matching funds will go to Mercy Corps.  In addition we are arranging a direct grant of $100,000 to Red Cross/Red Crescent (we will give to American Red Cross and they will transfer to the Red Crescent in Pakistan. 

• Levi Strauss Foundation
  The Levi Strauss Foundation made a $50,000 USD donation to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) to support emergency relief efforts in the north where flooding has been most severe.

• Medtronic Foundation
  The Medtronic Foundation has pledged $100,000 through the Medtronic Foundation to support flooding relief efforts in Pakistan. The $100,000 will be directed to the American Refugee Committee (ARC) to support mobile health teams working in the affected regions. Medtronic employees worldwide also are offered five days of paid leave to assist in relief efforts.
  This donation is in addition to an existing five-year, $500,000 grant to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies disaster relief fund, which ensures that immediate financial support is available for responding to emergencies.

• State Street Foundation
  The State Street Foundation has directed $50,000 to the American National Red Cross to help support relief efforts in Pakistan.

• Western Union Foundation
  The Western Union Foundation will contribute $100,000 towards disaster relief efforts to provide victims with basic necessities such as safe drinking water, temporary shelter, clothing and access to sanitation facilities through the International Rescue Committee (IRC) response teams actively working in Pakistan. Additionally:
  • Western Union also is launching no transfer fees for any amount sent to Pakistan from the United States, United Kingdom and select countries in the Middle East including Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, from participating locations. The no transfer fee initiative will run for a period of one month, starting August 12, 2010 and ending September 12, 2010.
  • Western Union has activated its Agent Gift Matching Program in support of Pakistan, matching one-to-one Agent donations from around the world up to $100,000. Additionally, all employee donations will be matched two-to-one in the United States and three-to-one outside of the United States.

Independent Foundations

• MacArthur Provides Emergency Support for Pakistan
  The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is providing an emergency response grant of $350,000 to the United Nations Population Fund for maternal and reproductive health support to women in ten districts in Sindh province affected by the recent floods in Pakistan.  Support will include distribution of hygiene kits to women to promote health and prevent infection. 

• Packard Provides Emergency Support for Pakistan
  Working primarily in the Baluchistan and Sindh regions for the past decade to provide population and reproductive health information and services, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation has been moved to provide emergency funding to help address the more basic needs of displaced Pakistanis. The Foundation will provide emergency relief grants to three successful grantee organizations who are equipped to reprioritize their efforts in this time of urgent need.   A total of $700,000 has been granted to the National Rural Support Programme (NRSP), the Society or Obstetricians and Gynecologists Pakistan (SOGP) and the Health and Nutrition Development Society (HANDS) who are mobilizing their teams to provide emergency food, water, medical assistance, clothing and shelter.

Operating Foundations

• Open Society Institute
  The Open Society Institute and its associated foundations have announced it will give an additional $5 million to its foundation in Pakistan to respond to the humanitarian crisis.

Public Foundations

• GlobalGiving
  GlobalGiving is currently working with eight grassroots organizations providing aid to those affected by the flooding in Pakistan. During this critical time of need, we will be sending disbursements to organizations weekly to make sure donations are getting where they are needed most as soon as possible. Our partners are providing a number of services including medical supplies, shelter, water, aid training, sanitation necessities, etc.

Colleague Organizations

• Given the ongoing crisis in Pakistan, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Business Civic Leadership Center (BCLC) and the U.S.-Pakistan Business Council (USPBC) are coordinating closely with businesses and partner organizations on the private sector response to the country’s worst floods in history. American companies are responding to the disaster relief effort with corporate aid pledges, including cash, in-kind contributions, employee-matching campaigns, and customer engagement.

News on Philanthropy's Response

• The Canadian International Development Agency announced that in order to better respond to the needs of the people of Pakistan and to more effectively match the generosity of Canadians, the Government of Canada will match eligible donations made from August 2 until September 12, 2010. There is no limit on the amount of funds that are available through this programme from the Government of Canada.

• "Charities Sound Alarm Over High Level of Need in Pakistan and Few Donations to Meet It." Chronicle of Philanthropy, August 18, 2010.

• "Pakistan Floods: Where is Philanthropy's Response?" Asian American Giving, August 15, 2010.

NGO Response

International relief agencies are currently monitoring the situation in Pakistan and are standing by to deploy resources as needed.

• InterAction, the largest alliance of U.S.-based international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), lists their members responding to the floods in Pakistan.

• Give2Asia launched a Pakistan Flood Relief Fund after receiving initial commitments of $30,000 from private donors wishing to help survivors.

Send updates on your efforts to , and we’ll include them here.