The Pakistan Floods: Update on Kiva Field Partner Asasah and How to Help

The recent flooding in Pakistan has been termed the worst natural disaster in country's history with 1,600 deaths and an estimated 20 million people -- one-ninth of the country's total population -- displaced by the flooding. Flooding began on July 22 in the mountainous northwest region of the country causing rivers to burst their banks and has causing destruction to one-quarter of the country's land area.

Kiva currently supports borrowers in Pakistan through our field partner, Asasah. Asasah serves tens of thousands of borrowers through credit and other development services from Lahore in Pakistan’s Punjab province. Kiva has reached out to Asasah and they appear to be less affected by the floods given their geographic limitation to Punjab province. However, the country as a whole continues to suffer from the effects of the flooding.  Learn more here.

If you are looking for ways to help, we suggest you click here to learn more about BRAC, an organization that has been on the ground in Pakistan since 2007 and operating in some of the countries most remote and hardest hit areas. Mr. Farid Rahman, BRAC Pakistan’s Country Manager, noted in a recent report shared with Kiva,

The most critical priorities at the present time include shelter, food assistance, clean water and emergency health care. To avoid a food crisis, up to six million people will need food assistance across the country, while more attention is needed to ensure livestock survival. Clean water is also crucially needed, with affected victims facing the risks of water-borne diseases.

To donate to BRAC and the work it is doing in Pakistan, visit their website here.


Note: Kiva actively partners with BRAC in Uganda and South Sudan, sister organizations to BRAC Pakistan, but does not currently facilitate lending to BRAC Pakistan.