ISLAMABAD: Saudi Arabia's King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief) announced on Thursday it has completed its third and fourth phase of aid distribution among flood victims in Pakistan's Sindh and Punjab provinces, providing them 15,000 kits of non-food items (NFI).
Devastating floods last year killed over 1,700 people in Pakistan and displaced over 33 million people in the South Asian country. Flash floods, triggered by unusually heavy rains, swept away large swathes of crops and damaged critical infrastructure. Pakistan estimates losses to be over $30 billion from the floods.
KSRelief provides humanitarian and development support to millions of beneficiaries in more than 49 countries. Pakistan is the fifth-largest recipient of assistance from the Saudi-based international agency and has received more than $120 million in aid since 2005.
KSrelief launched its third and fourth phases of the aid distribution program for Pakistan's flood victims last month.
“The King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief) has completed the distribution of the third & fourth phases of NFI kits, consisting of 15,000 kits, among flood-affected people living in Punjab and Sindh,” KSrelief said in a statement.
KSrelief has distributed 10,000 non-food items and 25,000 winter relief kits among the flood victims in the first and second phases of its relief efforts that started in October last year.
Following the completion of the third and fourth phases of the relief efforts, the total number of kits distributed in Pakistan has risen to 50,000 in Punjab and 350,000 in Sindh.
Each relief kit comprised two blankets, a shelter kit with a plastic mat, a kitchen set with a jerry can, and antibacterial soaps, the statement said.
In January this year, the kingdom also pledged $1 billion to assist Pakistan in carrying out its post-flood rehabilitation and reconstruction work.
Pakistan has strong political, cultural, economic, and defense ties with Saudi Arabia. The kingdom is also home to more than 2.5 million Pakistani expatriates and serves as a key source of remittances and oil supply to Islamabad.
