The humanitarian community continues to complement the relief response of the Government of Sindh in Tharparkar district following drought calamity. Untimely and low rainfall have caused crop failure, coupled with outbreak of sheep pox epidemic in small livestock may be strongly associated with high number of child deaths in recent months. To understand the link, it is important to understand the socio-economic makeup of Thari society. Almost half of the population of Tharparkar is non-Muslim, poor and with minimal access to social services including healthcare. Households do not have financial liquidity in the regular sense of our understanding. If a family requires cash for essential commodities or services, they take one of their animals to the nearest market and trade-in or sell, to fulfil their requirements. In Thari society there is no culture of cash savings. They have all their investment in their livestock, which makes households vulnerable to adverse events. The current sheep pox epidemic is wiping out their livestock and ability to survive. It can be expected that life in Tharparkar will become more difficult in coming days and month.
The Government has not requested international support. Humanitarian partners are informally providing localized assistance to complement Government’s response and to bridge gaps in assistance.
This document provides findings of a rapid assessment based on interviews with key informants (KIs) conducted by HANDS, from 11-14 March 2014, across 322 villages in Tharparkar districts. It also provides a summary of humanitarian response in early days in affected areas.
Findings of the rapid assessment indicate the recent drought have affected at least 306,686 people and 303,902 livestock died due to different diseases. The coordinated assessment by humanitarian partners collected data through 637 (male & female) key informant interviews.
The Sindh Provincial Disaster Management Authority reports 259,947 families are affected. Half the population of Tharparkar is non-Muslim, poor and with minimal access to social services including healthcare.