Providing access to sustainable income generating opportunities

by Jamil Akhtar, UNDP Pakistan

April 17, 2023

Village Khoundi in Tehsil Meharr of District Dadu was among the worst affected areas after the flood. The people of the village had survived it by the skin of their teeth. They are alive but have lost pretty much everything that they had defined their lives by.

Khoundi is inhabited by sharecroppers, labourers and other people with limited economic opportunities. The situation was extraordinarily adverse for women, some of whom had no menfolk to provide for them.

UNDP Pakistan along with their implementing partner Islamic Relief initiated flood recovery to support women getting back on their feet. The skilled women of the village were given sewing machines so that they could produce their local handicrafts and make a living. Some of them were given financial assistance to open their own general stores. Some were given money to replace the livestock they had lost. These women now have a fighting chance.

This intervention is part of UNDP’s Flood Recovery Programme. Aligned with the Government of Pakistan's Resilient Recovery, Rehabilitation, and Reconstruction Framework (4RF), UNDP's Flood Recovery Programme aims to restore housing and community infrastructure, livelihoods, and government services while building disaster resistance and ensuring environmental protection.