May 18, 2023  

How the Women of Pakistan’s Flood-Hit Communities Rose Up to the Challenge

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Mehr Bibi, a housewife from Dasht, Balochistan, did two things immediately in the aftermath of the devastating floods that destroyed her village. After making sure her family was safe, she checked on all her neighbors and friends to see if they had made it out alive and were well. Next, she had to ensure that her children had enough food and water to survive.

And she was not alone in this.

Millions of women across Pakistan had to do similar accounting of their lives and that of their loved ones in regions where the 2022 historic floods wreaked havoc. It was a story repeated in thousands of households in Sindh, Balochistan, Southern Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and beyond as 2000+ people succumbed to the disaster and more than 35 million were impacted in different ways. These women may have been living in different circumstances in their villages, but the flood brought them all to one point, where they knew the survival of their children and their communities depended upon their resourcefulness to fight hunger.

Their resilience and resourcefulness were met by PepsiCo’s Millions of Meals initiative volunteers, who were mobilized via partnerships with Akhuwat, Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund and Rizq to disburse five million meals in 26 flood-hit districts across the country.

Quickly assessing the needs of the people across the country as the disaster unfolded, PepsiCo Pakistan restarted its “Millions of Meals” program, which had previously been active during the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. 13 million meals were provided in the earlier effort, and the same zeal and collaborative approach was re-activated to tackle food scarcity in flood-hit areas in 2022. The program was funded by The PepsiCo Foundation, the philanthropic arm of PepsiCo through Food for Good, PepsiCo’s global commitment to advance food security, especially in the aftermath of crises and disasters.

In addition, PepsiCo Foundation also launched a global employee matching gift program and donations from company employees from across the world were doubled. This gave worldwide employees of PepsiCo an opportunity to support their Pakistani counterparts and the communities they work in at a dire time of need.

Within Pakistan, partnerships with Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF), Rizq, and Akhuwat were made because these organizations have extensive on-ground disaster assessment and relief network. Paired with PepsiCo Pakistan’s own reach within communities, the largest number of affected people were reached with food essentials and a message of hope: we stand with you.

“I have seen it with my own eyes, the fear and the hunger, as I visited communities after the floods,” said Shagufta Khan. Shagufta is a resilient woman volunteer with Akhuwat. She lent support to the organization in her hometown of Dasht, Balochistan so that they could reach hundreds of women in need after the floods. Like Mehr Bibi, her own family was affected, but she mobilized her own local network of women to ensure those who had been worse hit would be supported in their hour of need. “Women are always affected most by disasters like this, and that’s what happened again. This is why we came together with PepsiCo to support them.”

With diminished food supplies, destroyed crops and livestock numbers, and lack of nutrition, it was feared that other issues will come to haunt the flood-affected families like susceptibility to disease, illnesses, and malnutrition. The World Food Programme warned of food shortages and food scarcity in the short and long term. It was obvious that a collaborative and collective relief effort was needed. For thousands of women like Mehr Bibi, and others affected by the “climate carnage”, PepsiCo Pakistan teams put together meal kits that would provide more than 5 million meals to an average family of 7-9 members for a month.

Sumaira Khan, Project Associate with Hands, an organization working with PPAF in Sanghar, Sindh, echoed the concerns of her fellow Pakistani women from Balochistan. “People were under the sky, literally,” she said, describing the plight of flood-affected families. “Some only had trees for shade, a few had found tents, but everyone had lost everything. All they had was God.”

Anmol Panwar, District Associate with Hands in Sanghar, Sindh, encountered a similar scenario in her community. “People who had lost everything would eat a meal and go hungry for the next two meals,” she added, knowing the plight of mothers who had to send their children to sleep without food. “Now this won’t happen, at least.”

Mehr Bibi was able to receive her Millions of Meal kits in an organized drive in her village through the hard work of volunteers like Shagufta Khan. In Sanghar, Sindh, survivors like Rukhsana Begum were able to receive their Millions of Meals kits through volunteers like Sumaira Khan. While men, elderly, differently-abled persons, and children also received their fair share in the drives, it was the women who stood out because the volunteers knew these women wouldn’t just cook for their families – they will likely cook enough to lend further support to others in their communities to multiply the goodness of this effort.

Shahida Soomro, a housewife in Nawabshah, Sindh, reiterated this stance as she shared how, even before help came in the form of PepsiCo supported volunteers, she and her community tried to make meals with whatever meagre supplies they had. “Our houses fell, and our farms drowned. We suffered so much loss, but we tried to help ourselves and each other. The help from PepsiCo is much appreciated as it gives us relief.”

“There were many women with me who came out of their homes and helped others in this hour of need, even though it wasn’t easy,” added Anmol Panwar. “But we knew it had to be done.”

It is not always easy to find strains of hope in grave disasters, but these resilient women are the surest sign that their spirits remain undefeated. As the world realizes how women are disproportionately affected by climate change, PepsiCo plans to keep supporting these homegrown heroes so there can always be room for hope.