Solidarity Appeal for Flood Victims in Pakistan

We at South Asian Avant-Garde (SAAG) are raising funds on behalf of WDF for those donating from outside Pakistan (if you wish to donate using a Pakistani bank account, please see here). What follows is a solidarity appeal in their words. Please see details on funds transfer at the bottom.—Kamil Ahsan, Editor, SAAG

WDF is writing this appeal to help support the affectees of the floods across Pakistan, especially in Seraiki Waseb, Balochistan, Sindh, Gilgit-Baltistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Kohistan and Chitral. The floods have devastated the lives of many and killed and injured numerous people across Pakistan. People have lost their homes, personal belongings, cattle and crops as a result of the havoc wreaked upon our lands.

The country is currently at the behest of a climate emergency of an unprecedented scale. Hence, we believe it is our duty as people of this land to come forward and extend solidarity to our people. We are doing this because we owe this to each other, in solidarity.

As reported by Al Jazeera and The Friday Times, among others, the floods are exacerbating the devastation in a country that is already seized by an economic collapse, which has led to a steep rise in inflation and food scarcity of epic proportions now that the floods have destroyed crops. The situation will only worsen in the coming weeks as Pakistan expects more heavy rains and floods across the affected areas. We all must come together at this difficult time and spare no effort to help the affectees.

You can support this fundraiser by donating here, and sharing the campaign link with your networks. We stress the need for the international community to step up and contribute as much as possible in this critical time for the people of Pakistan.

We believe that we are running a solidarity campaign, not a charity campaign. We are extending radical compassion to each other. This is an appeal for solidarity. We are hoping to help as many communities as possible during this climate emergency; as the need evolves, so will our response.

How will the funds be utilised?

WDF has members and volunteers across the flood-affected regions and has partnered with local community organisers, social workers and students who are already providing relief to the communities.

We have a network that will distribute relief items to the affected communities.

What will the funds be utilised for?

The funds will be used to provide immediate relief and rescue, including but not limited to:

Here is a list of affected areas and other ways you can support fundraisers for flood relief victims across Pakistan:

For updates, please follow WDF's Twitter, Facebook , or Instagram pages.

NOTE FROM KAMIL AHSAN, EDITOR AT SAAG: WDF organizers approached me to set up a GoFundMe for flood victims to raise money for non-Pakistan based donors (you can verify by messaging @womendemocraticfront on Instagram or other platforms, or by contacting 2 main organizers Zoya Rehman & Tooba Syed), especially since we are accustomed to paying writers and artists living in South Asia. All donation money will be withdrawn into a Chase bank account and transferred using a simple wire transfer into the Pakistani bank account shared and linked above (details here). We feel this is the safest option for a large sum of money. Thank you.