TORONTO – The Steelworkers Humanity Fund is contributing $15,000 to humanitarian efforts to face the unprecedented floods affecting Pakistan.
In what has been described as the worst climate disaster to affect the country in a decade, floods and landslides caused by unusually heavy monsoon rains have affected over 33 million people in different parts of Pakistan.
According to United Nations reports, over 1,100 people have died, more than 1,600 have been injured, close to 300,000 houses have been destroyed, over 735,000 livestock have perished, two million acres of crops have been ravaged and communications infrastructure has been severely damaged.
This catastrophe falls on the heels of a financial crisis plaguing the country, representing a further obstacle to survivors facing significant increases in the price of food and other commodities.
The Steelworkers Humanity Fund will contribute $15,000 to Islamic Relief Canada to provide medical aid, food, clean water, hygiene items and emergency shelter through its emergency teams on the ground.
“As we are witnessing in Pakistan right now, the consequences of climate change are being felt more strongly in countries that lack the resources and infrastructure to face such devastation, even if their contribution to this global phenomenon is minor,” said Marty Warren, President of the Steelworkers Humanity Fund and National Director for Canada of the United Steelworkers Union (USW).
“Lending a hand is the least we can do in the face of this unjust situation,” Warren said.
Founded in 1985, the Steelworkers Humanity Fund is a registered charitable organization that focuses primarily on development projects and emergency aid in developing countries, but also supports Canadian communities. USW members contribute to the fund through clauses negotiated into collective agreements. In some cases, employers make matching contributions to the fund.
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