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Executive summary
The CGIAR Science Program on Food Frontiers and Security’s partnership with IOM aims to identify technical entry points for strengthening climate action interventions.
In 2022, compounding climate and environmental factors contributed to extreme rainfall and flooding across Pakistan, affecting 33 million people, damaging 2.1 million homes and displacing more than 7 million people across 30 districts, including 27 in Sindh. In response to flood‑related displacement and damage to homes and infrastructure, IOM initiated a pilot intervention to rebuild homes, construct pour‑flush latrines and hand‑powered water‑pumps, and, in some villages, develop additional community infrastructure. This pilot was implemented in coordination with the Government of Sindh’s Sindh People’s Housing for Flood Affectees initiative – the largest housing rehabilitation project in the world, which aims to rebuild 2.1 million homes in Pakistan.
The objective of this research, based on data collected in July 2024, is to assess how IOM’s Post‑Flood Reconstruction Intervention in Mirpurkhas has affected humanitarian, development and peace outcomes by contributing to the household resilience of those displaced by the 2022 floods, and how it may be able to do so more effectively. The mixed‑method research presented here is premised on the concepts of human security – holistic well‑being comprised of economic, social and environmental security – and resilience, defined as the ability of households to anticipate, withstand, recover from and transformatively adapt in the face of climate hazards.
Data collection consisted of a survey (n=459) that explored human security and subjective resilience outcomes with households that participated in the intervention (n=241) and with a control group (n=218) of those that did not (see Annex 2: Human Security and Resilience Survey for further details). The research team also spent several weeks performing field observation of the intervention and local socioecological systems. During this time, key informant interviews were conducted with the intervention household participants, community leaders, IOM staff and IOM implementing partners. Finally, a mapping of baseline (current) and projected climate hazards (by 2040) supports an understanding of how drought, extreme heat, flood and compound hazards will impact communities in the medium term, facilitating the development of recommendations geared towards medium‑long term sustainability.
Key results from the research include:
• Climate hazard projections indicate that heat levels will remain extreme while drought and pluvial flooding will worsen (from moderate to extreme levels and high to severe levels, respectively) in Mirpurkhas by 2040 (see Result 5.1: Projected Climate Hazards in Mirpurkhas, Sindh, by 2040).
• By improving households’ reported environmental security,1 the IOM intervention enhanced households’ subjective resilience to anticipate, withstand, recover from and transformatively adapt to future storms and floods. This was achieved through the provision of durable shelters, constructed with weather‑resistant materials (see Result 5.2: Household Resilience: Anticipation, Withstanding, Recovery and Transformative Adaptation and Result 5.4: The Varied Effects of Improved Environmental Security: Protection from the Elements, Economic Security and Mental Health).
• Intervention participants also indicated that the provision of durable housing enhanced economic security2 by facilitating greater freedom of movement and enabling access to improved income‑generation opportunities. Household financial resources also increased as recurring repair costs decreased (see Result 5.4: The Varied Effects of Improved Environmental Security: Protection from the Elements, Economic Security and Mental Health).
• Results suggest that small households will likely require additional support to achieve equitable resilience improvements against climate hazards (see Result 5.3: The Role Demographic Indicators and Household Variables Play in Resilience Outcomes).
• The intervention’s water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) components had a positive effect on women’s subjective resilience, which improved personal well‑being and empowered some through the creation of community leadership opportunities (see Result 5.5: The Intervention’s Effects on Women: Hygiene, Privacy and Leadership Opportunities).
• By devolving some decision‑making power to household participants during local implementation, the intervention improved household agency, supported community‑led development and boosted social cohesion in target villages (see Result 5.6: Effects on Household Agency, Community Development and Social Cohesion). However, structural community‑level development challenges remain, such as widespread poverty; a lack of sustainable income opportunities; poor access to land, water and energy; and insecure land tenure.