Pakistan

In 2025, in addition to the ongoing nutrition sector response, Pakistan faced devastating monsoon floods that affected over 6.9 million people across Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan, and parts of Sindh, triggering mass displacement, widespread damage to homes and infrastructure, and urgent humanitarian needs. The Support Plan for Relief and Early Recovery, covering October 2025 to April 2026, was developed to complement government-led efforts by providing life‑saving assistance while enabling early recovery for the most affected and vulnerable communities. It aimed to bridge critical gaps in food security, health, WASH, shelter, protection, education, and nutrition, prioritizing districts with the highest levels of damage, displacement, and pre-existing vulnerabilities. 
The Nutrition Sector aimed to safeguard the survival, growth, and wellbeing of nutritionally vulnerable groups affected by the 2025 monsoon floods, including children under five, adolescent girls, and pregnant and breastfeeding women (PBWs). The floods had exacerbated already critical levels of wasting, micronutrient deficiencies, and anaemia in districts where malnutrition rates had exceeded emergency thresholds before the crisis. Health and nutrition services had been disrupted, access to safe water and food had deteriorated, and harmful feeding practices had become more prevalent, heightening the risk of acute malnutrition. To address these challenges, the sector implemented a comprehensive package of life‑saving and preventive nutrition services through health facilities, mobile teams, and community structures. Its overarching objective had been to ensure continuity of essential nutrition services throughout displacement, return, and early recovery while strengthening community resilience and reducing preventable morbidity and mortality. 
 

The Nutrition Sector estimated that more than 850,000 people in need following the devastating 2025 Mansoon floods and targeted 665,000 individuals, prioritizing children with severe and moderate acute malnutrition, pregnant and breastfeeding women, and caregivers requiring counselling and psychosocial support.

The Nutrition Sector implemented a three pronged response strategy to ensure the continuity of services integrated within the health system throughout all phases of displacement and returns. Priority was placed in flood affected areas with limited or no existing interventions, while efforts to scale up progressed as resources became available.
•    Immediate Response in Health Facilities, Evacuation Centers, and Temporary Settlements:
Lifesaving nutrition services were delivered through static and mobile teams, as well as community platforms.
•    Support During Transition to Areas of Origin:
Continuity of services was ensured for families who were returning.
•    Strengthening Services in Areas of Origin:
The package of interventions in health facilities and communities was scaled up to promote long term sustainability.

Key activities included the treatment of SAM and MAM, the establishment and strengthening of stabilization centres, deployment of mobile nutrition services, and provision of micronutrient supplements for children and PBWs. Preventive services focused on promoting, protecting, and supporting optimal infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices, including caregiver support spaces and breastfeeding corners. The sector also integrated psychosocial support for mothers and caregivers, strengthened community-based screening and referral systems, and enhanced coordination, information management, and Nutrition‑in‑Emergencies programming. Collectively, these interventions aimed to restore access to essential nutrition services, prevent further deterioration of nutritional status, and support communities in early recovery and resilience-building. The evolution of nutrition needs was shaped by a steady rise in patient numbers at facility level, driven by increasing morbidity, which expanded the number of children requiring screening and enrollment for treatment of wasting, alongside more women and caregivers needing counseling and supplementation. While food supplies had begun reaching remote areas, persistently high prices and limited household purchasing power continued to restrict access to nutritious foods for the most vulnerable groups. As a result, combined with rising disease burdens, including dengue, pregnant and breastfeeding women, children under five, and adolescents faced a growing risk of deteriorating nutritional status. This situation created an elevated demand for comprehensive nutrition services, including systematic screening of children and pregnant and lactating women (PLWs), treatment of severe and moderate acute malnutrition (SAM/MAM), provision of micronutrient supplements, blanket supplementary feeding (BSFP) for PBWs, strengthened IYCF counseling and caregiver awareness, and facility‑based care for children with medical complications.

Despite very limited funding, the 2025 flood response showed that early preparedness and anticipatory action, paired with prepositioned supplies and clear, district specific triggers, reduced time to reach vulnerable groups and enabled faster identification and referral of children with acute malnutrition and at risk pregnant and breastfeeding women (PBW). Tailored, context specific planning with strong collaboration among government authorities, partners, and community networks helped sustain continuity of critical nutrition services (e.g., community screening, referral to treatment, and IYCF counselling) as part of integrated health–nutrition–WASH outreach, which strengthened targeting and resilience during relief and early recovery. The use of digital tools and local volunteers improved rapid needs assessments and mapping of nutrition vulnerabilities; however, delayed funding pipelines, gaps in localized/impact based early warning, access constraints to remote areas, limited coverage of nutrition interventions. Priority actions going forward include institutionalizing anticipatory action for nutrition (with predictable financing), expanding localized, action oriented early warnings that reach caregivers, and simplifying funding mechanisms to protect and scale lifesaving nutrition services during future floods.