District Tharparkar is located in the southernmost part of Sindh. According to the Human Development Index, District Tharparkar is one of the most under-developed districts of Pakistan; has been ranked in the lowest districts. For administration purposes, District Tharparkar is divided into seven Talukas (Tehsils): Chachro, Diplo, Islamkot, Mithi, Dahli, Kaloi and Nagarparkar. Mithi is a tehsil of Tharparkar District, and town Mithi is the district headquarters as well as the commercial hub of the district. Like the majority of districts in Sindh, 96% of the population in the district resides in rural areas.
District Tharparkar consists of the great Thar Desert, which is distributed in India and Pakistan. In Pakistan, the desert lies on the eastern border of Sindh and is linked with the Southeastern parts of Punjab where it joins the Cholistan Desert. The district is suffering from droughts for decades now. The Government of Pakistan has declared a drought-like situation 14 times in the past 5 decades starting from 1968 to 2018. The primary reason for the drought is the acute shortage of rainfall since most of the agriculture is rain-fed.
The magnitude of the disaster is magnifying, by the passage of time. Survival has been tough, malnutrition cases are on the rise and economic issues are also creating more issues. Almost all Talukas of Tharparkar are vulnerable to a famine-like situation and several children had lost their lives over the past so many decades.
FRDP International maintains a permanent presence through its local teams in the region to help the communities living in this zone with better access to basic amenities and opportunities. In this regard, FRDP International is running the following programs in the region:
- Food Security and Nutritional Access to food-insecure families;
- Improving access to water;
- Providing economic empowerment by promoting skills and trade.