PY Completes Independent PDM of Heatwave Anticipatory Action in Jacobabad

Peace by Youth (PY) has completed and submitted its independent Post-Distribution Monitoring (PDM) report on the Start Ready Pakistan Heatwave Anticipatory Action activation phase in District Jacobabad, commissioned by the Community Development Foundation (CDF). Fieldwork ran from 22-24 June 2026 across Tehsil Jacobabad, Tehsil Thul and Tehsil Garhi Khairo, and the findings show a strongly positive picture: 88% overall satisfaction and independently corroborated confirmation that support reached communities before peak heat conditions hit.

District Jacobabad regularly records some of the highest summer temperatures in Pakistan, putting daily wage workers, street vendors, women, older persons, persons with disabilities and livestock-dependent households at serious risk. Under the Start Ready framework, CDF activated a package of forecast-based interventions as soon as the district's heatwave trigger was reached: five Mobile Cooling Carts, twenty Shade Everywhere kits, ten Community Cooling Stations, thirty Clay Water Points, ten Community Ice Banks, a thousand Green Shade Nets for vendors and open kitchens, and ten portable Animal Watering Points - reaching an estimated 645,000 people directly. PY's role was to independently verify whether that support was timely, accessible, functional, safe, inclusive, accountable and genuinely useful.

A rigorous, independent verification

PY's MEAL team completed 240 structured beneficiary interviews against an approved target of 210 - with every one of the seven activities meeting or exceeding its individual sample target - alongside 57 direct site observations, 17 key informant interviews and 3 focus group discussions. All tools were administered digitally through KoBoToolbox under PY's CDF-approved Inception Report and Sampling and Field Control Workbook.

• 240 beneficiary interviews (target: 210)
• 57 direct site observations
• 17 key informant interviews
• 3 focus group discussions
• 88% overall satisfaction, 89.2% satisfied specifically with the timeliness of support

What the seven activities delivered

Satisfaction with timely support was strong across every intervention, though awareness of PY's feedback and complaints mechanism varied widely - the clearest gap the report identifies for CDF's attention.

Voices from the field

"Ready to help as soon as temperatures rose - community first-responders, because training was delivered soon after the trigger."
- Community first-responder, key informant interview

"Women described being able to cook in the shade rather than direct sun, and reported drinking more, cooler water once ice access began."
- Green Shade Net women's focus group discussion

"Early activation helped prevent heat-related health risks and reduced disruptions to daily livelihoods."
- CDF/MEAL key informant

Inclusion, and the accountability gap

Across the activation package, 79.6% of women and girls could access services safely, 74.2% of persons with disabilities and older people could access support, and 95.4% of respondents said they were treated respectfully with no discrimination. Entitlements were well understood - 85.4% of respondents knew what they were entitled to receive - but only 28.8% were aware of PY's feedback and complaints channel, and just 6.7% had actually used it. Several key informants and focus group participants noted that complaint banners and phone numbers were displayed at distribution sites but rarely explained to beneficiaries directly.

Recommendations for CDF and Start Ready

• Actively explain - not just display - the feedback and complaints mechanism at Community Cooling Stations, Community Ice Banks and Green Shade Net distributions.
• Increase seating and crowd management at busier cooling stations during peak afternoon hours.
• Establish routine post-storm structural checks for Shade Everywhere and Green Shade Nets, with a rapid-repair protocol.
• Retain and scale the timely, pre-trigger support model for future anticipatory action cycles - the report's most strongly validated finding.

"The evidence gathered through this independent PDM shows that the Start Ready Pakistan Heatwave Anticipatory Action activation phase in Jacobabad was delivered largely on time, to a good standard of quality and functionality, with high beneficiary satisfaction," said Nisar Ahmed, Executive Director, Peace by Youth. "The principal area requiring CDF's attention is accountability: awareness and use of feedback and complaint channels lags well behind awareness of entitlements across most activities."

Peace by Youth thanks the Community Development Foundation, the communities of Jacobabad and Thul, and every respondent who gave their time to this independent monitoring exercise. The full report - including detailed findings for all seven activities, sampling frame, and supporting KoBoToolbox datasets - is available on PY's publications page.

Read the full independent PDM report →