In 2005, the World Bank carried out a study of the coastal areas of Badin and Thatta Districts in Sindh Province to examine the social and economic impact of the natural disasters that hit these coastal areas over the last decade.

The study recommended a program of assistance designed to strengthen livelihoods in these two sub-districts along the coastal plain. As a result, the Sindh Coastal Areas Development Program (SCADP), US$18 million, is being implemented through the ongoing Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF), a country-wide program that the Bank supports.

SCADP is being implemented in two phases over a five-year period (2006–11) and will:

• Build community organizational capacity to make development choices
• Set up health and education facilities
• Promote income generating activities through micro-credit
• Develop rural growth centers and upgrade community infrastructure, including building roads, constructing flood protection and sea water containment structures, jetties and wharfs, and promoting technological innovations, such as the use of solar and wind energy for pumping of water and generation of electricity