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Editorial government By Minahil Zafar Extensive initiatives for flood relief have been taken up by organisations and individuals throughout Pakistan. The efforts, however small, are significant, considering that one out of 10 Pakistanis is suffering today. I salute the response of independent professional groups, students and volunteers who have and are still contributing in terms of money, personal belongings, services and time. I acknowledge such people (of Pakistan) who have risen above the ongoing cynicism and taken up the challenge of bringing Pakistan out of this calamity. On the NGO information No to Indian
aid? Now's the time Unsung heroes
It seems that each story begins by stating that these were the worst floods in our country because that's how it is. There is no other way to describe the misery and devastation. Of course people have been worried about the existence of this country. Weeks into this crisis, it is perhaps time to look into the response and try to analyse it somehow. Agreed that this was nothing compared to the 2005 earthquake which literally shook people into action. Gradually, it did come and became bigger -- from the people, the governments, the non-government organisations, the volunteers, the students, the international community. It came immediately and most forcefully from the affected people, some of whom forgot their own miseries and turned instantly to helping those around them. We read some brilliant and moving stories in the newspapers and saw some wonderful footage on our television screens and held our heads high. But most of the time, what is witnessed all around is haphazard confusion. From the government's point of view, the paralysis of the first week or ten days was understandable because any government will find itself helpless in the face of such gigantic calamity. Beyond that, it ought to have shown to its people and the world that something is at work. It did try to but at all the wrong times and places -- by trying to persist with the presidential trip and now by refusing to agree with the Nawaz Sharif-proposed commission. There is danger of duplication of efforts in private action and classic lack of coordination. There is excessive criticism of the government in power, which incidentally happens to be an elected one. The analysis that government lacks credibility and that it is the only agency capable of providing relief, rehabilitation, facilitation and reconstruction is being made in the same breath. Our Special Report today attempts to gauge the response of all stakeholders in managing Pakistan's worst disaster. This analysis at this stage, we feel, is extremely important.
Measuring the response The latest tragedy to befall Pakistan should be turned into an opportunity to plan for the future not only for managing disaster and rehabilitating the flood affectees but also giving the people good governance and clean government By Rahimullah Yusufzai Let's be honest about it. The recent floods have been the
most devastating natural disaster in Pakistan's history or, in the words of
a UN official, the biggest emergency on planet earth and, therefore, way
beyond the capacity of any government to cope with. Expecting the weak,
PPP-led coalition government of President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime
Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani to respond in time and in a coordinated
manner to a challenge of such magnitude would amount to ignoring the ground
realities and placing too much faith in the non-existent capabilities of our
leadership and in the country's often dysfunctional institutions. The sluggish government response to the crisis was neither unexpected nor out of character. All crises in Pakistan are ignored until these are upon us. The government takes its time in conceding that a crisis exists after denying it altogether initially and then undertaking some slow measures to tackle the situation. Why would President Zardari insist on embarking on his ill-timed foreign visit to France, United Kingdom and Syria at a time when torrential rains were beginning to cause flooding in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa? And, why did he fail to cut short his overseas sojourn and return home when the floods had ravaged large parts of Pakistan and threatening to cause further misery? There could be other reasons also for him to behave in such an indifferent way to the suffering of his flood-affected people, but one major cause could be to show to the world that the emerging crisis was manageable and that his government was capable of tackling it. Looking weak or admitting a mistake has never been a trait of our ruling elite and the present rulers are no exception. Not that his presence in the country would have made any real difference considering the fact that the government and the institutions supposed to do disaster management were in any case ill-prepared to cope with the situation. However, President Zardari's presence in Pakistan at this critical time would have been politically correct. Nobody bought his argument or that of his ministers that the President's powers have been curtailed and that Prime Minister Gilani had become all-powerful as the country's chief executive following the 18th constitutional amendment and was fully empowered to run Pakistan's affairs. Everyone knew that President Zardari as the ruling PPP co-chairman (the chairman of the family-run party is his 22-year old son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari) wielded all the power in this government and held veto power over the decision-making authority of his handpicked Prime Minister. One reason for the paralysis from which the federal government suffered in the initial days of the floods could be the inability of Prime Minister Gilani to take decisive steps in absence of President Zardari. He couldn't even make up his mind to pay a quick visit to the flood-affected areas in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. There was chaos and it seemed those in power were unaware about the enormity of the crisis. There was none in the government to answer questions about the lack of a timely warning about the floods or the sluggish rescue efforts. It is a fact that decisions made by the Prime Minister have sometimes been vetoed, changed or toned down on the instructions of the President. A case in point during the ongoing flood crisis is the Prime Minister's public endorsement of PML-N head Nawaz Sharif's proposal for setting up a credible national commission comprising eminent persons of good reputation for collecting, managing and spending donations on relief and rehabilitation activities for flood-affectees. Several days after this announcement in a joint press conference by Gilani and Nawaz Sharif, it seems the former is facing opposition from elements in his party and government to the proposal and as always accusing fingers are being pointed at the President for sabotaging the move. By agreeing to establish the oversight commission controlling donations, the government would no doubt be admitting that it has no credibility among the people and the donors and that it cannot be trusted with money. Obviously, President Zardari knows that such an arrangement would further harm his own position due to his tainted past and that of the ruling PPP. Apparently, to counter Nawaz Sharif's move, the obscure and dormant National Disaster Management Commission was activated and its meeting was held where it was decided to set up a National Oversight Disaster Management Council which would possibly be a toned-down version of the commission proposed by the PML-N leader. Our politicians, it seems, are bent upon playing politics even at this critical juncture of Pakistan's history when its future is uncertain following colossal losses with more than one-fourth of the country coming under water and the 20 million affectees jostling for attention and seeking compensation. It is pertinent to ask as to why the meeting of the National Disaster Management Commission was held three weeks after the natural disaster on August 19 despite the fact that the floods started ravaging northwestern Pakistan on the night of July 28-29. Besides, all four provinces are complaining against the lack of guidance and support not only from the federal government but also the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), set up after the October 2005 earthquake and all along headed by Lt Gen Nadeem Ahmad. The NDMA, as it has now emerged, has done little in terms of preparing the government institutions and the nation for disaster management even though it was led by a serving general and staffed by a number of army officers and had access to ample funds. It is true that international response to the UN appeal for emergency assistance of $460 million for Pakistan's flood affectees was slow, but the donations are picking up. However, the provincial governments have started arguing for receiving a major share of the donated money even before the completion of the damage assessment survey. In fact, so many different estimates of the damages to the provinces and infrastructure are being put out that it is becoming rather confusing as to the actual losses. It is even possible that figures would be jacked up and concocted to become eligible for a bigger share from the foreign donations now pouring in from all over the world. One fears that provincial, regional and ethnic faultlines in Pakistan would become even more sharp once the distribution of resources to the provinces and districts is undertaken. Political favouritism would also come into play and those who would suffer the most would be the unfortunate flood affectees in whose name the donations are being collected. One would like to think and hope that for once our ruling elite would come together for the collective good of the nation and prove all these misgivings wrong. That this latest tragedy to befall Pakistan would be turned into an opportunity to plan for the future not only for managing disaster and rehabilitating the flood affectees but also giving the people good governance and clean government.
Universities, schools and independent donors are all involved in collection and packaging of necessary items and their transportation to flood-hit areas By Minahil Zafar Extensive initiatives for flood relief have been taken up
by organisations and individuals throughout Pakistan. The efforts, however
small, are significant, considering that one out of 10 Pakistanis is
suffering today. I salute the response of independent professional groups,
students and volunteers who have and are still contributing in terms of
money, personal belongings, services and time. I acknowledge such people (of
Pakistan) who have risen above the ongoing cynicism and taken up the
challenge of bringing Pakistan out of this calamity. Organisations like Al-Khidmat Foundation, Rural Support Network Program (RSPN), Edhi Foundation, Pakistan Red Crescent Society and Maymar Trust are seeking donations within Pakistan. The money is used to provide for tents, gas cylinders, plastic tarpaals, generators, beds and bedding, medical supplies and food to the inflicted areas. South Asian (SA) relief operating under the aegis of PakSEF has joined hands with Motorclub of Pakistan and Off-roaders Pakistan and is distributing care packets. Each care packet costing Rs 920 contains 20 kg flour, 2 kg daal, 1 kg oil and 3 kg rice. Offroad Pakistan has envisioned a longer planned approach with the establishment of a tent city to the likes of over 500 tents housing 5,000 people with total logistical support for the next 3 months. Similarly, 'Waste Busters', as part of its relief campaign has also prepared food baskets costing Rs 12,000 to last for one family for an entire month. Pakistani Youth Relief Campaign, Old Grammarians Society Relief Fund, Pakistan Youth Alliance, universities, schools and independent donors are all involved in similar collection and packaging of necessary items and their transportation to flood hit areas. Zimmedar Shehri in Lahore has collected a comprehensive list of items including food and water, personal hygiene items like towels and soaps, water purifying tablets, First Aid items, women-specific items, medicines, clothing, utensils, and other miscellaneous items that might have been missed out. People have contributed generously to this cause and donors include people from all walks of life, dropping whatever they can in their capacity, to the nearest collection camps set up. People's Disaster Management Authority, an independent initiative worth our acknowledgement, has its members building up a store of readymade, prepackaged, dry and instant food that requires little to no preparation, and transporting it to Charsadda, Khyber-Paktunkhwa and Muzaffargarh/Laal Peer/Kot Addu by road. This is done in collaboration with CARE Pakistan and Pakistan Youth Alliance in areas where there isn't adequate land or fuel to set up even makeshift cooking facilities. All the people involved are working professionals, working for this cause after office hours. The enthusiasm, with which people participate, be it sitting all day at collection booths, making packets or loading trucks is truly remarkable. What we see is a united effort, something that Pakistan badly needs. There has been much concern about the coordination of all these private efforts that are going on all over the country and it is overwhelming to see the brilliant work certain bodies are doing for this purpose. The Crisis Response Team at Google is collecting and aggregating imagery and user generated KML and other map data, with the goal of making this content more accessible to both crisis responders and the general public. Sahana, One Response Pakistan, SA relief are other platforms helping to coordinate, manage and disseminate data relevant to this disaster. Their support ranges from providing Web and IT infrastructure support to make connections between donors and relief organisations at ground zero. A group of individuals have also used the Ushahidi platform to coordinate Pakistan's flood relief effort. 'Crowd Map' informs agencies of areas requiring emergency relief and helps prevent a duplication of relief efforts. A person on the ground texts a detailed description of the needs of the area and the location to 3441, with the text message beginning with "FL". The text is verified by a coordinator and, once approved, marked on the map. Once on the map, agencies are alerted to the need. UNHCR, Oxfam, International Media Corps, Disaster Emergency Committee, International Rescue, Abaseen Foundation, Helping Hand and Save the Children are some of the international agencies active within Pakistan and seeking donations for flood relief. Pakistani community abroad is working as diligently as we are to generate funds. Working with mGive, Americans are contributing to Pakistan flood relief by texting the word "SWAT" to 50555. The text results in a donation of $10 to the UNHCR Pakistan Flood Relief Effort which helps provide tents and emergency aid to displaced families. Pakistani students abroad have started similar initiatives including a five-day fund raising campaign across the New York City with all proceedings going to the RSPN. In times of crises like this, when people from multiple backgrounds, think from multiple angles and come together, actionable change is seen and concrete solutions are generated.
The government must facilitate non-governmental initiations because it can't do all by itself By Waqar Gillani There is a debate whether the Pakistani government should emulate the non-government sector and the UN model of coordination in humanitarian crises by enhancing its capacity and capability or not? Pakistani government created National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) following the model of the UN and international non-government sector, but it is observed that the organisation has failed to meet the expectation till day. "The NDMA was created following the UN strategy and
policies but it could not be implemented in letter and spirit because of the
lack of political will," observes Salman Abid, researcher and a senior
member of the non-government sector with 20 years of experience of
separately working in coordination with the UN and the Pakistani governments
in different projects. "There has been no meeting of the NDMA for the past two years in violation of the law," he maintains. The basic responsibility of responding to disaster lies with the state, but it has so far failed thanks to its governance, transparency and accountability mechanism. The model can be followed properly by engaging other stakeholders properly which the state does not do. Also, the mechanism of the state is not performance-based, he adds. Salman views the UN as having a limited role but being a good model against the unlimited role of the state which, unfortunately, has no model before it. "More coordination is required," he maintains. The UN effectively works with the non-government sector in the state to cope with a disaster. It has a mechanism and internal accountability system. Maurizio Giuliano, spokesperson of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Islamabad, tells TNS that the UN closely works with the NGOs, the INGOs and governments in the humanitarian crises. "We support the government in the relief efforts and work closely with the NGOs for this," he says, adding, "We have very good relations with the government and are pleased to support the national efforts." "We provide relief which wants to be reached to the deserving and do not provide the funding to the government. Therefore, we are accountable to them and to the donors, and not the other way round." He says this is a partnership to help the victims of the disaster and "whether or not the government provides relief on its own, our duty is to respond to the disasters and humanitarian crises. We do our duty in support of the government." The role of the state is assumed to be very critical because of its infrastructure and system at the grass roots level which the non-government sector and the international organisations lack. However, Dr Kaiser Bengali, a distinguished economist and social activist, sees no need to draw the comparison or to assign the UN response model to the government or state. Karachi-based Bengali, who has also headed institutions like Social Policy and Development Centre (SPDC) and Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), tells TNS: "The government does not need to follow the UN model while responding to the disaster. Both non-government and the government sectors have different roles while working on the crisis. The role of the government is to facilitate and have better coordination with the forces responding to the disaster or crisis." Kaiser is also currently coordinating with the UN and the government in different capacities in the flood relief. He says that the UN has a limited infrastructure and that the government should provide logistics to them because they are more trained and purpose-built international units to respond to crisis. "I was in Sukkur last week, coordinating rescue operation at the airport when we came to know that the UN has only one fully equipped ambulance in the area. We came to know that the provincial population welfare department has 64 such ambulances and that they should be used in the need of hour. "We talked to the government and, within an hour's time, all ambulances were given under the control of the UN." Similarly, he recalls, they required one C-130 for the food supply and the army provided that plane immediately. "The government has to put up resources to facilitate such non-government and international forces because it cannot do all by itself. It has to take the non-government and foreign help. So, there is no harm in improving its capacity but it should not try to run a parallel system following the UN model."
A matter of facts You can't help people in the midst of information darkness By Adnan Rehmat Disaster affectees need to know what is going on, what
they should do, and when and where they can expect to find aid. But the
paradox about large disasters is that while the whole world gets to know all
the gory details about them on a real-time basis, those directly affected by
them get little information. At least not usually for some weeks. And yet it
is the first few days and weeks after a major natural disaster -- like the
deadly earthquake in Pakistan in 2005, or the devastating floods now
ravishing the country -- that information to the affectees can save lives at
best and lessen their travails by improving access to relief resources at
least. The government being the biggest repository of information and information sources is, in times of disasters, well placed to collect and disseminate information that can both improve the quality of disaster response and feedback on the effectiveness of relief efforts. And yet, in 2010, as in 2005, the Pakistani government authorities have spectacularly failed in this most basic of tasks. Even accounting for the extraordinarily ferocious floods and the widespread scale of devastation they have wrought, the paralysis of the government in sizing up the scale and nature of disaster has taken weeks to come undone. No news you can use The result has been an amazing absence of reliable and relevant information available from official sources on the ground that is both consistent and useful. This has affected the size and scope of relief activities undertaken by both official and private enterprises. The inexplicable non-availability of a specially designated spokesperson of the federal government who could be available every day without a break to provide updates from the provinces and other Pakistani territories has, unsurprisingly, meant there is no centrally coordinated relief effort informed on the basis of analysis of daily information and alerts. And, it's not just the federal government but the governments of Punjab and Balochistan as well as the authorities in Gilgit-Baltistan, Tribal Areas and Azad Kashmir provinces that have failed in this most basic of responsibilities. Only the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh governments offer daily media briefings on the state of the floods and information about what is needed. Four weeks after the disaster struck, detailed district-wise data on losses both human and material should have been available and yet we find that because barely no one in the high-up in the political and bureaucratic leaderships is asking for it, the information is not being collected, collated or consumed. No information, no help With no information available on what is needed where, the private relief effort is much more miniscule in scale compared to the aftermath of the 2005 earthquake. This is because there is no mechanism fuelled by updated information that can facilitate coordination of the relief effort. The massive scale of the floods means that only the government can offer this facilitation and if it doesn't -- and it isn't -- the relief effort will remain far from effective or adequate. Most of the success stories of good relief effort informed by ground realities have so far come from the UN system, national and international non-governmental organisations with large geographic presence or the army. The common factor among them, contributing to their swift and targeted response, is their information collection system with an emphasis on reliability and consistency. The UN with its facilitative cluster system -- a platform where the UN, national and international NGOs gather together daily on thematic lines to share information and feedback on geographic basis -- and the NGOs with their reliable field operatives gathering and sharing information as well as the army with its field units doing likewise ensure that they have information about what is needed on the ground, where and how much. Based on this they match their resources, as well as those of their partners and supporters, with the needs and end up properly helping the affectees to the best of their abilities. It is not surprising, therefore, that it was not the federal or provincial governments that -- thanks to their spectacular failure at doing the simplest of things starting with information gathering -- calculated the basic facts. It took the United Nations secretary general to state the obvious that the natural disaster is bigger than the 2009 Haiti earthquake, 2005 Pakistan earthquake and 2004 Asian tsunami combined. It took the World Bank president to calculate that crops worth $1.2 billion have been destroyed and that losses to agriculture and industry will halve Pakistan's economic growth to 2 per cent. It was Bloomberg that reported that Pakistan will lose 40% of its cotton crop. It was the private Pakistan Agri Forum chairman who announced that floods had destroyed 0.5m tons of wheat and 0.4m tons of animal fodder. It was also the Pakistan Tannery Association that announced that 800,000 animals had perished. And yes, it was the UN that estimated Pakistan would need $460m to meet emergency relief requirements of 3 months, not the government. The only response based on certainty from the federal and provincial governments has been the assertions that their respective annual development budgets will have to drastically cut. News available, not information The media, on the other hand, has been valiantly bringing the horrors of the floods -- the sights and the sounds of primal pain -- but has not really been instrumental in mobilising the citizenry and the officialdom to mount a national relief effort that matches the biblical proportions of the natural disaster. And this is precisely because there has been no information available from the government about where are the collection points in each district where most private and official relief resources could be collected and pooled. It is a vicious cycle -- the government has no information, there is no coordination, there is little mobilisation. And, because the government is rightly perceived to be at sea about its relief response, the public does not trust the government to donate money in the Prime Minister's Fund for Flood Relief. The least that should be done is for the provinces to have special information cells and a dedicated flood and relief information spokesperson to meet media every day where information collected during the day from the districts and collated can be disseminated. In particular information about the key relief effort coordination centres at each district needs to be shared. A similar flood and relief information efforts needs to be mounted at the federal level where provinces provide inputs so that the media can pick up from there and mobilise and guide the overall provincial and national disaster response and relief effort. The relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction are likely to take at least a couple of years -- it is not too late for the government to plug the massive information gaps that are hindering an effective response to the worst natural disaster Pakistan has faced. National and provincial conventions of media (enlisting the 26 current affairs TV channels and 130 FM stations on air), provincial and federal governments and the network of national and international NGOs need to be held on quickly developing and expanding mechanisms of information collection and dissemination. Without enlisting the media, the disaster response will remain underwhelming.
Restoring lives via media - Information about relief, reconstruction and rehabilitation is critical for survival and recovery of communities in flood affected regions - Local language media, especially radio, is key to reaching affectees, but the stations will need orientation and training to move away from news format to focus on disaster response - Government and international development community lack a policy framework for the role of local media in disaster zones; they need to partner up with local language radio and TV to embed strategies for local media support into the mainstream mechanisms of their relief efforts - Media support measures in disaster zones need to go well beyond the immediate emergency response phase and continue into the reconstruction period - Media should be a full partner in relief and rehabilitation in disaster zones rather than be narrowly seen as public relations enterprises - Recovery of disaster affected communities will be directly proportional to investment in building capacities of local media in offering reliable humanitarian information - National conventions on local language radio and TV media need to generate media sectoral buy-in on focusing on humanitarian information operations for two years
Any media effort should include… - Improved timeliness, accuracy and credibility of information flow to affected populations - Increased relevance of information reaching local populations - Increased reach of information to isolated, information-dark areas hit by floods - Improved two-way communication flows between affected communities and the recovery operations - Increased flow of information from the flood zones via media to policy-makers and to the general public - Empowered local populations -- through the inclusion of their voices in the local media - Increased engagement with national and international relief and recovery efforts
As Pakistan stays ambivalent about the offer of Indian assistance, Indian community helps raise funds for Pakistan's flood victims in countries like the United States By Shaiq Hussain India has offered five million dollars assistance to
Pakistan to cope with the recent flood disaster. The Indian aid offer was
made by Indian Minister for External Affairs, S.M Krishna during his
telephonic conversation with his Pakistani counterpart, Shah Mahmood Qureshi,
in which he also extended the condolences of Indian government and people
over those killed and displaced in the devastating floods. According to some sources, the offer of aid has come from India despite the fact that its ambassador to Islamabad was not invited by the Pakistani foreign ministry to its briefing held to apprise the envoys from different nations about the loss and damage caused by the floods on Aug 4. Pakistani authorities neither accepted nor rejected the offer, and put any decision in this regard on hold until thorough discussions were held on the vital issue. "One reason for not accepting the direct Indian assistance is the fear of serious political fallout. The government believes that relations with India are tense and keeping in view the recently held inconclusive talks and the anti-Pakistan defamation campaign launched by some elements in Indian policy makers, any decision to accept the Indian offer could backfire," said a foreign ministry official seeking anonymity. He said that another major reason was the deep anguish prevailing among the Pakistan's security circles over the anti-ISI and anti-army statements again by some elements in the government circles in New Delhi. Foreign Minister Qureshi while addressing a news conference on Monday last in Islamabad said Pakistan was considering India's offer as aid for its flood victims but a decision had been delayed as there was "sensitivity" involved in the relationship with India. "In line with the conversation that I have had with Mr Krishna, I have informed the leadership about the details and the leadership is giving it consideration." There are suggestions about the aid being routed through the United Nations. Siddharth Zutshi, Indian High Commission spokesman, told TNS that Pakistani officials have yet to respond to the Indian aid offer and he was not aware of any decision taken by the Pakistan about acceptance or rejection of the offer. "We have done what we feel was best in the current circumstances and now it is up to Pakistan to take any decision," he said. It must be remembered that Indian aid was accepted at the time of 2005 earthquake. Perhaps, that was because the ties between the two countries were thawing as a result of peace process initiated by the two sides in 2004. Noted analyst, Talat Masood said there is no harm in accepting the Indian aid offer. He said that there was no political consideration before India when they made the offer and he believed the offer was extended on humanitarian grounds. "Its non-acceptance will send a negative message to the world which is now awakening to the worsening situation in Pakistan," he said. Moreover, he said the offer could help the two countries to go back to the track of dialogue. Interestingly, irrespective of the differences between Islamabad and New Delhi, the Indian community in the United States and some other countries is assisting the Pakistani community in its fund raising efforts for flood victims, the way they did when the massive earthquake hit Pakistan in 2005. Dr. Farzad Najam, an active member of Pakistani community associated with George Washington University, said the Indians living in the United States had always supported Pakistanis in the hour of need. "We live here in an atmosphere of love and brotherhood and we expect the same from Pakistanis and Indians living in the two countries," he said. "The Indians helped us in the earthquake days and they are also supporting us now when floods have hit Pakistan." Now's the time Pledges of aid from the US, Middle East and European countries are adding up amid controversy about Pakistan's image abroad By Ather Naqvi It seems to be more a matter of image than anything else, for some countries. While Pakistan has been facing an image problem, according to the UN, in ensuring smooth flow of funds for flood relief and reconstruction efforts, the US role has also been described as seeking to improve its image through providing on-the-spot aid and relief to the people battered by floods in Pakistan. Comparisons are being drawn between the aid flow in the wake of 2005 earthquake and now. But there is certainly more to it than an exercise in image building. The amount of aid being pledged for flood relief efforts
in Pakistan continues to increase on the paper. According to the latest
reports so far, Pakistan has received aid pledges of $466.11m.
Understandably, there is a marked difference between the amount of aid that
has been pledged and the cash and kind Pakistan has actually received so far
to carry out flood relief and reconstruction work. A UN spokesperson of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warned the other day that relief agencies were finding it difficult obtaining funds to help millions of flood victims in Pakistan. That was, according to the spokesperson, due to an image deficit "with regards to Pakistan among Western public opinion". The spokesperson had made these remarks as the UN struggled to get $460 million to provide emergency relief to some six million flood-affected people of the country for the next 90 days. The slow and little aid flowing in for Pakistan made Britain's Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg regard international response to floods as "lamentable" and "pitiful". Among Western countries, Britain has pledged about 19 million pounds. The US State Department's help to the flood-stricken areas has totaled $76m. According to the government, Japan has announced $10m in emergency aid to the flood-ravaged country. German Foreign Office announced assistance of two million euros on August 5, which doubled to 10 million euros on August 11. The European Union has announced it will give an additional 30 million euros (39 million dollars) in relief assistance to Pakistan, totaling it to 70 million euros. The government of the Republic of Korea contributed flood relief assistance of $0.5 million in the form of relief goods. Australia has tripled its aid commitment to 35 million dollars. Australia has tripled its aid commitment to 35 million dollars. Besides the noted slack response from the Muslim world initially, the response seems to have changed for the better. More recently, Saudi Arabia has topped donors pledging $124.29 million, which is the highest aid offered by a country so far. Turkey doubled its contribution to $10 million in addition to transportation of 140 tonnes of relief supplies. Qatar has announced just $400,000 in aid while Iran has pledged $800,000. Even the war-ravaged Afghanistan has donated a million dollars. Foreign Office's Coordinator for flood relief efforts to the United Nations, Munawar Saeed Bhatti is rather optimistic about the flow of aid so far, "I regard it a healthy response because there is always a slower reaction to flood catastrophe as compared to earthquakes," he says adding, "It is in the nature of an earthquake that the reaction to it has to be very quick while floods take some time to unfold and register the devastation and losses in terms of life and things." Of the $460m sought by the UN "some $182m had been committed by various governments, which is about 40 percent of that. The past experience the world over shows that if a country actually gets 70 percent of the total aid pledged that is considered adequate," he says. There are also apprehensions about whether foreign aid will match the scale of disaster in the flood-hit areas, this is more critical in the backdrop of Pakistan's image abroad and the donor fatigue resulting from the 2005 earthquake.
The state must announce national awards for the heroes who put their lives at stake to save people By Ammara Ahmad The accounts of the flood victims are heart-wrenching, to say the least. Also, amidst these, are stories of heroism, valour and never-seen-before altruism. Taj Alam, 25, a resident of village Kotla in district Mansehra (Hazara), rescued the children and women of a family. The landslide caused by heavy rains triggered a mudslide along the banks. Many houses collapsed. Taj heard the screams of the drowning family. The water was so torrential that swimming through it was impossible. Taj tied ropes around himself, dived three or four times and managed to save the family. Salim Khan, a native of Kot Addu, hosted the volunteers, spent his nights on boats showing them around the affected areas and helped them distribute aid to the genuine affectees. Coordinators working for the government project called Social Welfare Protection, also volunteered and collected funds for food, medical aid and blankets. They personally went to villages and distributed the material, sometimes feeding over 1,000 people at a single aftaar. Mazhar Abbas was a youth who met TNS in a village called Sanawan, near Kot Addu. His father was still trapped in the area and he was striving to get on some vehicle to reach him. As the water levels rose, the risk to his life increased. But, on finally reaching a truck, he focused solely on re-uniting his scattered family, bringing them food and re-assuring them that their father would return. Mazhar's motivation and optimism was just too inspiring. Zafar Lund reported from Muzaffargarh, that when Taunsa Barrage broke in their area, they had to evacuate the people on a very short notice. Almost all of it was public effort. He reported that a woman named Rizwana Parveen did a commendable job and went from door to door to help women and children escape the area swiftly. "We arranged 20 wagons for two days and evacuated people," Zafar told TNS. "The sailors in the areas had some 36 boats. All the boats were busy helping. Many other villages asked for help but we couldn't." These are but a few of the hundreds of such stories. If these humane and philanthropic souls were not around, the disaster would be more adverse. Some of these volunteers have been recognised by NGOs and government agencies working there, and were reported by the media. The state should give these "unsung heroes" some reward and recognition by announcing national awards for them. This will inspire people to work harder, generate goodwill and decrease the current disillusionment among the people, regarding the government. |
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