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Aid to Pakistan slow as millions affected by floods
It is estimated that 20 million people in Pakistan have been affected by the floods which began in late July when abnormally heavy monsoon rains swept across the country from its mountainous northwest.
The disaster has affected more people than the combined total of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the 2005 Kashmir earthquake and the Haiti earthquake.
The floods, which have claimed the lives of at least 1,600 people, have been dubbed the world’s second worst in the decade by the Belgium-based Centre for Research on Epidemiology of Disasters.
UN UNICEF Spokesman, Sami Abdul Malik, said 6 million children were affected by the floods; 3.5 million of them are at risk of disease: “Currently we are in a life-saving phase…we are distributing high-energy biscuits because malnutrition is a curse. It can lead to several other diseases. Children are always vulnerable. They cannot control their thirst; they will drink any type of water and may get watery diarrhoea, cholera, malaria and other diseases.”
UN, Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, said devastation caused was among the worst he had ever seen. “I will never forget the destruction and suffering I have witnessed today. In the past, I have witnessed many natural disasters around the world, but nothing like this.”
One-fifth of Pakistan is submerged in water making it the worst floods in the country’s history. 1.4m acres of crop land have been flooded across the country and over 10,000 cows have perished.
The flood recovery costs for the agriculture sector could be in the billions of dollarsl.
UN Humanitarian Operations Spokesman, Maurizio Giuliano, said, “The devastation to crops is immense. I think it’s safe to say it will take some billions of dollars to recover, even though we don’t have estimates yet. I am referring to livelihood for agriculture and farming to get back in shape.”
One of the biggest problems faced by aid workers is to ensure that the people have access to clean drinking water. Wells, streams and springs have been contaminated, as has ground water. People are forced to drink from stagnant pools, contaminated by human waste and dead animals.
“There could be a second wave of deaths due to water-borne diseases if we don’t act fast enough to provide safe drinking water,” said Giuliano. He said over one million people were in need of clean water and 430,000 water purification tablets had been distributed so far.
The Muslim Charities Forum (MCF) welcomed the British Muslim charities’ effort in raising funds for the disaster. In a statement to The Muslim News, MCF Chair, Dr Hany El-Banna, said: “The mobilisation of the Muslim community in raising funds for the aid agencies in the field is encouraging and I am sure that this will supplement the relief effort of other charities operating in the area.”
UK based Muslim charities were among the first to respond. Muslim Aid (MA) was one of the first UK based charities to launch an emergency appeal (£2m) on July 27 and has raised over £850,000 (August 18). 650 flood affected people were treated in two days in Rajarr, Utmanzai and Tangi of District Charsada.
MA also distributed 12,000 litters of clean drinking water among the 500 families of district Charsada and Nawshahra. MA also distributed 300,000 Aqua Tabs, among many other emergency relief items.
MA is flying two mobile inflatable hospitals from its field office in Bangladesh to Pakistan to provide basic health service.
Islamic Relief (IR) has raised £2m in the UK alone and has among many other items donated 100 tents in the immediate aftermath of the flooding. 470 hygiene kits and 470 jerry cans were distributed in Pakistani-Administered Kashmir. IR also brought 3 boats to help with evacuations and 450 tents; 850 house construction kits, to help to house some people straight away.
Muslim Hands (MH) has to date (August 19) raised over £1m, the charity also has a team of 348 staff and hundreds of volunteers working through the affected regions of Khaybar Pakhtunkhwa, South Punjab, Sind, Balochistan and Kashmir.
MH has 5 medical clinics and is hoping to double that number soon, so far, they have provided 7,000 affected families with medical care
In total MH has distributed food parcels to over 6,040 affected families and have provided cooked food packs to 60,850 people.
According to UN statistics the initial international response in the first 10 days of the flood has been slow compared with relief efforts after previous natural disasters.
The UN’s financial tracking system revealed that world governments had (as of August 9) committed less than £29m, with an additional £58m pledged, far less than was donated for previous disaster relief efforts over a similar period.
Within the first 10 days of the 2005 Pakistan earthquake, which left 3.5m people homeless, the international community had committed £158m and pledged £45m.
In the first 10 days of tropical cyclone which affected 2.4m people when it hit Burma almost £71m was committed and £70m pledged. £476m was committed to Haiti and £590m pledged after the earthquake there in January.
On August 13 Britain’s Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, announced the country had donated £30m. However, on August 19, the Government announced it would double the amount to £64m.
On August 18, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy has confirmed to The Muslim News that his country, which is dealing with its own floods, has donated £5.6m.
Turkey doubled its pledge from £3m to £6m on August 17.
On August 19, the US is announced it donated £97m. Saudi Arabia sent 12 relief airplanes and the Saudis first contributed £35m, increasing last week to $106m.
Japan has pledged an additional £6m on August 16 on top of the £3m it pledged on August 3.
Islamic Development Bank has pledged £7m, the EU £42m, the World Bank promised a £577 million loan.
Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari’s absence during the floods prompted widespread criticism.
Zardari only made his first visit to areas hit by the floods on August 12, three weeks too late critics argued.
Survivors have also accused the Government of failing to provide relief in the aftermath of the flood. Hundreds of protestors gathered in the city of Peshawar on August 12 to protest against the Government’s slow response.
Hundreds of victims used stones and garbage to block a major highway near the hard-hit Sukkur area, complaining they were being treated like animals. Many said Government officials were only handing out food when media were present.
“They are throwing packets of food to us like we are dogs,” said protester Kalu Mangiani. “They are making people fight for these packets.”
British Prime Minister, David Cameron, has also been criticised because of his comments during his visit to India that Pakistan was exporting terrorism. Pakistan’s Ambassador to the UN, Abdullah Hussain Haroon, said that Cameron’s comments in which he said Pakistan must not look “both ways” on terrorism had affected its efforts to raise funds.
Haroon told BBC Radio 4’s the World Tonight that Cameron’s comments had added to Pakistan’s suffering. “Pakistan has suffered because of what Mr Cameron has said, because the British people will listen to their Prime Minister,” said Haroon.
He argued that a negative view of Pakistan could stop the public from giving more aid. “The world has been slow,” said Haroon. “It could be because of donor fatigue in terms of what’s happening around the world, but also I don’t think the international press, until now, has portrayed what is happening.”
Neighbouring India pledged £3.2m. New Delhi’s response has been limited in contrast to 2005 Kashmir earthquake, when supplies were airlifted to the survivors in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
It is estimated that 20 million people in Pakistan have been affected by the floods which began in late July when abnormally heavy monsoon rains swept across the country from its mountainous northwest.
The disaster has affected more people than the combined total of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the 2005 Kashmir earthquake and the Haiti earthquake.
The floods, which have claimed the lives of at least 1,600 people, have been dubbed the world’s second worst in the decade by the Belgium-based Centre for Research on Epidemiology of Disasters.
UN UNICEF Spokesman, Sami Abdul Malik, said 6 million children were affected by the floods; 3.5 million of them are at risk of disease: “Currently we are in a life-saving phase…we are distributing high-energy biscuits because malnutrition is a curse. It can lead to several other diseases. Children are always vulnerable. They cannot control their thirst; they will drink any type of water and may get watery diarrhoea, cholera, malaria and other diseases.”
UN, Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, said devastation caused was among the worst he had ever seen. “I will never forget the destruction and suffering I have witnessed today. In the past, I have witnessed many natural disasters around the world, but nothing like this.”
One-fifth of Pakistan is submerged in water making it the worst floods in the country’s history. 1.4m acres of crop land have been flooded across the country and over 10,000 cows have perished.
The flood recovery costs for the agriculture sector could be in the billions of dollarsl.
UN Humanitarian Operations Spokesman, Maurizio Giuliano, said, “The devastation to crops is immense. I think it’s safe to say it will take some billions of dollars to recover, even though we don’t have estimates yet. I am referring to livelihood for agriculture and farming to get back in shape.”
One of the biggest problems faced by aid workers is to ensure that the people have access to clean drinking water. Wells, streams and springs have been contaminated, as has ground water. People are forced to drink from stagnant pools, contaminated by human waste and dead animals.
“There could be a second wave of deaths due to water-borne diseases if we don’t act fast enough to provide safe drinking water,” said Giuliano. He said over one million people were in need of clean water and 430,000 water purification tablets had been distributed so far.
The Muslim Charities Forum (MCF) welcomed the British Muslim charities’ effort in raising funds for the disaster. In a statement to The Muslim News, MCF Chair, Dr Hany El-Banna, said: “The mobilisation of the Muslim community in raising funds for the aid agencies in the field is encouraging and I am sure that this will supplement the relief effort of other charities operating in the area.”
UK based Muslim charities were among the first to respond. Muslim Aid (MA) was one of the first UK based charities to launch an emergency appeal (£2m) on July 27 and has raised over £850,000 (August 18). 650 flood affected people were treated in two days in Rajarr, Utmanzai and Tangi of District Charsada.
MA also distributed 12,000 litters of clean drinking water among the 500 families of district Charsada and Nawshahra. MA also distributed 300,000 Aqua Tabs, among many other emergency relief items.
MA is flying two mobile inflatable hospitals from its field office in Bangladesh to Pakistan to provide basic health service.
Islamic Relief (IR) has raised £2m in the UK alone and has among many other items donated 100 tents in the immediate aftermath of the flooding. 470 hygiene kits and 470 jerry cans were distributed in Pakistani-Administered Kashmir. IR also brought 3 boats to help with evacuations and 450 tents; 850 house construction kits, to help to house some people straight away.
Muslim Hands (MH) has to date (August 19) raised over £1m, the charity also has a team of 348 staff and hundreds of volunteers working through the affected regions of Khaybar Pakhtunkhwa, South Punjab, Sind, Balochistan and Kashmir.
MH has 5 medical clinics and is hoping to double that number soon, so far, they have provided 7,000 affected families with medical care
In total MH has distributed food parcels to over 6,040 affected families and have provided cooked food packs to 60,850 people.
According to UN statistics the initial international response in the first 10 days of the flood has been slow compared with relief efforts after previous natural disasters.
The UN’s financial tracking system revealed that world governments had (as of August 9) committed less than £29m, with an additional £58m pledged, far less than was donated for previous disaster relief efforts over a similar period.
Within the first 10 days of the 2005 Pakistan earthquake, which left 3.5m people homeless, the international community had committed £158m and pledged £45m.
In the first 10 days of tropical cyclone which affected 2.4m people when it hit Burma almost £71m was committed and £70m pledged. £476m was committed to Haiti and £590m pledged after the earthquake there in January.
On August 13 Britain’s Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, announced the country had donated £30m. However, on August 19, the Government announced it would double the amount to £64m.
On August 18, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy has confirmed to The Muslim News that his country, which is dealing with its own floods, has donated £5.6m.
Turkey doubled its pledge from £3m to £6m on August 17.
On August 19, the US is announced it donated £97m. Saudi Arabia sent 12 relief airplanes and the Saudis first contributed £35m, increasing last week to $106m.
Japan has pledged an additional £6m on August 16 on top of the £3m it pledged on August 3.
Islamic Development Bank has pledged £7m, the EU £42m, the World Bank promised a £577 million loan.
Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari’s absence during the floods prompted widespread criticism.
Zardari only made his first visit to areas hit by the floods on August 12, three weeks too late critics argued.
Survivors have also accused the Government of failing to provide relief in the aftermath of the flood. Hundreds of protestors gathered in the city of Peshawar on August 12 to protest against the Government’s slow response.
Hundreds of victims used stones and garbage to block a major highway near the hard-hit Sukkur area, complaining they were being treated like animals. Many said Government officials were only handing out food when media were present.
“They are throwing packets of food to us like we are dogs,” said protester Kalu Mangiani. “They are making people fight for these packets.”
British Prime Minister, David Cameron, has also been criticised because of his comments during his visit to India that Pakistan was exporting terrorism. Pakistan’s Ambassador to the UN, Abdullah Hussain Haroon, said that Cameron’s comments in which he said Pakistan must not look “both ways” on terrorism had affected its efforts to raise funds.
Haroon told BBC Radio 4’s the World Tonight that Cameron’s comments had added to Pakistan’s suffering. “Pakistan has suffered because of what Mr Cameron has said, because the British people will listen to their Prime Minister,” said Haroon.
He argued that a negative view of Pakistan could stop the public from giving more aid. “The world has been slow,” said Haroon. “It could be because of donor fatigue in terms of what’s happening around the world, but also I don’t think the international press, until now, has portrayed what is happening.”
Neighbouring India pledged £3.2m. New Delhi’s response has been limited in contrast to 2005 Kashmir earthquake, when supplies were airlifted to the survivors in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.