Pakistan’s struggle for aid after flood

Over the past month, Pakistan has experienced its worst flooding on record. A fifth of the country is under water.

The world has responded with aid but it has been slow and minimal. And although they have their reasons, it could make the battle against the Taliban a lot more difficult.

The flood

The heavy rain began in late July in the northern province of Khyber Paktunkhwa. From there water surged down the Indus River to Punjab and Sindh provinces, where heavy rain had also fallen.

By mid-August, a fifth of the country, or 160,000 sq km, was under water.

As is stands, 1,600 people have been confirmed killed. Over 200,000 livestock have been lost and 17 million acres of crops have been destroyed. With insurance largely non-existent, millions of people’s livelihoods have been ruined.

Punjab and Sindh is Pakistan’s main food-producing region and it’s looking like farmers will miss the autumn deadline to plant seeds for 2011 food.

12 million people have been evacuated and over 20 million people have been affected. Over 4 million are living without shelter. Most don’t have enough food as supplies have fallen and prices have skyrocketed.

Water-borne diseases like cholera and diarrhoea are at risk of spreading and infecting children especially. Clean drinking water and sanitation remains in short supply.

People have been angered by the government’s slow response and by the fact that President Asif Ali Zardari went on a scheduled trip to Britain and France in the second week of the crisis.

In some places, charities belonging to insurgent groups were quicker to respond with aid and assistance, boosting their local support.

Thankfully, some of the floodwater has receded or evaporated in the severe heat. Now many are wondering what this all means for the country and the economy.

In some areas, heavy investment in the clean up and reconstruction may be good for economic growth. But that’s if the required investment and aid comes.

Slow aid

Aid has been arriving. Governments and UN bodies have committed money, food, sleeping materials and military assistance, while the World Bank and Asian Development Bank have offered $3 billion in loans.

Various aid agencies like the Red Cross, Medecins San Frontiers and Oxfam have provided further equipment and supplies, as well as crucial labour.

But despite this, the international community’s response has been criticised for being slow and stingy.

The United Nations has asked for $460 million in emergency aid but so far only half of it has been committed.

Why?

Firstly, with a death toll of only 1,600, not that many people have been killed.

When compared with recent events like the Asian tsunami (230,000), Cyclone Nargis in Burma (130,000), the 2005 Pakistan earthquake (80,000) and the Haiti earthquake (220,000), the shock factor isn’t as high.

Furthermore, there hasn’t been a lot happening in the world in the past few weeks, allowing Pakistan’s flood to dominate the media headlines a lot more that it ordinarily would have.

This has created a gap between public sympathy and hype, and aid donors’ appreciation of the mathematical realities.

Aid donors also point to the situation next door in China. During the same period, flooding and mudslides have killed over 2,800 and left another 1,300 missing. This includes 1,800 victims in a single mudslide in the town of Gansu.

Altogether, 24 million acres of crops have been destroyed, 12 million people evacuated, and 140 million people affected in 28 provinces causing $51 billion worth of damage. But there has been no aid call for China.

The reason is that the Chinese government is rich, and (unlike Pakistan) have taken recent steps to minimise the impact of such flooding (e.g the gigantic Three Gorges Dam).

So while China is quietly taking care of itself, Pakistan is putting its hand out for more aid money.

This is making donors feel uneasy. The Pakistani government is renowned for being one of the most corrupt in the world.

Just last year, a report revealed that $3 billion of the $8 billion given to the Pakistani government by America since 9/11 has been misspent.

As a result, many donors believe they should be punishing and not rewarding such bad behaviour.

Finally, a lot of the rich world is facing serious financial difficulty. This means they no longer have the usual amount of money to help out.

Nevertheless, with Pakistan on the brink of internal unrest, this is the opportunity for the international community to do the right thing to gain the support of the Pakistani people.

Because if aid assistance is poor and the government appears weak and carefree, then people will start siding with the region’s insurgents. And if that happens, the fight against the Pakistan and Afghan Taliban will become even harder.

By The Casual Truth