Photo courtesy UNICEF—Sami Malik
Pakistan and the United Nations on Tuesday jointly launched a revised flash appeal in Geneva for $816 million, up from the original $160 million, to help the country tackle the devastation caused by unprecedented floods.
In August, the U.N. had launched a $160 million “flash appeal” for aid to provide 5.2 million displaced people with food, water, sanitation, emergency education, protection and health support. As the scale of the devastation became clearer—with over 33 million people affected and a third of the country left under water—the U.N. announced it would be revising its appeal upwards, as the initial demand and receivables had proven insufficient to cope with the long-term impact of the calamity.
Launching the fresh appeal alongside Climate Change Minister Sherry Rehman, WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stressed that approximately 10 percent of all of Pakistan’s health facilities had been damaged, leaving millions without access to health care. “Stocks of essential medicines and medical supplies are limited or have been washed away; damaged roads and bridges are impeding access to services and supplies; and disease surveillance and referral mechanisms have been severely disrupted,” he said, praising the Government of Pakistan for its rescue and first phase relief operation.
However, he emphasized, the government was “understandably” overwhelmed and needed support. “The water has stopped rising, but the danger has not,” he said, warning of a looming public health disaster. “Many more lives than were lost in the floods could be lost in the coming weeks if we don’t mobilize greater support for Pakistan,” he said, noting outbreaks of water-borne diseases such as malaria, cholera and dengue had been reported, as well as an increase in skin infections. Over 2,000 women are giving birth every day, he added, “most of them in unsafe conditions.”
Urging donors and partners to support the latest appeal, Dr. Ghebreyesus said an “urgent and robust response, supported by sustainable funding, is needed to control the spread of outbreaks, to support routine immunization, to urgently address severe acute malnutrition, and to provide life-saving essential health services.” Recalling that WHO had already released $10 million from its Contingency Fund for Emergencies, he said ongoing efforts required $115 million. “We must all work together to support the people of Pakistan—we need an integrated approach that puts less emphasis on the work of each agency, and more on the needs of people,” he said, adding “we must remember that unless we address the existential threat of climate change, we will be responding to emergencies like this and worse more often.”
Julien Harneis, the U.N. resident coordinator and humanitarian coordinator in Pakistan, meanwhile warned even the $816 million target for the appeal was “absolutely not enough.”
No resources
Attended in person by Rehman, the event included the virtual participation of Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal; Economic Affairs Minister Ayaz Sadiq; and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar. Warning that Pakistan lacked the resources to spend more on recovering from the floods, Rehman called for faster international help during her address at the flash appeal. “We have no space to give our economy any stimulus … the developed world should accelerate funding for climate hit disasters,” she said, adding there was an urgent need of medicines for 8.2 million people, as well as extra food, as many crops had been damaged by the floods.
Addressing the event, minister Sadiq emphasized the need for sustained and long term support from the global community for Pakistan to help it recover from the climate-induced calamity. Noting waters were still receding in many flood-hit areas, he warned that subsequent rehabilitation work would take years to complete. He stressed that if Pakistan were left alone at this time, it would set the “wrong precedent,” because the country is not responsible for this climate catastrophe. He also thanked those who had already extended support to Pakistan.
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Khar, meanwhile, said the world must respond to the needs of people impacted by climate change. She said it was the government’s job to ensure the flood victims were not only equipped to survive the crisis, but also thrive afterwards.
According to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), 1,696 people, including 726 men, 340 women and 630 children, have died due to various rain-related incidents since mid-June, when this year’s monsoon season commenced. In addition, 12,867 people have been recorded as injured, while over 2 million homes have been left either partially or fully damaged, leaving millions more homeless. Livestock, which serves as both food and livelihood in many rural parts of the country, has also suffered losses of 1.16 million, while the total number of bridges destroyed has hit 440, with 13,097km of roads damaged by the rains. The government estimates the cost of the damage at $30 billion, which could be revised upwards or downwards based on the results of an ongoing damages assessment.