To date, over 1,600 people have died and around 14 million people have been affected by the floods in Pakistan which have followed the country’s worst monsoon rains in 80 years. Sir John Holmes, the Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and the Emergency Relief Coordinator at the UN, has stated that “if we don’t act fast enough, many more people could die of disease and food shortage”.
It is clear that international response must focus on both immediate and long-term responses to the crisis. In the short term, Pakistan faces food shortages as well as a possible outbreak of diseases such as gastroenteritis, scabies, cholera and typhoid. In the long term, the floods have destroyed infrastructure, which will require a program of reconstruction once the floodwaters have receded.
Although the full extent of the damage is not yet known, the floods have destroyed crops such as wheat, cotton and sugar cane, which are vital to the Pakistan economy. The UN has reported that, in order to avoid a food crisis, up to 6 million people require food assistance, at an estimated cost of $150.5 million. In addition, shelter, clean water and emergency healthcare remain top priorities.
Sir John Holmes has called the international response thus far “encouraging”, but emphasizes the importance of the ongoing effort. In an interview with the Council on Foreign Relations, Richard C. Holbrooke, the U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, supports this by highlighting the nature of the crisis as a “rolling” one. In contrast to “sudden catastrophes”, Holbrooke argues that the danger of rolling crises is that they “grow and are initially underestimated”.
In addition to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, humanitarian assistance is being provided by organizations such as the World Food Programme, Mercy Corps, Action Against Hunger and USAID.
Posted by Hallam Lyall Grant
