Failing disaster preparedness

Our leaders need to take steps for the elimination of both governance and nature-induced risks

In the last 15 months, three instruments have set a profound framework to build a better and safer world. These instruments have set the milestones, the principles and the strategies to sustain economic, social and ethical achievements at all levels of humanity — global, national and community. This was an outcome of sustained and concerted efforts of world leaders. In May, they gathered in Istanbul to attend the first-ever UN World Humanitarian Summit and agreed upon the humanitarian principles. Earlier, they established the Sendai Framework for DRR 2015-30 during the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in March 2015 in Sendai, Japan. World leaders have also agreed on the Sustainable Development Goals 2015-30. These grand achievements have injected a new vigour amongst development practioners elsewhere, but not in our country.

Our state actors have not only forgotten commitments that they had made with the international community for the implementation of the abovementioned instruments, they have also been instrumental in killing the enthusiasm that these conferences had injected in the Pakistan development and humanitarian sector. State officials are bent upon erecting hurdles in the working of civil society organisations as well.



Let me cite here a few concrete examples to substantiate my opinion. A training workshop on “Minimum standards for age and disability inclusion in humanitarian action”, which was to take place on August 29-30 in Multan and was arranged by an international NGO, duly authorised to work here in collaboration with the National Humanitarian Network that is recognised by the National Disaster Management Authority, had to be shifted to Islamabad at the last minute because local authorities refused to issue the required NoC. In July, the local authorities of Multan also shut down a training workshop while it was in full swing. The workshop was jointly organised by UN-OCHA and IOM (UN bodies which helped survivors of the 2005 earthquake and 2010 floods) in collaboration with NHN and TearFund on “Multi-sector Initial Rapid Assessment”. The trainers were forced to leave Multan with immediate effect — a highly condemnable act.

This is not new. For the last two years, civil society organisations in south Punjab are being gagged in the name of lack of issuance of NoCs. During my recent visits to some areas of south Punjab, leaders of many civil society organisations told me that due to non-issuance of NOCs, they could not implement some projects. These organisations are duly registered, law-abiding and well-reputed. During the 2014 and 2015 flood disasters, I personally observed authorities stopping many of them from helping the flood-affected people while they were found facilitating the activities of banned organisations in the affected areas. This is still the case. The authorities, in effect, have helped monsters pretend to be angels. Isn’t this a clear violation of the National Action Plan? The state must realise that civil society organisations are its natural allies in its fight against terrorism and extremism.

In the name of NoC issuance, civil society is being damaged seriously in the Seraiki belt. There is a need to realise that the absence of civil society means a lack of freedom and democracy, which often leads to widespread chaos. Our rulers need to take steps for the elimination of both governance and nature-induced risks. And this can only be achieved by providing an enabling environment for civil society organisations.

Will the rulers do that? I doubt it very much. They just want civil society organisations to dance to their tunes. They don’t want them to build capacities of communities to organise themselves and to speak out for their rights. They don’t want civil society organisations to speak against any act of poor governance. They don’t want us to expose corruption in relief distribution and diversion of floodwater on political grounds. They don’t want civil society organisations speaking about rule of law. They don’t want them to speak against corruption. They don’t want us to talk about rigging in elections. They don’t want us to demand human and labour rights. And they don’t want us to talk about their failure to implement NAP.

Since 2012, the National Disaster Management Commission has not held its meeting. Since the enactment of the National Disaster Management Act in 2010, not a single meeting of any provincial disaster management authority has been held either. Hardly any disaster management authority is functional in any district. Their contingency plans lack conceptualisation of ground realities and critical information, and there appear to be gaps between planned actions and required resources. This is what appears from a reading of their websites.

What is this NoC? Under which law is it being selectively imposed in south Punjab? Isn’t using the issuance of NoCs to stop NGOs and civil society organisations from working effectively a violation of fundamental rights enshrined in the Pakistan Constitution — right to assembly (Article 16) and right to association (article 17)? On what grounds did the Multan administration stop UN agencies from holding training sessions inside the four walls of a hotel? The continued imposition of this NoC regime will prevent us from fulfilling our international commitments that our leaders had made under the abovementioned instruments, and needs of our own vulnerable and marginalised communities, whose well-being is the responsibility of the state under our Constitution, will be compromised.

This strangulation in the name of NoCs is building massive resentment amongst civil society organisations. And if this oppression continues, the anger may transform into defiance. Will the authorities listen before it is too late?

Published in The Express Tribune, September 13^th, 2016.

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