As funding goes to flood survivors, charities are forced to cut back

Charities are wondering how they will sustain their work as more and more money is being diverted for flood relief.

KARACHI: Ninety-two thousand students with The Citizen’s Foundation are dependent on Zakat and other donations, corporate and personal. But now, this NGO and many other charities like it are wondering how they will sustain their work as more and more money is being diverted to help flood survivors.

TCF CEO Syed Asaad Ayub Ahmed estimates a 60 per cent decline in donations this year. “Most of our projects are committed between January to April, so those ones are not threatened,” he said. But TCF is worried about meeting its 70-school building target this year. Only 40 have been built so far.

Maintenance is where most of the Zakat and donation money is spent. And when money is tight, TCF cuts back on repairs and training. “We will fight tooth and nail not to give up,” said Ayub, adding that they plan an aggressive campaign and are waiting to see how it works out by January.

Some NGOs have already seen a change. “While it is still too early to gauge the exact drop, our collection is 40 per cent compared to last year,” said SOS Sindh chairman Yaqoob Zamindar. “Ramazan collection was 25 per cent less.” The SOS has 45 projects and it is likely that there will be cutbacks for extra-curricular activities, such as camps.

Even the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital, with 84,000 registered patients, is struggling. Half of the patients receive financial assistance but this year the hospital received Rs20 million less than last year. “The 2005 earthquake had affected us a great deal,” said media coordinator Haroon Ashraf. “But the impact of the money being donated to the flood relief instead will only be realised in a month or two.”

For Interactive Research and Development that works on health and poverty, the pinch hasn’t come just yet to its pocket. “At this time no one is looking for grants,” said epidemiologist at the IRD Ismat Lotia. “But of course when the current resources run out for us in about six months, we will know exactly what the situation is.”

The lucky NGOs are those who got funding before the floods. Shirkat Gah is one of them. “We are given money annually, which we receive at the start of the year,” said its director for the Green Economics Initiative, Najma Sadeque. “So what is committed is delivered to us.”

The Pakistan Institute for Labour, Education and Research (PILER) has already been notified by the government that budgeted projects are being put on hold as funds go to flood relief. “We will be affected soon, it’s always the human rights work that is the first to be cut back,” said Piler’s Zulfiqar Shah. “Most people will not give much focus to labour rights when millions of people need to completely rebuild their lives.”

With the cessation of funds for HIV/AIDS patients from the Sindh government, four NGOs dependent on government money fear the epidemic will spread unhindered and five years of work will go to waste.

“The government took this decision because of the massive destruction caused by floods in Sindh,” Dr Qamar Abbas, manager of the Sindh AIDS Control Programme told The Express Tribune. “We cannot ignore HIV patients and the Sindh government understands that these patients equally require their attention, but considering the crisis it is difficult to offer them something right away.”

The Sukkur Blood and Drugs Donating Society, Pakistan Society, Al Nijat Welfare Society and Infection Control Society Pakistan are the four NGOs. On December 31, 2009, when the World Bank funding stopped for the HIV prevention project, the Sindh government heroically stepped forward and assured these organisations of financial help to ensure work continued.

“But soon this funding was reduced by one third because of progressive inflation,” said Dr Saleem Azam of Pakistan Society. “This doubled our hardship. Due to the floods we don’t see the funding coming our way any time soon.”

Dr Muhammad Naeem, the director of the Sukkur Blood and Drugs Donating Society, argues however that Rs20 million is not a huge amount for the government to spare. “That is all we need to keep working with our patients, especially those in the prison,” he said. “But the provincial planning and development department says there is no money.” At present, there are 15 HIV positive patients in prisons across Sindh who require antiretroviral (ARV) drugs.

The HIV epidemic has not only been contained but the figures of prevalence have been brought down from 30 per cent in 2006 to 23 per cent in 2008 among IDUs.

The next phase of projects is expected to launch after six months, but those working with the government are sceptical of its intention to help HIV patients. “We understand that the floods are massive, but at least the current status of funding should be communicated to us,” added Dr Naeem.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 10^th, 2010.