Flood relief: Political parties asked to step up efforts

Political parties must assist the flood-hit communities as part of their party manifesto, says Dr Khalid.

ISLAMABAD:

Millions of people are still struggling to recover from the 2010 floods and political parties must ensure their relief on priority basis. This demand was made by representatives of humanitarian organisations at  a press conference here on Monday.

Oxfam Pakistan Associate Country Director Dr Noreen Khalid, said that $27 million is required to fulfill demands which is less than the parliament’s budget. She added that political parties must reach out to the grassroots level and assist the flood-hit communities as part of their party manifesto.

“Its about prioritising and the government as well as the politicians need to realise that there is chronic need for the strengthening and capacity building of the PDMAs and DDMAs,” she said.

The government launched its response in late September 2012. The Ministry of Finance released Rs1.5billion to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to fund the federal government’s relief effort.

The UN then launched the Monsoon Humanitarian Operational Plan (MHOP) in October 2012 to assist 2.8 million flood-hit people. The MHOP sought $168.5 million from donors to provide urgently needed water, food, shelter and healthcare as well as services for education and protection.

However, by March 1 only 30% has been funded-leaving key sectors severely underfunded. Shelter has being funded at 5%, 6% of health sector was funded and only 8% of water and sanitation being funded informed the officials.

Meanwhile, issues such as  lack of funds and delay in visas for the expat workers persist.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 5^th, 2013.