Relief operation for flood victims continues

Two cargo aircrafts, filled with plastic sheeting for the flood victims, arrive in Pakistan.

ISLAMABAD: Two cargo aircrafts, filled with plastic sheeting for the flood victims, arrived in Pakistan on Sunday, said a UNHCR press release. Between the two of them, the Boeing 747 and Boeing 777 freighters carry enough plastic sheeting to meet the needs of over 180,000 people affected by floods in Sindh.

The two airplanes also carried mosquito nets sufficient for more than 450,000 people. According to the press
release, the purchase and delivery of the relief items was funded by the UK’s Department for International Development as part of an urgent GBP 1million grant in response to UNHCR’s initial $120m appeal.

However these provisions are not nearly enough to meet the demands of the 20 million people that have been displaced all over Pakistan by the recent floods, according to mid-August estimates.

A revised appeal by the United Nations on Friday asked for $2billion in aid from the international community, which is the largest UN disaster aid appeal ever. Previously, the highest was $1.5billion that was asked for the devastating 2010 Haiti earthquake, which left about a quarter of a million people dead.

UN High Commissioner Antonio Guterres, who was in Pakistan last week to visit the flood-affected areas, in a press briefing had called on the international community to do more. “Nobody was prepared for such destruction and for such difficult conditions for the people affected,” Guterres told journalists on Thursday after seeing the devastation firsthand.  “Everybody is doing their best, but the best everyone is doing cannot match the dramatic needs that we are facing,” he said.

Only 18 per cent of the people in need of assistance all over Pakistan have been provided tents and plastic sheeting, said the press release. The provincial disaster management authority estimates that more than 1.4 million people across Sindh have been forced to flee their hometowns and villages to seek refuge in about 3100 sites spread all over the province.

To date, the UN refugee agency has managed to distribute shelter materials and family kits for about 128,000 people in Sindh. These family kits contain cooking sets, blankets and other items of daily use.

“My hope is that the international community will understand the needs and fully correspond to the dramatic situation,” Guterres told the journalists. “All entities working on flood response need much stronger support from the international community.”

Published in The Express Tribune, September  20^th, 2010.