Appeal for flood victims put off till next week

Joint appeal by UN and govt for flood-hit provinces put off until next week following differences in management.

ISLAMABAD: A joint appeal by the United Nations and the government for flood-hit provinces has been put off until next week following differences in management mechanisms. The appeal was scheduled to be launched last week.

As the country is now in the early phase of recovery and reconstruction, all the stakeholders involved in development such as the National Disaster Management Authority, UN agencies, Planning Commission and EAD are confused as to how this will be carried out.

“Of course, the destruction is massive, but it’s very hard being in this system where everyone wants to take the lead,” said an NDMA official.

“The government has its own perspective on the disaster and so does the UN. However, the differences which are causing the delay are being dealt with at the moment,” said a UN official.

During the emergency phase, the disaster management body was responsible for management and coordination. Now, during the early recovery and reconstruction where development projects are involved, other government departments and UN agencies also play a major role.

Due to the allocation of projects by the UN and NDMA there is confusion regarding which clusters need more funding, the UN has its own perspective whereas the NDMA has its own.

“The government at the moment has a lot of issues of business involved in these projects, the delay of the programme document is because each stakeholder is trying to take the leading role, whereas every department is equally involved” said an NDMA official.

“There are so many moving pieces trying to move in different directions,” the official added. According to the UN, they are waiting for a green signal from the EAD, whereas sources in the EAD reveal that they were waiting for the NDMA to finalise the programme document.

“Whatever is happening with the delay, only upper management knows the reason, but they are keeping it close to themselves and are hesitant about making it public,” said an NDMA official.

“This is no time for debate and we need to get down to working, these internal matters should be resolved soon,” said a UN official.

At the moment the government feels that the funding of some clusters is more essential than that of others. Therefore the government is reorganising, reprioritising and finalising the funding status of the clusters.

“The government is being selective regarding the clusters and they do not want to spend on some of them and they want to increase funds for others,” said the UN official.

“We are making adjustments according to the government’s requirement,” they added.

The NDMA is now trying to finalise the programme document and is expected to make it public by the end of the week.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 1^st, 2010.