British diplomat calls for sustaining international efforts for Pak flood victims

LONDON: The British High Commissioner in Pakistan Adam Thomson, has said the tremendous Pakistani and international effort to help the flood-affected population absolutely must be sustained over the next six months and beyond. In his blog 'Pakistan floods, six months on', he said the floods left an appalling trail of destruction from North to South, ruining livelihoods, property and infrastructure.

Six months ago Pakistan was hit by devastating monsoon floods. This was - and remains a disaster shocking in its scale and impact. The world risks forgetting that 20 million people were affected, more than the Boxing Day Asian tsunami, Hurricane Katrina and the Pakistan and Haiti earthquakes combined. Almost two thousand people died.

The top diplomat said the UK Government's flood response team will continue its work in Pakistan in 2011. It is supporting the recovery of agriculture and rural livelihoods, particularly in Punjab and Sindh Provinces. "We are also aiming to help some 200,000 children get back into the classroom (10,000 schools were partially or totally destroyed in the floods). UKAid still has pounds 20 million (Rs 2.7bn) of aid to be allocated and announced in the coming months.

Six months on, many flood affectees still desperately need help. The media focus may have moved on. But the disaster has not. Parts of

southern Pakistan are still under several feet of water now stagnating.

Millions of people - more than the entire population of some countries- still remain affected. Both the UN and the Government of Pakistan acknowledge that the situation is still acute. The UN estimates that almost $0.9 billion, less than half the target set in its September 2010 appeal, is still needed to help the huge numbers of people trying to rebuild their lives after the floods. UNICEF and other aid agencies are warning of malnutrition at a level not seen since the famines of Ethiopia and Darfur

According to Thomson, the scale of the need also lays a heavy responsibility on Pakistan's federal and provincial governments to maintain progress on the difficult economic reforms that are so essential for Pakistan's long term stability and security.

"Pakistan has begun to think hard about its economic challenges.  This is a debate that needs to take place but also one that needs to reach some hard decisions quickly. It is for Pakistan's politicians to decide what should be done.

"But it is clear that only through substantial economic reform can there be the sustained economic growth, job creation and expansion of government services that are so badly needed by the poor and vulnerable in Pakistan. People like those I met in Sindh and Khyber- Pakhtunkhwa whose lives have been devastated by last summer's flood, who still need help to get back on their feet, and who still face an uncertain future."

He wrote that the UK Government has now committed 134 million pounds (over Rs 18 billion) - by itself about 10% of the UN's total appeal to the world community. The UK public donated a further 68 million pounds (Rs 9.4 billion) through the Disasters Emergency Committee appeal run by UK charities.

Aid from the UK's Department for International Development has focused not only on the immediate humanitarian needs of ordinary Pakistanis - safe drinking water, food, shelter and sanitation - but also on longer-term recovery across the flood affected areas: repairing schools, distributing seeds, replacing bridges and helping farmers rebuild their livelihoods.