Press Conference by Humanitarian Coordinator in Pakistan

 

The United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in Pakistan called on donors Thursday to massively scale up aid to that flood-ravaged country in order to prevent a full-blown humanitarian catastrophe.

As of Wednesday, the United Nations and its non-governmental organization partners in the Pakistan Emergency Response Plan had received $239 million, just over half of the $459 million requested for immediate relief, while another $46 million had been pledged, Martin Mogwanja told correspondents at Headquarters via teleconference from Islamabad.

“I thank the Governments, individuals and corporations that have made these contributions, but I have to ask for more.  This is gigantic natural disaster; it requires a gigantic response from the international community.  The people of Pakistan are depending on the people of the world,” Mr. Mogwanja said.

As torrential monsoon rains in the South Asian country caused the worst flooding and destruction in more than a century to widen, the number of people desperately in need of food, clean water and other aid, originally estimated at 6 million, had climbed to as high as 8 million, he said.

“We need assistance urgently for shelter, plastic sheeting, household goods, blankets, kitchen sets, tents, whatever.  We are trying and we have purchased everything that is available from manufacturers inside Pakistan,” he said.  “We now need to look further afield in the region and beyond to ensure that sufficient supplies are available.”

In commemoration of World Humanitarian Day, Mr. Mogwanja called on the international community to work harder to aid the millions of people affected in Pakistan.

The floods that began on 29 July had already wreaked havoc on the lives of more than 15.4 million people, he said.  The destruction to physical and economic infrastructure was astounding; at least 3.2 million hectares of vital agricultural crops, more than 200,000 herds of livestock and 900,000 homes had been destroyed, rendering 4.6 million people homeless in Punjab and Sindh provinces alone.

Broken bridges and roads had left entire towns and villages throughout Gilgit Baltistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab provinces reachable only by boat and helicopter, making rescue and supply missions particularly challenging, he said.  Disease was spreading.  Twenty per cent of patients in hospitals and clinics were suffering from acute diarrhoea and gastroenteritis.  Without water chlorination tablets, oral rehydration salts and intravenous fluids, thousands were at risk for dehydration and death.

The death toll, at less than 2,000 people, was far lower than that in other major recent natural disasters, Mr. Mogwanja said.  But he feared that if aid for food, clean water, sanitation, shelter, health care and basic household goods was not provided soon enough, there could be a second wave of deaths due to waterborne diseases.

“There is an unmet gap of critical need.  This is where we hope that the international community will come in and contribute to whatever channels it deems appropriate,” he said.

Beyond the $459 million Emergency Response Plan, Pakistan would need millions more in long-term aid to replant crops and rebuild damaged factories, shops, markets, roads, bridges and telecommunications and electricity networks, he said.

Asked about the total amount required, he said the United Nations, the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank were tallying losses to crops, factories and other productive sector infrastructure.  Their assessment of long-term funding for rebuilding and restoration should be prepared by the end of October.

Concerning the $239 million already donated, he said it specifically was for the Organization’s Emergency Response Plan and did not include bilateral contributions from Governments worldwide to the Pakistani Government, Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and others.

Regarding criticism that donations paled in comparison to monies given in the wake of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and the recent earthquake in Haiti, he said the Pakistani disaster was evolving.

“The impact of this moving water, its force, its spread, has not been possible to convey easily to the international community, to generous Governments and friends of Pakistan around the world who are themselves only now beginning to realize the extent and impact of the problem,” he said.

He said he was pleased that donors had significantly stepped up contributions in the last three days and hoped that funding would continue to grow to meet needs.

Asked if humanitarian aid workers in Pakistan had been attacked or threatened, he said the flood emergency had not put them at risk nor resulted in any violence against them. 

Asked if the United Nations was able to bring aid to people in affected tribal areas, he said the humanitarian community was coordinating efforts with the Pakistani Government to assist people displaced from Fata, South Waziristan and other areas that had been resettled in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.  He added that the United Nations current development support for Fata province must be scaled up.

Asked if Pakistan would become a huge human catastrophe, he said that would depend on the efforts of the Pakistani Government and international community.  The huge outpouring of domestic philanthropy in Pakistan, such as the setting up of water, food and health-care relief centres, coupled with the Government’s massive search, rescue and evacuation operations, had contained the death toll.

“The Government and the humanitarian community are now working hard together to make sure those evacuated and displaced by the crisis do not suffer anymore, that they can survive the coming days and weeks in dignity and return home as soon as possible,” he said, adding that “there should be adequate support to meet these unmet critical gaps”.

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For information media • not an official record