Calling attention to Pakistan floods

The situation in Pakistan is dire, with 20 million people affected by devastating monsoon floods, millions of acres of crops destroyed, and early reports of cholera that signal the threat of a major health disaster.

Photo: Peter Biro/The IRC.

Congress may have been in recess, but two prestigious organizations used the dog days of summer to call attention to the tragic flooding in Pakistan and to appeal for greater amounts of relief aid.  International Rescue Committee leaders participated in both discussions and both were well-attended, despite summer usually being a quiet time in New York and Washington.

First, the Asia Society in New York hosted an event about flood relief efforts in Pakistan on August 19.  The program featured Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Ambassador Richard C. Holbrooke, and United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Rajiv Shah.  The event was timed just prior to a special session on Pakistan held at the United Nations, and was broadcast live to Pakistan.  The audience included philanthropists, business people and prominent Pakistani-Americans.


IRC president George Rupp, speaking at the Asia Society on August 19  l  Video

IRC president George Rupp was invited by the organizers to speak as part of the program, and he offered thanks to the U.S. Government and the American people before noting that IRC’s Pakistan staff members and local partners are fully mobilized as part of a collaborative, international effort.  “It is absolutely crucial that we take the urgency of this response very seriously,” Rupp said, “but it is just as important that we think in the long term from emergency response through to the post-emergency recovery and then reconstruction of the country.” 

On September 1, the Brookings Institution convened a panel in Washington to discuss challenges to the Pakistani government and the international community in responding to the floods.

Mike Young, IRC’s regional director for Asia, Caucasus and the Middle East, participated on the panel alongside experts from U.S. Department of State, USAID and the Brookings Institution.  In addition to describing the crisis, Young detailed the constraints aid agencies face and pointed out that Pakistan is suffering from a “chronic complex emergency” of which the floods are only the latest part.  He also discussed security concerns, civil-military coordination issues, and how the scale of the crisis is one of its most challenging aspects.

IRC’s regional director Mike Young, speaking at Brookings on September 1  l  Video

On a positive note, Young remarked that Pakistan is rich in human resources, such as engineers and doctors, and that, even in the midst of the tragedy, there is an opportunity to support and shore up Pakistani civilian agencies like the national disaster management authority.

At both events, participants made clear that more contributions–from the public and donor governments–are desperately needed.  This news should be welcomed by IRCcolleagues and our local partner agencies coping with the crisis in Pakistan.  Let’s hope that word of these needs spread to even more audiences in the coming weeks.  As the flood waters recede, millions affected by the flood will require additional help to recover from the flood’s sad and ruinous legacy of death, displacement, and loss of crops, livestock and livelihoods.