ISLAMABAD: The international community must come together to stand with the people in Pakistan to show solidarity and to help them build back their lives devastated by monsoon floods and rains, Rathi PalaKrishnan, deputy country director of the World Food Programme (WFP) in Pakistan, has said.
PalaKrishnan termed the ongoing floods in Pakistan as a “climate emergency” that can happen anywhere in the world and urged the international community to mobilise funding “in order to help people rehabilitate their lives, reconstitute their livelihoods, and get back on their feet.”
The WFP official highlighted the repeated shocks of extreme climate change in Pakistan in the shape of snow, droughts, and now floods.
According to the latest figures from the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), over 33 million people had been affected, and 1,545 died along with 12,860 injured in this season’s monsoon rains and floods since mid-June.
Additionally, over 1.9 million houses have been destroyed, while an estimated 959,819 livestock has perished, said the NDMA.
“The affected people have lost their livelihoods, their crops have been wiped away, and a third of the country is underwater, roads, bridges, infrastructure all destroyed,” said the WFP official, adding the country was already facing quite a significant number of food insecure people but the floods had doubly hit those.
Detailing the initiatives by the WFP in Pakistan, the official said they have an aim to reach 1.9 million people in the next few months with food and nutrition assistance as well as livelihood support and they had already reached half a million people.
The official said the WFP’s general food distributions consist of a one-month ration of wheat, oil, salt and lentils for each family.
“We also have nutrition support for pregnant and breastfeeding women and children under two for the next two to three months to stave off malnutrition and boost their immunity,” said the official, who is confident that their products are effective in preventing deterioration in nutritional status.
The press quoted local officials as saying that at least 650,000 pregnant women are among the affected people across the country.
Talking about the recovery stage, the official described that once the waters recede they would cooperate with the government to help people go back to their areas.
“We shall help them buy seeds that they need, get the agricultural inputs to get into the planting season, which is coming up in October.”
The official pointed out that if the floodwaters do not recede, the small window of planting will be missed and if that happens it will add more constraints to people’s ability to have an adequate and nutritious diet.
The WFP representative said that where the waters do recede and the communities want to go back they would start engaging in the cash and infrastructure rehabilitation work to restore their livelihoods in those areas through community rehabilitation programs.
The Chinese government has provided timely humanitarian aid, including waterproof tents, to counter the effects of the floods and rains in Pakistan.
Appreciating China’s experience and technical expertise in handling floods, the official said, “China has so much to offer, not just in terms of monetary value but also in terms of knowledge. The world has a lot to learn from China.”
PalaKrishnan described China as a very important partner to WFP globally and in Pakistan.
“It’s important that the world hears about the recurring climate crisis in Pakistan. It is a big wake-up call. It could happen anywhere, and the world needs to come together to support Pakistan and tackle the global issue of climate change,” added the WFP official.
