About a million houses were damaged – but there is no end in sight to the catastrophe. On the contrary, the situation will probably deteriorate further, said Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Tuesday. Heavy monsoon rains continued in areas hit by storms and floods for the past two months.
In Geneva, the UN and of Pakistan Government an initial aid plan for six months in the amount of 116 million dollars (around 116 million euros). This would ensure food, water, sanitary facilities, emergency schools and health care for 5.2 million people affected.
“Ground zero” of the climate crisis
“The disaster is colossal in its scale and devastation and has exceeded both our resources and our capacity,” said the Pakistani Foreign Minister. Like experts before him, he blamed climate change for the catastrophe. “Pakistan has become “ground zero” of this century’s greatest existential threat – global warming,” he said. His country’s worst flooding in decades is nothing less than a national emergency.
In view of this, the Secretary-General of the United Nations called for greater efforts in the fight against the climate crisis. “Let’s stop sleepwalking towards the destruction of our planet. It’s today Pakistan. Tomorrow it could be your country,” said Antonio Guterres in a video message on Tuesday. He also called for emergency aid worth millions for the flood victims.
The South Asian nuclear power with around 220 million inhabitants has been suffering from unusually heavy monsoon rains since mid-June. The Balochistan region in the southwest is particularly affected. But also the Northwest of Pakistan is now struggling with major damage due to the floods. Natural disasters such as floods, droughts and landslides have Pakistan increased in recent years.
Almost 400 children among the dead
According to the civil protection authority, almost 400 children are among the fatalities. Almost 3,500 kilometers of roads were destroyed and about 160 bridges collapsed. Farmers would have lost around 700,000 animals.
Last Thursday, the government in Islamabad declared a state of emergency and asked for international help to deal with the disaster. According to the government itself, it is providing 173 million dollars. In total, more than 33 million people were affected by the floods, it said. According to estimates by the Ministry of Planning, the damage to the Pakistani economy amounts to around ten billion dollars (approximately ten billion euros).
As the spokesman for the UN Emergency Relief Office (OCHA), Jens Laerke, explained in Geneva, around half a million people have become homeless. Many were taken in by relatives and others, others lived in camps. New houses would have to be built quickly.
The aid plan presented in Geneva provides, among other things, for medical aid. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), injuries are caused by debris and debris swept away by the water masses, electric shocks from torn cables and infections such as cholera. These spread when sewage contaminated with faeces is not disposed of properly. Chronically ill people such as diabetics and pregnant women would also have to continue to be cared for in an emergency.
Almost 900 health facilities were destroyed or damaged. Pakistan had many malnourished children even before the floods, reported the children’s charity UNICEF. They need special support now.
“We have to join forces because the people in Pakistan are dependent on outside help,” emphasized Andreas Knapp, Foreign Aid General Secretary of Caritas Austria, on Tuesday. One is active at several locations in all provinces. The distribution of food parcels and tents, as well as medical first aid have top priority at the moment.
In a broadcast, Diakonie Austria emphasized that its partners in Pakistan currently analyzing the need for assistance. “It is already clear that our local helpers will immediately provide emergency accommodation and distribute clean drinking water and food in the particularly affected south-east of the country, in the Sindh region,” explained Diakonie Director Maria Katharina Moser.
Here you can donate
- charity: Donate online at: www.caritas.at/flut-pakistan Donation account: Password: Katastrophenhilfe Erste Bank BIC: GIBAATWWXXX IBAN: AT23 2011 1000 0123 4560
- Diaconia Austria: Donate online at www.diakonie.at/flut-pakistan Donation Account: IBAN: AT85 2011 1287 1196 6333 BIC: GIBAATWWXXX Donation Password: Flood Pakistan
Source: Nachrichten
