Oxfam South Asia Blog

Pakistan floods:Oxfam Reaction to Visit by European Humanitarian Commissioner

Flood-affected areas now constitute the world’s largest freshwater lake, says Oxfam 

Kristalina Georgieva, European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, today visited Pakistan to see the effect of the devastating floods on the country. More than 17 million people are now affected by the floods, with nearly 1600 people killed and millions made homeless.

Neva Khan, Oxfam’s Country Director in Pakistan, said: “We welcome the Commissioner’s visit and hope she will return to Brussels with a renewed sense of urgency about what is needed here in Pakistan.

“This is rapidly becoming the world’s largest freshwater lake – swallowing up the equivalent of an area the size of Belgium, Austria and Switzerland. And it keeps spreading. The EU has been generous to this point of the crisis but the flood waters keep rising – engulfing more land and displacing more people. Each day there is more human need, higher risk of disease – and a patently obvious case for faster and significantly greater volume of aid.

“The original emergency relief plan for Pakistan was based on the needs of six million people in direct need of assistance. There are now up to ten million people who urgently need our help. The UN is now planning to revise the emergency appeal – which will require the European donors to increase their share of the contributions to meet the emergency and the longer term needs of the Pakistani people.

“The EU Foreign Ministers are due to meet in Brussels on 10 September where the plight of Pakistan will be high on their agenda. We hope the EU will continue to show leadership in delivering real and sustained support to the Pakistani people – now and in the future.”

Video journal from Sindh-1

Oxfam’s Program manager in Sindh, Faisal Gilani is keeping a video journal with help of Oxfam’s Asim Saqlain.

People of Pakistan needs aid

Aug. 18 (Bloomberg) — Oxfam International’s Mubashar Hasan speaks from Islamabad about aid efforts for victims of Pakistan’s floods. More than 3 million children are at high risk of deadly water-borne diseases in Pakistan, making them the most vulnerable victims of one of the worst natural disasters in history, the United Nations Children’s Fund said. Mubashar speaks with Linzie Janis on Bloomberg Television’s “Global Connection.” (Source: Bloomberg)

Courtesy: Bloomberg

Oxfam welcomes UK’s aid commitment to Pakistan but says the British government must do much more to aid stricken nation

18 August 2010, Islamabad: Neva Khan, Oxfam’s country director in Pakistan, said: “The UK government has made a good start in committing more than £30m. But it can and should do much more to help the people of Pakistan. This is a disaster on an unprecedented scale which needs an equally robust response.
 
“Britain should be leading from the front by committing more aid money and continuing to press other wealthy countries, especially its EU partners, to do the same. So far, the response from Europe has been feeble.
 
“In addition, the UK government needs to make sure funds are channelled through to frontline aid agencies like Oxfam as quickly and efficiently as possible. At the moment, the money is taking far too long to come through.
 
“Britain has a long shared history with Pakistan. We hope that by seeing for himself the scale of the suffering of the Pakistani people, Mr Mitchell will immediately step up the UK’s response.”
 
Nearly 20 million people have now been affected by the floods which have swept through the country, with an estimated eight million people in direct need of immediate humanitarian assistance.
 
The crisis is continuing to develop, with more flood warnings daily and more people forced from their homes. But the dramatically worsening conditions have not been matched by a substantial increase in the aid effort.
 
The Pakistan Flood Response Plan remains dangerously under-funded, with just over 61 % of the £294m ($460m) needed to see the country through the next three months received so far. The UK government has so far pledged £30.3m.
 
Khan continued: “This is the worst emergency we have ever seen in this country – and it’s getting worse, not better. But the international community is failing to respond on the scale that is urgently needed.
 
“£30m sounds a lot of money but it will take billions to rebuild the country. The Pakistani people need food, shelter, clean water and medical help now. But they will also need support for long-term recovery and development.
 
“Many of these people have lost everything – their homes, family, agricultural produce and livestock. They are going to need help for many years to come to get them back on their feet.”

Muzaffargarh: Caught Between Two Rivers

Oxfam’s Tariq Malik is traveling around  flood hit Pakistan and reports from Muzaffargarh

District Muzaffargarh is called Doaba in the local language which means a piece of land that lies between the two rivers. This geographic advantage for Muzaffargarh turned into a disadvantage when rivers Chenab and Indus surged on it’s both sides and according to the district government’s update of 4^th August displaced huge populations in 443 small villages in the Sub- districts of Alipur, Jatoi, and Kot Adu.

The District Government so far has evacuated 90,285 people who mainly were small farmers, tenants and daily wagers.

The number of relief camps in the district is forty-nine.

Doaba, Oxfam partner named after the area it operates in, issued warnings in 10 villages in Jatoi tehsil*. It also has plans in place to carryout initial assessment for camp inmates’ needs over the next 2 to 3 weeks. It provided a boat to Rescue 1122.

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