HYDERABAD: The delayed response and intervention from the government in early framework for the rehabilitation of rain-flood affected people jeopardised the lives of 4.8 million, including 2.4 million children and 1.2 million women. Talking to journalists at a press conference held at the local press club on Tuesday, members of the People Accountability Commission on Floods (PACF) said this while presenting the Civil Society Floods Situation Report (CSFR). ….
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by Waseem Altaf
Karachi, Sindh of today is no different from Beirut of yesteryears. The killings continue in the cosmopolitan city while the State conveniently looks the other way for policy of reconciliation is more important than the property and lives of the citizens of this country ….
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Gulf News Editorial: Humanitarian bodies must ensure food and medical aid reach those affected by floods
Time has stopped for the hapless survivors in Sindh whose lives were turned upside down by the severe floods that hit the Pakistani province last year.
Surveys carried out in the wake of that disaster have revealed the extent of acute malnutrition in the region. The issue has been highlighted only recently due to prevailing social conditions and the lack of contact between the people and medical experts. Poverty levels have been at an all-time high for decades as a result of which the lives of thousands of children are also at risk.
Unicef has found that the percentage of those hit by the problem is higher than the 15 per cent emergency threshold set by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and on par with the poorest parts of sub-Saharan Africa. It has also been noted that women form a larger part of the overall figure.
While efforts are being made to address this problem, humanitarian organisations must galvanise themselves to ensure that the thousands who have been affected can obtain food and medical relief. …
Read more : Gulfnews
Pakistan flood crisis as bad as African famines, UN says
Survey shows almost a quarter of children under five are malnourished in Sindh province, six months after floods
– Declan Walsh in Islamabad
A “humanitarian crisis of epic proportions” is unfolding in flood-hit areas of southern Pakistan where malnutrition rates rival those of African countries affected by famine, according to the United Nations.
In Sindh province, where some villages are still under water six months after the floods, almost one quarter of children under five are malnourished while 6% are severely underfed, a Floods Assessment Needs survey has found.
“I haven’t seen malnutrition this bad since the worst of the famine in Ethiopia, Darfur and Chad. It’s shockingly bad,” said Karen Allen, deputy head of Unicef in Pakistan. …
Read more : Guardian.co.uk
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