IN the donors conference held on November 19, pledges of $5.8 billion were made which included $3.9 billion soft loans and $1.9 billion in kind/cash grants.

These pledges came from representatives of 50 countries, 19 international agencies, five international financial institutions (IFIs) and five private funds/corporation.

G8 rich countries excluding Russia contributed 18 per cent, Muslim countries 19 per cent and other countries 12 per cent. The share of IFIs was 51 per cent(all soft loans indeed. See chart). Loans account for 67 per cent and grants 33 of the total pledges.

Given the size of the economies of rich G8 countries, the share leaves much to be desired. India has been smart enough to ask Pakistan to make purchases from Indian market (as PM indicated to buy CGI sheet from India) to cash in committed money of $25 million.

The USA is spending $148 billion and Britain is spending $112 billion on Iraq war. The rich countries combined GDP excluding Russia is $21883 billion (2003) with the USA topping the list with GDP of $10,208 billion (2003) and Gulf rich countries with combined GDP of $770 billion. Perhaps industrialised states and superpowers cannot spare much money for saving lives of those who are urgent need of medical help and rehabilitation. These nations together spend more on food and health care of their pets than what they committed on November 19.

Would the pledges made at the conference in Islamabad be quickly disbursed? If past trends can serve as a guide, donor pledges were met only partially.

In Hurricane Mitch in Central America in 1998, the governments pledged more than $3.5 billion and the World Bank, the IMF, and the EU promised a further $5.2 billion, but less than a third of the money was ever raised.

Also after Bam earthquake in Iran that killed 26,000 people, donors promised more than $1 b in relief and Iranian officials say they received only $17.5 m. In Mozambique flood in 2000, £214 million pledged and the country received only £107 million.

In January 2005,the UN secretary general told the donors conference held in Jakarta to raise fund for Tsunami: “ …..there are already pledges for over $2.5 billion for aid.” It is quite likely that, at the end of the day, we will not receive all of it. I think you heard about the example of the Bam earthquake in Iran,” he told reporters. “We got lots of pledges, but we did not receive all the money. And we have similar experiences.”

Almost two-thirds of the money promised by governments to help the millions of people affected by the Tsunami was not received by the UN even after six months. The amount pledged to Pakistan would be welcomed but the problem is is that pledges made don’t materialize always. A country like Pakistan needs to tighten its belt to face the harsh reality of the past experience.

That said, nevertheless we should praise the governments who have been generous with food, health, blankets, tents, choppers and other machinery, and doctors and nurses etc. but have not been generous in giving cash to the government. Out of pledges made at the conference more than half was the loan that our future generation will pay. Why do policy-makers not think of cutting down the non-development expenditures?

The issue of transparency and accountability is being widely debated in the concerned quarters. Will the government keep updating the nation about how much money was received against the pledges made in the conference and how has it been utilized?