ISLAMABAD: While the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has called for an urgent international humanitarian emergency response following the massive devastation caused by unprecedented floods in one-third area of Pakistan, consignments of relief goods from Japan, the United Arab Emirates, Unicef and Qatar arrived and handed over to the federal and provincial authorities.

The first Unicef humanitarian flight with relief goods for the flood affected people landed at Karachi’s airport in the early hours of Sunday morning, while another aircraft carrying relief goods from Abu Dhabi landed at Lahore’s airport in the afternoon. The consignments were han­ded over to the provincial mini­sters and National Disaster Management Authority representatives.

IOM Deputy Director-General for Operations Ugochi Daniels said the foremost need for millions of affected people was shelter.

“The government has responded quickly but the scale of this emergency is massive, and the country needs support. We stand strong in solidarity with the people of Pakistan, especially those in Sindh and Balochistan provinces, the most affected by these floods,” she said after visiting Pakistan.

IOM calls for urgent world response to flood emergency

Ms Daniels said the sheer scale of the disaster required a massive response. She said with the collapse of agricultural economy, there is going to be a need for significant investment.

Aga Khan pledges $10m for flood-hit people Prince Rahim Aga Khan, the son of Aga Khan, expressed sorrow over the loss of lives and material in the devastating floods in Pakistan and pledged to donate $10 million to help flood-hit people of Pakistan.

The son of Aga Khan made the pledge in conversation with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, according to PM Office.

Prince Rahim was quoted as directing all organisations of the Aga Khan Development Network to take part in the flood relief and rehabilitation process.

Also, relief goods including tents and plastic sheets, donated by the Japanese government, reached Karachi and were handed over to National Disaster Man­agement Authority (NDMA) by Chief Representative of Japan Inter­national Cooperation Age­ncy (Jica) Kinoshita Yasumitsu, in the presence of Japanese Consul-General in Karachi, Odagiri Toshio.

Japan Consul-General Odagiri said his government would continue to work closely with the Pakistani government, and the embassy of Japan, the Consulate-General of Japan, and Jica would cooperate with each other to respond to the situation.

Jica Chief Representative Kinoshita said that with the partnership of Jica, the Pakistan government had prepared its first disaster management plan in year 2012, which currently was in the process of revision for the next 10 years. He said Jica was committed to supporting relief, recovery, and rehabilitation efforts of the government of Pakistan with the motto of ‘Build Back Better’.

Meanwhile, Qatar Fund for Development has distributed food packages among 7,000 people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.

The aid was delivered to 3,500 beneficiaries in Charsadda and Nowshera, while another 3500 beneficiaries were provided assistance in Loralai district of Balochistan. The dry food packages contained flour, vegetable oil, dates, rice, sugar, tea, salt, and other necessary food items.

In the medical field, Doctors Worldwide, a UK-based NGO, has been working and coordinating with its partners in Pakistan for the past two weeks for targeted and needs-based response for flood-hit people.

In order to ensure that aid reaches everyone and not only those visible ‘on the roadside’, a widespread coordinated approach has been adopted by local NGOs along with the army, UN and other organisations.

The organisation said it had been supporting 80 field medical camps across 10 districts to provide urgent healthcare needs with a focus on specialist medical camps and temporary clinics for mothers, babies and children.

Syed Irfan Raza also contributed to this report

Published in Dawn, September 5th, 2022