WITH the waters receding and international attention moving on to other pressing global issues, a major human catastrophe is in the making in Pakistan’s flood-hit regions, as underscored by a top Unicef official last week. In a passionate appeal, the regional director of Unicef for South Asia urged the world to step up to save the lives of hundreds more children who would likely perish in the coming weeks if international support does not come in. “The boys and girls of Pakistan desperately need our support to survive and yet the international appeal for Pakistan remains severely underfunded,” Mr George Laryea-Adjei observed following a visit to the flood-affected areas in the country. “As the catastrophic climate disaster continues to upend the lives of millions of children, it is the most vulnerable boys and girls who are paying the steepest price,” he said, warning that without urgent global action, the climate devastation seen in Pakistan is feared to be only a precursor to many more catastrophes linked to the survival of children.

Separately, the post-disaster needs assessment conducted jointly by international agencies has put flood damage and loss estimates at over $30bn and has warned of a “substantial increase in poverty levels, widening fiscal and external account deficits amid political and economic instability”. It has also called for “coordinated international (financial) support” of $16.3bn for recovery, and building a disaster-resilient economy, infrastructure and institutions to fight off the rising challenge of climate change. Based on the PDNA, Pakistan has renewed its call for relaxing IMF conditions and demanded ‘climate justice’ in order to invest in rehabilitation and climate-adaptation efforts. But is the world listening to the appeals being made by the UN and Pakistan for urgent international help as millions fight a losing battle against disease, hunger and the approaching winter?

After recognising that it must help Pakistan and its people deal with a ‘one in 1,000-years’ tragedy induced by global climate change to which Pakistan has contributed little, international sympathy seems to be ebbing. Initially, the international community was quick to lend a hand in rescue efforts when the deluge was submerging a third of this country and displacing millions who remain homeless and hungry. But that was then. That the appeal from the UN for flood survivors has largely gone unheeded, and the effort remains underfunded is enough to demonstrate donor fatigue. It may be shocking for many of us who were hoping for large foreign aid for recovery and reconstruction in the aftermath of the floods. It is time to acknowledge the fact that the world wants us to fend for ourselves. Perhaps, that is a lesson we should have learnt a long time ago, one that should have prompted us to fix our economic house and end reliance on foreign assistance in such catastrophic emergencies.

Published in Dawn, October 31st, 2022