Karachi: Speakers at a webinar organised to assess the floods situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa warned against a lax attitude and closing the doors on the victims of Kyber Pakhtunkhwa floods, even if the water levels are receding in the region.
A webinar series organised by The Knowledge Forum assessing the provincial picture of floods focused on the flooding situation in Khyber Pakthunkhwa. Speakers included: Muhammad Ammad, Chairperson, National Humanitarian Network (NHN); Qamar Naseem, Programme Lead, Blue Veins; Naeema Kishwar, Member, Provincial Assembly Khyber Pakhtunkhwa; and Imran Takkar, Group Development Pakistan.
Shabina Ayaz from Aurat Foundation, Fauzia Ali from Shirkat Gah, Munaza Hashmi from NHN Punjab and Karamat Ali from the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research also made interventions. Muhammad Rafique from The Knowledge Forum moderated the webinar.
Discussing the challenges of relief, speakers noted the destruction in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to be “far more widespread than reported”. According to UNOCHA’s report cited in the webinar, there have been 289 deaths, 85,000 houses and 1,481 schools damaged. Moreover, 217 health facilities have been affected. Water channels and water reservoirs have also been affected, threatening livelihoods. Speakers noted that the population in many parts of Nowshehra, Tank, Swat and DI Khan is still struggling with standing water and poor access to relief efforts.
Organisations involved in relief criticized the Economic Affair Division’s directions for Khyber Pakthunkhwa-based organisations to file reports on funds mobilized, relief distribution and route all relief through the DC office. “At the same time, private individuals and unregistered organisations continued to carry out relief activities without any monitoring and coordination. The EAD’s specific directions led to confusion and impacted the distribution of relief while entangling local organisations into bureaucratic red-tapism,” observed speakers.
Speakers also discussed at length the effectiveness of the institutions and policies covering early warning systems and disaster response. These were established following the 2010 floods. While noting improvement in the systems, Muhammad Ammad from NHN noted that NHN along with NDMA conducted a simulation exercise before the floods to identify challenges and responsibility for assistance in case of a disaster. “However, the scale of floods was not only vast, but it was also unprecedented as parts of Balochistan and South Punjab that do not normally experience monsoon rains were flooded in 2022.”
Gender was also discussed in detail, as the absence of a gender-sensitive response was noted unanimously by participants. “Access to sanitation has been a massive challenge for women affected by the floods, both those who have been displaced and those who are staying in houses submerged in water. Another issue was access to hygiene kits.
While a very limited proportion of the relief package covered sanitary items, there was much hesitance on the part of community organisers and volunteers to deliver the kits to women, due to cultural barriers,” observed Khurshid Bano of Hawa Lor Organisation. “Overall, the relief has been completely gendered blind. There has neither been any effort nor demand to include women’s needs in relief distribution.”
Shabina Ayaz from Aurat Foundation pointed to the plight of women in the far-flung areas that have been out of reach of relief and reconstruction efforts. “Women stranded at homes with damaged walls and roofs are living under intense stress and feeling of insecurity.
They handle care responsibilities during the day in extremely unfavorable conditions where the daily use items are all damaged or swept away. They stay up all night to watch for their security in their exposed houses for fear of intrusion,” noted Shabina. She also highlighted the absence of action on flood-borne diseases and their impact on women, especially expectant and nursing mothers.
Speaking about threats to the flood affectees, Imran Takkar from Group Development Pakistan, pointed to post-traumatic stress disorder for children facing displacement as their houses have been washed away.
“These children are in an utter state of shock and mental agony. Their toys, books and sense of security are all gone. Their education is suspended. There is an urgent need to work on the mental well-being of children and elderlies affected by the floods. In the presence of a wide number of institutions established to protect children and affectees, there should be no question of who will provide this urgently needed support,” he said.
Speakers also highlighted the rising cases of airborne diseases, such as scabies, chest infection, pneumonia, dengue and other diseases spread in the flood-affected areas. “There is a desperate need to engage the non-governmental organisations working at the community level. They are in the best position to provide awareness to the affected communities to take preventive care. The government, instead of tapping into the potential of the community organisations, is busy trapping them in meaningless bureaucracies,” said Dr Shahzad, a public health expert.
Speakers at the webinar also sought to locate the role of climate change in the recent floods. “The floods can be traced back to erratic climate patterns being experienced by the country in recent times,” said MPA Naeema Kishwar urging developed countries to play a role in assisting Pakistan to recover from the devastation. At the same time, speakers pointed to ecology-violative structures and practices that amplify the impacts of floods.
“Despite the River Protection Act 2014, businesses still get permission to build hotels and housing next to the river banks,” it was observed. Speakers also pointed out that in many of the flood-affected areas, the locals are going back to rebuilding the damaged hotels next to the river banks adding to the risk in the wake of the forecast of a stronger monsoon next year.”
The rising wave of terrorism in Swat was also discussed. “It is causing local and international organisations to halt their relief distribution, leading to the extreme vulnerability of a good majority of the affected population,” observed Dr Shahzad.
Participants criticized the pre floods preparation and post flood relief regulations by the government. “Following the 2010 floods, there was an announcement to establish community-level structures including Village Disaster Action Committee and the District Disaster Management Authority. None of these was witnessed during the recent floods. The first response to the floods has to come from the grassroots level authorities. The absence of such structures amplifies the impact of floods,” speakers observed.
As a round of recommendations was exchanged, Karamat Ali of the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research pointed to the need for a campaign on reorganizing the priorities of the state. “The recent floods are likely to lead to massive economic fallout resulting in loss of livelihoods and social distress. One-time relief through BISP and other means is not sufficient. There is a need for a universal social security system and an upgrade in the public health system so that the citizens can cushion themselves against such disasters. The civil society will have to take the lead on this.”