Karachi, Sindh

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) has agreed to work with the Sindh government in post-flood relief activities, and climate change-related plans, and to help in the health sector, particularly against malnutrition.

This emerged in a meeting between the Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and IRC CEO Mr. David Miliband (through video link) on Friday morning.

The IRC CEO said that his organization was interested in working with the provincial government on relief activities, climate-change-related plans, and in the health sector, particularly in malnutrition and mother-child health. He added that his organization was working in eight districts of the province, Dadu, Jamshoro, Thatta, Sujawal, Badin, Tharparkar, and Umerkot to address malnutrition issues among pregnant mothers and mother-child healthcare.

The CM told the IRC chief that as per the Post-Disaster Needs Assessment report Sindh has been at the receiving end of about 61 percent of the total damages and 75 percent of the total losses due to the floods. He said that the adverse impact of climate change has disrupted every conceivable facet of life in the province.

Shah said that the devastating impact of floods has ‘undone’ a significant chunk of public sector investments in the province as it permeated across all sectors. He added that 24 out of the 30 districts have been declared ‘calamity-hit where the floods have affected more than 12.4 million people, with more than 1000 lives lost as well as over 2 million housing units impacted, and over 450,000 livestock perished.

The CM said that about 20,000 schools and more than 1000 health facilities have been damaged. He added that about 8,500 km of the road network and 7,300 km of irrigation network has also been damaged and the estimates suggested the provincial poverty rate may increase, pushing an additional 5 million people below the poverty line with over 4.3 million additional people facing the threat of food insecurity.

The Chief Minister and Mr. Miliband also discussed the strategic plan developed by the provincial government.

Strategic Action Plan

The CM said that the ‘Strategic Action Plan’ developed by his government aimed to guide Sindh’s Flood Response and priorities from a short-, medium- and long-term perspective. “The core focus of the action plan is to serve as a guide for strategic prioritization for planning, programming, and implementation for Sindh in the post-flood context,” he said and added the strategic action plan prioritized critical intervention areas to address systemic issues, especially concerning disasters which include `Rectifying the Systemic Issues, People-Centered Approach, Building Upon the Existing Models and Systems and Aligning Existing Budgetary Framework with Resource Commitments.

The strategic action plan focuses on Irrigation and Water Resource Infrastructure (including Drainage Systems), housing and community facilities, livelihood, communications (Roads Infrastructure), Education, Health, and Human Impact (Poverty, Social Protection, Food Security, Psycho-Social impact).

Murad Ali Shah told IRC that the growers have been given cash to purchase wheat seed at a rate of Rs.5000 per acre, as a result, Sindh has grown a bumper wheat crop during the ongoing Rabi season. He also added that the flood-affected people were being given cash to reconstruct/repair their damaged houses. The work has been started in Hyderabad and Sukkur Divisions.

The IRC CEO told the chief minister that he would discuss the issues faced by the provincial government with his team and then visit Karachi to meet in person to finalize the relief activities program. (PR)

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Islamabad

As the national coordinated efforts for provision of relief and subsequent rehabilitation of flood-affected people have been accelerated at all levels, there still needs much to protect flood victims from water borne diseases and ensure their rehabilitation.

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) was the first among other international organizations who had launched an emergency response in early July. The IRC response has so far supported over 300,000 individuals and aims to assist 1.5 million people in the flood affected districts in Sindh, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab.

An Early Needs Identification (ENI) assessments carried out by IRC and its partners indicate that the immediate reported needs by communities are of cash assistance, food items, and protection and health services.

“Currently, IRC is directing its efforts in 16 districts of Sindh, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab. The ambit of our protection services is further supplemented by provision of integrated services of multipurpose cash support and psychological social support sessions to individuals, families and communities,” said Shabnam Baloch, Country Director, International Rescue Committee, Pakistan, while sharing details of the IRC’s ongoing and future programming for displaced people.

She said that the IRC response has so far supported nearly 300,000 individuals and emphasized that displaced families, and in particular women and girls remain a priority along with groups that have been economically and socially marginalized.

Assessments by UN indicate that Pakistan could see as many as 2.7 million malaria cases in the 32 worst-hit districts by January 2023, and 5.74 million more people are at risk from famine.

The IRC Country Director observed though the flood water levels are receding, yet the woes of those affected are compounding. “Therefore, responding to this colossal calamity is a collective responsibility and we need to step up our combined efforts.”

Shabnam Baloch said that IRC is supporting communities with food rations, household items and dignity kits. In addition to this in the intervention districts, IRC is establishing medical camps, safe spaces and arranging psychological social support sessions along with provision of safe drinking water and sanitation facilitates.

The IRC emergency response program is now being scaled up through a multilateral donors’ base. On ground activities are being supported by 9 local partner organizations.

Nearly 33 million people in Pakistan have been affected by catastrophic floods, the loss of human life has risen to 1,700 people, hundreds of thousands of homes have been damaged, over a million of livestock has perished and millions of acres of crops are ruined.

Pakistan is one of the world’s most climate-vulnerable countries. Today, there is no better example of a nation bearing the brunt of the effects of climate change as the floods at one point submerged one third of the country. However, Pakistan bears little responsibility for the growing climate crisis. Although Pakistan is world’s 5th most populous nation, the country is responsible for just 0.6 % of global carbon emissions. Thus, there is a need to initiate dialogues and discussions both nationally and globally on the discourse of climate change. (PR)

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Islamabad

Highlighting the significance of community work towards serving the persons in need, stakeholders and representatives of community organizations have called for sustained initiatives to extend maximum services in diverse fields as it would help in minimizing the issues the society is facing.

These views were expressed at the launch of an annual report of International Rescue Committee (IRC) 2021 here on Wednesday. Government officials, members of the civil society and representatives of development sector associated with IRC attended the event.

The IRC has been working in Pakistan since 1980 with the launch of multiple programs to meet the needs of health, education, protection, environmental health, and livelihoods for displaced, underprivileged, and disaster-affected communities.

“Undoubtedly, when we work together the results are multiplied. We learnt this while working with the IRC management for different community programs,” said Kumaria, one of IRC’s clients who had benefited from its interventions.

She said that now they are working together to resolve issues in our areas – we have a collective voice that has more impact. “The areas that we are working on primarily involve WASH governance, but the way we have been empowered has gone a long way in enabling us to take actions for ourselves,” she said.

Addressing the audience, IRC Country Director in Pakistan Shabnam Baloch, while shedding light on the organization’s work, said, “At the IRC, meaningful participation of organizations receiving its relief and services is a prerequisite for principled and effective programming. People’s empowerment is enhanced by participation, as is mutual trust between clients and assistance and service providers.”

“We are working to empower communities by eliminating their sufferings through evidence-based programming,” stated Shabnam Baloch.

In the year 2021, the IRC served 33 million clients in Pakistan in coordination with the government and with the support of its donors and partners. During this period, the IRC inked and maintained successful partnerships with the relevant government departments including NDMA, PDMA, KP, Director General Health Services (KP), Primary & Secondary Health Department (Balochistan), Non-Formal Education and HR Department (Balochistan), and Public Health and Engineering Department, KP.

Dr. Aurangzeb, Emergency Response Coordinator, Medical Emergency Resilience Foundation (MERF), shared his views on how the IRC sustains and empowers its local partners. “Under our partnership, the IRC and MERF served around 142,569 people through our top-notch COVID-19 isolation centers. We continue to work together, reaching out to marginalized communities in some of the most difficult areas.”

While speaking at the occasion, Noor Begum, one of IRC’s clients from Swat, said, “IRC has helped in empowering and improving the lives of young girls in our community by offering health-related medical services, awareness, and vocational training.”

The IRC programming in Pakistan is carefully aligned with and connected to governmental priorities and policies. This has allowed IRC to continue working in principled and collaborative partnerships with government entities across Pakistan. (PR)

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