Just one third of Pakistani flood donations delivered
By politics.co.uk staff
Just one third of the money the world donated to help those affected by floods in Pakistan was actually delivered, MPs have discovered.
The international development committee expressed concern that only $700 million (£428 million) of a $2 billion (£1,224 million)appeal actually made it to people in need due to the scale and nature of the crisis.
With the international community already on the back foot following the Haiti earthquake and patchy leadership at the UN hindering relief organisations, the generosity of many people in the west had no effect on the situation on the ground.
“The international community can and must learn some important lessons from its response to the Pakistan floods, which will help in preparing for future disasters, in particular it needs to train-up a cadre of people to lead and coordinate complex emergency responses,” committee chair Malcolm Bruce MP said.
“Climate change looks likely to make natural disasters both more frequent and severe and population growth will increase their impact – the world must make sure it’s better prepared to come to the rescue of countries in need.”
Millions are still in need of humanitarian assistance and living camps, months after the flooding began.
Britain was one of the world leaders in donations, with the government providing £134 million in humanitarian assistance, the public adding at least £64 million through the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) and many British Pakistani’s increasing their remittance payments back home.
The floods covered one fifth of the country, an area larger than England, and affected 18 million people.
More than 1,900 lost their lives, 12 million were displaced and 1.7 million homes were damaged or destroyed.
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