My girlfriend, Rosemarie, did this news round up on the funding shortfall for Pakistan. It's a depressing picture, but worth reading through. Particularly UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon's address at UN HQ and the questions asked at the end... Questions not about Pakistan or the state of the world, but rather, refurbishing the UN HQ offices....
Also interesting is comparing the cost of Ronaldo's new football contract to Real Madrid and funding shortfalls for the WFP. How do we handle the extravagant amounts of money sportspeople, scratch that, sportsmen are paid, and then do some commercial for WFP.
There is a place for sports people in promoting humanitarian issues. It the same question we ask of celebrities. People like Manute Bol and Luol Deng, both Sudanese refugees now in the US playing for the NBA, who have been vocal and influential about the situation there (for example, see Bol's influence in the book 'What is the What'). I guess i'm thinking that it's great if they want to get involved and do something, but maybe ngos/UN shouldn't put them in their commercials at the same time that they receive such ridiculous amounts of money.
Sorry, enough from me. Here is Rosie's excellent round up on Pakistan.
Transcript of press conference by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at United Nations headquarters, 11 June 2009
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/
We stand ready to help the Pakistani Government to the maximum amid this humanitarian crisis.
We have launched a $ 543 million funding appeal. So far, we have received roughly one quarter of that amount.
As a result, there could soon be serious breaks in the food pipeline. Current stocks of essential drugs will be depleted by the end of this month.
I, therefore, appeal to the international community, especially major donors, to respond quickly and generously to Pakistan’s urgent humanitarian relief and reconstruction needs.
We must alleviate distress and avoid putting the country at risk of a spiralling secondary crisis.
Pakistan humanitarian effort in jeopardy due to a lack of funds and UN blockage - Save the Children
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/
Save the Children’s efforts to help more than one million victims of the fighting in the Swat valley of Pakistan is under threat due to a lack of funds. Along with eight other aid agencies working in the region, we’re struggling with a collective funding deficit of US $ 42m – the biggest shortfall in a decade. We plan to reach around 280,000 displaced people in the region… 40,000 people have been reached to far, but to date we’ve received just 206m of the 6.6 million pounds needed to achieve our goals in the Swat Valley.
… We’re especially concerned by the looming educational crisis which sees an estimated 10,000 classrooms currently occupied by people already displaced by the conflict, meaning there are virtually no learning opportunities for at least 1.7 million children also displaced by the conflict. Despite this, at the beginning of this week the education cluster, of which Save the Children is global co-lead, has still received no funding.
At the same time, World Vision is facing a $12.1 million shortfall while Oxfam has warned that it will have to close its programmes to the 360,000 people it had planned to assist if a $6m funding shortfall is not addressed by July. Concern Worldwide will also have to close its programme mid-July, just when the health risks will escalate due to the onset of the monsoon rains.
“The only reason we haven’t faced a massive humanitarian meltdown is the generosity of families and communities of modest means who’ve looked after the vast majority of those who’ve fled the fighting. With so many mouths to feed, these communities will soon be running on empty. The world’s richest nations need to dig much deeper in to their pockets to help,” said Carolyn Miller, Chief Executive of Merlin.
The funding cirisis is not affecting the agencies alone. The UN’s $543 appeal has only received $138m so far. This is a 75 percent shortfall. Out of the 52 organisations requesting UN appeal funds, 30 have received no funds at all.
Save the Children and its partner agencies are also worried that, besides little money going into the UN appeal, even less money is being dispersed rom the appeal to frontline agencies. In a humanitarian crisis speed of delivery is vital. Previously governments would give part of their aid money directly to frontline agencies. Now when governments do give aid money, it tends to go to the UN which then passes it on to agencies working on the ground. Although the UN system can improve coordination and reduce duplication of effort, the allocation of money to frontline agencies takes far too long. The UN funding system needs to be complimented with other diverse ways of getting aid money as swiftly as possible to those saving lives.
Donor funding "still hesitant"
http://www.irinnews.org/
ISLAMABAD, 9 June 2009 (IRIN) - Senior UN humanitarian officials in Pakistan have urged donors to provide more funds to meet the needs of hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in North West Frontier Province (NWFP).
"We launched an appeal two weeks ago [on 22 May] for US$543 million. We are trying to accommodate all the needs and concerns of the displaced, but the funding is still hesitant," Manuel Bessler, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Pakistan, told IRIN in Islamabad.
"Since that time [22 May], we have only received an additional 8 percent [US$45 million] of the total requested amount. Agencies have warned that if more funds are not made available soon, essential services could be disrupted as early as the end of this month," UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Pakistan Martin Mogwanja told IRIN.
OCHA's Bessler said that if the funding shortfall continued “this will not allow us to maintain our operations much longer... Hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people will not get food, water and health services they actually need."
NWFP Displacement OCHA SitRep No. 03
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/
Projects in the food sector of the Humanitarian Response Plan, which is based on a planning figure of 1.5 million IDPs, is currently only 46% resourced. At current stock levels, food distribution cannot be guaranteed beyond the end of the July. There will be serious breaks in the food pipeline for pulses, salt, sugar, high energy biscuits and ready-to-use supplementary food.
Fresh shelling in Pakistan tribal areas: official
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/
WANA, Pakistan, June 16, 2009 (AFP) - Pakistan's military shelled rebel hideouts in the northwest tribal belt Tuesday, where forces are believed to be on the brink of an all-out onslaught to crush the Taliban, officials said.
Security forces are already locked in a seven-week campaign against insurgents in three northwest districts, and a governor late Sunday announced a "full-fledged" second front along the mountainous and wild tribal belt.
Too little, too slow: Why more must be done to assist Pakistan's displaced millions - Oxfam
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/
It is the world's biggest and fastest growing human displacement in over a decade.
A lack of funding overall, and delays in disbursing funds to individual aid agencies, has undermined the relief response so far, contributing to gaps and delays in the adequate provision of assistance such as water and sanitation, shelter, and health care. Much more needs to be done, especially by the international community, to meet immediate needs and support a strong recovery that lays the foundations for sustainable peace and stability.
International community should respond more quickly and substantially with funds for the Pakistani government, the UN appeal, and aid agencies as appropriate to support timely and effective response, recovery and reconstruction activities. Faster disbursements of funds to implementing aid agencies are essential, including those working within the UN-led cluster system.
Opinion: Cristiano Ronaldo = 520 million school meals
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/
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Speaking of Pakistan and sport - how about that Twenty20 final. Pakis are my second favourite cricket team, they are so inconsistent, 2020 suits them perfectly. Good win. By the way the operations in Swat and Waziristan are worth it
ReplyDeleteHey, yeah i heard about that Twenty/20 win, great result!
ReplyDeleteWhich operations are you referring to? Aid intervention? US military? Pakistani offensives?