The recent floods in Pakistan have affected more people than the Indian Ocean tsunami, Kashmir earthquake, Cyclone Nargis, and Haiti earthquake combined. An estimated 20 million people, about twice the population of New York City, have been internally displaced, out of which 70 percent are dependent on agriculture for their livelihood. In response to a call by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, the international community has delivered a cumulative total of $800 million in foreign aid with more on the way.
Unfortunately, as proven by the 2005 earthquake in the Kashmir region, aid alone cannot ensure long term rehabilitation. Despite an estimated total of $5.8 billion pledged by the international community, thousands of earthquake victims were still living in refugee camps, waiting for the government assistance they were promised to re-build their homes. A similar fate awaits the flood victims if things are not done different this time around.
To ensure the long-term sustainability and effective mobilization of funds, aid needs to take the form of development assistance. As President of the Transnational Project, Imran Ahmed Khan pointed out, “We need to help the Pakistani government fix its own system. By throwing money and aid at Pakistan, we are not solving the problem.” Hence, long-term growth and sustainability can only be achieved if donors complement aid with capacity training and technical assistance to local institutions, thereby increasing the ability of local NGOs and CBOs to manage relief and rehabilitation efforts.
However, the widespread distrust of the government means that flood victims and donors alike prefer international organizations to handle funds. Such organizations are often an inefficient means of allocating funds as much of the appropriated funds are used up within, due to the high overheads and costs, and the costs involved in ensuring their security. Recent threats by the Taliban regarding the unacceptable presence of the foreign aid workers may drive up these costs further.
Community-based organizations are a cheaper and more sustainable alternative. One example is the Shahina Aftab Foundation which seeks to help small groups of women and children at a time, providing their initial needs, and creating income-generating projects to ensure their long-term rehabilitation. However, due to their limited resources and technical capacities, organizations such as these cannot operate alone on a large scale. The allocation of funds toward the capacity building and support of such projects should be treated as a key goal, one which will ensure ground-up development in the region.
Another obstacle faced by the country in its mobilization of aid is the widespread corruption inherent in the system. As one political leader in Pakistan warned, competition over international aid could result in corruption and violence, causing instability and social unrest as everyone tries to grab a piece of it. Given the scale of the disaster and the potential for corruption, the transparent transformation of the funds into a fair relief and recovery plan is a difficult task. One suggestion, made by the Interior Minister himself, has been to hire international auditing firms to ensure accountability and transparency of the funds.
This is not a feasible option, as apart from being costly, these firms could only stay for a limited period of time, thereby providing only a short-term solution. A more sustainable, if less scrupulous way of ensuring accountability could be expanding the reach of local chapters of Transparency International. Furthermore, the media’s ability to inform the public and thereby influence public opinion can also serve as a powerful watchdog for keeping local politicians and the civilian-elite in check. Unfortunately, media interest tends to fade after the initial stages of a crisis, creating an opportunity for aid to be stolen or misallocated. By encouraging the media to continue its coverage on the affected regions into the long run, some amount of transparency may be ensured.
The rehabilitation and reconstruction of Pakistan is a monumental task, one that will probably take many years. However, as suggested by some American officials, the disaster should be treated as an opportunity for Pakistan to “leapfrog” ahead. Through technical assistance and development programs, new water, and energy systems, better schools and hospitals can be created. The global community can help Pakistan achieve ground-up development, thereby ensuring the stability of Pakistan and the surrounding region.
