Flood-hit families sleeping in tents as winter sets in
As more than half (54 per cent) of the families hit by massive floods in Pakistan are sleeping outside, in tents or makeshit shelters, oten no more than flimsy plastic sheets, the catastrophe has rendered around 3.6 million workers jobless, badly impacting the livelihood of more than 33m people.
According to a survey by Save the Children, a Uk-based charitable organisation, most of the families surveyed had lost their homes and they were living in squalid conditions near roadsides, using pieces of cloth or tarpaulin for shelter.
The organisation said one in six had no shelter at all, adding that more than half of those surveyed did not have access to toilets and they were defecating outside in stagnant water, which carried a high risk of spreading serious diseases like cholera and dysentery, a press release of the aid agency said on Tuesday.
It said floods had decimated water supplies as 80 per cent of families had reported having not enough clean water and many people had no choice but to drink from contaminated water sources.
Save the Children Country Director in Pakistan
Most of the families surveyed had lost their homes and they were living in squalid conditions near roadsides, using pieces of cloth or tarpaulin for shelter
Khuram Gondal said that “Pakistan is now in the grip of a major health emergency, and we are seeing children dying from water-borne diseases every day, and things will only get worse the longer they go on sleeping outside without shelter, food or water.”
The organisation said it was providing emergency relief to families which had lost everything, including food, emergency shelter and medical assistance.
The agency is running two medical camps in Swat and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) where it is providing life-saving medical care to children suffering from flood-related illnesses.
Meanwhile, Minister for Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development Sajid Hussain Turi said that the massive floods, triggered by monsoon rains, had rendered around 3.6 million workers jobless, badly impacting the livelihood of more than 33 million people throughout the country.
He was accompanied by an International Labour Organisation (ILO) representative and labour leaders at the press conference.
“Pakistan’s monsoon floods crisis has impacted the livelihood of more than 33 million people around the country. This natural disaster has affected more than one million homes in 84 districts across the country.
“More than 1,500 people are dead, including children, livestocks are lost, 3.6 million jobs have been lost, and thousands of kilometres of roads and bridges destroyed,” the minister said.
He said that Pakistan had experienced abnormal monsoon rains - nearly 10 times higher than usual. This has resulted in uncontrollable urban and flash floods and landslides all over the country.
“Our labourers and daily wage workers are the most affected by this disaster,” he said.
Pakistan’s new prime minister stepped onto the UN podium and faced world leaders, ready to spin a tale of floods and climate change and more than 33 million people at risk. Shahbaz Sharif began: “As I stand here today to tell the story of my country...”
“At its core, that was what every world leader was here to do during the past week.
“One ater another, they took the stage - different leaders from different traditions that, under a single roof, reflected most of the world’s history.
“All had a fleeting opportunity to crat a story about their nation and the world that would - they hoped - make others sit up and listen. Some did it beter than others.
“We are storytellers, we humans. And even in an era of globalised politics and instantaneous streaming simulcasts, the story - the way it’s told, the details used, the voice and the cadence and the passion (or lack thereof) - can win the day.
“Yet the dawn of storytelling at scale over the past two decades - regular people amplified globally right next to world leaders, and entire industries devoted to disseminating disinformation across continents - makes it harder for even the most powerful to get their messages noticed.
“In a public-discourse environment where people are just choosing to believe what they wish to believe, the challenge for a speaker at the UN is tremendous,” said Evan Cornog, author of “The Power and the Story: How the Crated Presidential Narrative Has Determined Political Success.”