Flooding in Pakistan Halts Progress Towards Meeting MDGs

Sustainable development  in Pakistan  and progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is likely to be severely delayed due to the worst flooding to hit the country in 80 years. For the past ten days, devastating floods have taken the lives of at least 1,600 people, with an estimated 14 million people affected. With one-tenth of the population displaced, the flooding has been described by a UN spokesman as "worse than the tsunami, the 2005 Pakistan earthquake and the Haiti earthquake." Whilst international aid teams try to help the millions stranded without food, water, shelter or medicines, their efforts are being hampered by further heavy rain.

In the next few days, the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon is to launch an urgent appeal for donors to support efforts in Pakistan. Whilst hundreds of millions of dollars are needed for the emergency phase of relief work, the recovery and reconstruction phase will require billions more and take many years. So far, international donors have provided $38 million and another $91 million has been promised. But Oxfam said this donor response was slow compared to the $247 million committed in the first 10 days of the 2005 Pakistan earthquake.

The flooding, which has so far destroyed around 1.4 million acres of land, will have huge implications for the already fragile economy in Pakistan. The International Monetary Fund (IMF), which currently provides an $11.3 billion emergency-funding programme to Pakistan, will play an important role in the country's recovery. The floods will exacerbate chronic problems associated with poverty, and development efforts from international humanitarian organisations and donor governments will no doubt take many steps back. Infrastructure, buildings and land have been destroyed, and aid workers have great concern over outbreaks of water-borne diseases. The full impact and the ramifications of the flooding are not yet known.

Pakistan is one of the signatories that pledged to achieve the MDGs by 2015. Five years prior to this target and this serious flooding may have swept away hopes of achieving this target. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have been the centrepiece of the Government of Pakistan's development efforts since they were incorporated into the five-year Medium Term Development Framework in 2005. That framework ends this year. These floods will surely have negated the progress that has been made over the last five years of this programme. To date, however, that progress is low, with only half of the targeted MDG indicators having shown improvements. Many accuse the government of apathy and of lacking the drive that could bounce Pakistan back from the brink.

The MDGs are achievable, and this is must mindset must be promoted to give the people in Pakistan a renewed sense of hope. To get Pakistan on the road to recovery out of this disaster will necessitate a global effort providing funding and technical support. Considering the ongoing financial crisis around the world, this foreign aid could be more difficult to procure. However, there never was a better time than the present for business to get involve in helping others and donating money, equipment and expertise to help support Pakistan in these critical days.

Photo credit: Save the Children