A Tale of Two Disasters: A Look at Recovery Efforts in Pakistan and the Horn of Africa

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I recently read two articles (here and here) about two ongoing disaster recoveries, one with encouraging news and one where the situation remains as bleak as ever. The articles detailed the struggles of people in Pakistan and the Horn of Africa. In Pakistan, you have the problem of too much water that results in flooding, and in the Horn of Africa you have the problem of too little water that results in drought and famine. Even with opposite causes, the results of both disasters have been catastrophic, and aid has been slow to arrive in both places.

It now seems that rainfall and the delivery of increased humanitarian aid has stemmed the tide of starvation in Africa. According to the New York Times, the number of people facing imminent starvation has dropped from 750,000 to 250,000.

One example of the aid coming into the Horn of Africa is Cargill’s huge food donation to the UN World Food Program (WFP). Cargill donated 10,000 metric tons of rice (valued at $5 million) to help with the relief efforts, which was the largest ever corporate delegation to the WFP. This is a good example of a company using their core competencies (food production and distribution) to meet a severe humanitarian need.

While it is great news that 500,000 people are no longer at risk of imminent starvation, the remaining 250,000 people that are still at risk is far too many. This is not to mention the enormous need to bring long term food security to the population. But the numbers are more encouraging today than they were a few months ago, and while additional work needs to be done, the effort does not seem quite as overwhelming as it did in September.

The article on the recovery efforts in Pakistan brings far less positive news. According to the Telegraph, four million people (including 160,000 pregnant women) are at risk of severe malnutrition and disease. The United Nation’s humanitarian appeal has only reached one-third of the $357 million in emergency funding needed to help.

The UN and NGOs in Pakistan are working daily to alleviate the suffering of flood survivors. According to the UN, access to safe drinking water and sanitation facilities remains a critical issue in flood-affected areas. With the winter months upon us, humanitarian agencies are distributing available winterization items in the flood-affected areas where temperatures are dropping. They have reported ongoing distributions of emergency shelter to about 445,000 households in Sindh and Balochistan, but the shelter needs remain huge. For more information about the current needs in Pakistan, please see UN OCHA’s December 1 situation report here.

The disasters in Pakistan and the Horn of Africa are severe humanitarian crises that have received little attention compared to many of the international disasters we have seen in recent years. I believe it is because few people know about the severity of need in both places. If your company is interested in getting involved in either region, I would be glad to help facilitate partnerships with international aid organizations. You can email me at gmcswiggan@uschamber.com for more information.