Pakistani floods ignored by Western media

The Miscellany News (Vassar): Pakistan still has a long way to go to recover from the devastating floods that have occurred this past year. Some areas of Sindh Province in southeast Pakistan are still underwater, and hundreds of thousands of people are still living in temporary camps. Reconstructing the millions of homes, bridges and schools that were destroyed will take years. As John Barrett, the head of the flood response for the United Kingdom's Department for International Development, said, "It's hard to imagine how big a disaster this really was: The amount of water that fell on Pakistan was phenomenal."

Almost six months after the disastrous floods in Pakistan, the country is still waiting on much needed aid. The floods, which affected the provinces of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Sindh, and parts of Baluchistan in July of 2010, left more than 20 million people homeless.

…Pakistan's National Disaster Management Agency worked to provide temporary housing for victims, clean water and food. But many challenges still remain: People who are still living in the temporary camps need warmer tents and clothes for the harsh winter. Perhaps more than anything, Pakistan needs help rebuilding houses and infrastructure. Bridges and rail service have been temporarily replaced but need to be improved. More than 10,000 schools have been destroyed, which has disrupted the education of a vast number of children. Additionally, children have been separated from their families, and are vulnerable to abuse, abduction and child trafficking by people who are desperate to make ends meet.

…Health care and sanitation are another set of issues faced by the flood victims. The flood has left thousands of victims with dangerous forms of diarrhea, cholera, respiratory diseases and skin infections. A large number of people still don't have access to clean water and sanitation, so diseases that are waterborne are likely to continue spreading.

…Up to this point, Pakistan has only received one-third of the money pledged by the international community. Marie Lall, an expert on Pakistan at the Royal Institute for International Affairs in the United Kingdom, remarked to the BBC in August 2010 that donors were hesitant to give money directly to the Pakistani government because of the possibility that it will be funneled to the corrupt political leadership in Pakistan. A member of the National Oversight Disaster Management Council told the International Herald Tribune, "the flood and its aftermath is a forgotten story because neither are donors providing significant funds nor is the federal government doing enough as the Council of Common Interests had decided that the primary responsibility lies with provincial governments."...