Pakistan raised $9 billion in flood aid. But will these funds reach victims?

Pakistan is in crisis. The economy is teetering, an energy crisis has gripped the country and foreign reserves have dipped perilously – all the while it struggles to recover from last year’s catastrophic floods. Pakistan estimates it will need around $16.5 billion to recover from the floods which left over 1,700 dead and 33 million others suffering. “We are perhaps the first country ever that has seen a third of its landmass underwater,” foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari told AFP at the end of an international conference in Geneva seeking support for his country’s resilient flood recovery. “Unfortunately, we won’t be the last.” But how much did Pakistan receive in aid for flood relief? And how has it spend such money in the past? Let’s take a closer look: How much did Pakistan raise for flood relief? Pakistan at a day-long conference at the UN offices in Geneva on Monday raised more than $9 billion in pledges to help it recover from the floods – more than half the recovery bill. The Islamic Development Bank pledged $4.2 billion, the World Bank vowed to donate $2 billion and Saudi Arabia promised a donation of $1 billion. DW quoted Muhammad Al Jasser, the president of the Islamic Development Bank as saying the money was part of “contributing to the achievement of Pakistan’s climate resilience and development objectives.” The EU and Germany pledged $93 million and $88 million respectively. Jochen Flasbarth, state secretary in the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, was quoted as saying by DW that his country was sending “a signal that will hopefully have an effect.” China added another $100 million to the coffers, Japan vowed a $77 million donation, and the Asian Development Bank said it would give $1.5 billion Meanwhile, the United States announced it would give another $100 million to Pakistan towards its recovery and reconstruction efforts. The funding also includes humanitarian assistance to support flood relief and recovery efforts in refugee hosting areas, State Department Spokesperson Ned Price told reporters at a news conference on Monday. “I am pleased to share that today the United States announced an additional $ 100 million of recovery and reconstruction funding, bringing our total contribution to over $ 200 million,” he said. The new $100 million in funding will be for flood protection and governance, disease surveillance, economic growth, and clean energy, climate smart agriculture, food security, and infrastructure reconstruction, Price said. The United States’ flood-related assistance complements its broader efforts to form a US-Pakistan green alliance that looks at the range of climate and resilience issues central to Pakistan’s reconstruction, the spokesperson said. “Pakistan’s recovery and reconstruction will be a continuing process in the months and years ahead and we will continue to support Pakistan in its efforts to build a more climate resilient future for its people,” Price said. Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, who attended the conference, said,  “Today’s meeting is an attempt to give my people another chance at getting back on their feet. “We are racing against time” to help the victims amid a harsh winter, and in the worst-affected areas where schools and health systems have collapsed, Sharif added. UN secretary-general António Guterres said people in South Asia are 15 times more likely to die from climate impacts than elsewhere, and his “heart broke” when he saw first-hand the devastation from Pakistan’s floods — calling it a prime example of the impact of climate change. But some have expressed concerned about whether the funds will actually reach the victims. Concerns about funds reaching victims According to the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project website, reports have surfaced about how less than a fourth of the $160 million already sent by the US for flood relief efforts has reached residents on the ground. The website quoted local reports as stating that the Pakistani public has received just $38.35 million in assistance with the rest unaccounted for – with fraud and corruption suspected. The website quoted Price as saying, “This is something we take very seriously, not only in Pakistan but anywhere around the world where American taxpayer dollars are implicated and when there is an urgent humanitarian interest at stake.” Price added that tracking mechanisms to ensure funds reach victims are in place.

Such concerns also make sense given Pakistan’s history.

In 2011, Oxfam stated that an independent financial investigation had showed fraud in a flood relief programme in Sindh. The investigation by PricewaterhouseCoopers found funds reserved for operating expenses, overheads and human resources for two humanitarian programs involving water delivery and sanitation goods to flood-affected residents were diverted. The investigation determined a loss of up to $220,000 after invoices were falsified and checks to suppliers were manipulated. Wilson Quarterly quoted a 2007 report published by the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC as showing that the billion dollars the US sent to Pakistan after 9/11  saved lives in areas affected by the 2005 earthquake and has helped a smaller number but  “has done little to address the underlying fault lines in the Pakistani state or society.” Assistance from The World Bank and the Asian Development Bank has been equally ineffective, the report added. The Cato Institute on its website laid out some remedies for Pakistan’s problems. “What the Pakistani people need is not more misnamed “foreign aid” funnelled through corrupt and inefficient bureaucracies, but jobs. Trade, not aid, will help create real, productive work, rather than political patronage positions,” the website staed. It added that Islamabad needs to liberalise its own economy as countries like Pakistan make entrepreneurship, business formation, and job creation “well‐​nigh impossible”. It said that over half a century of experience with foreign “aid” showed money from abroad at best masks the consequences of underdevelopment. “More often such transfers actually hinder development, by strengthening the very governments and policies which stand in the way of economic growth,” it added. ‘Don’t see it as charity’ But others say that doesn’t mean we give up – especially given how Pakistan is suffering in the aftermath of the floods and considering the role developed nations played when it comes to emissions. Ayesha Siddiqi, a lecturer in Cambridge University’s Department of Geography, told CBC, “When Europe was industrialising and other Western states were industrializing, we increased these emissions into the atmosphere by many, many magnitudes.” “Of course, they’re resulting in all kinds of climate-related weather events, but this flooding is one of [those] weather events,” she added. Siddiqi added that foreign countries shouldn’t see these pledges as “some form of charity … out of the goodness of their heart.” “We emphasize quite a lot, as scholars of disaster studies, that there’s no real event as a natural disaster,” she added. “There is, sometimes, a much bigger element, which is entirely constructed as a result of the decisions and the choices … that powerful people and institutions in society [have] made,” Siddiqi concluded. With inputs from agencies Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.