Aid is finally reaching the millions of Pakistanis whose lives have been
upended by devastating floods. The UN has launched a $160 million emergency
plan; supplies are being flown in from the Middle East and Asia; and donors and
publics across the world are responding to this most recent disaster appeal.
اضافة اعلان
Pakistan’s
tragedy is the latest in a series of global emergencies resulting from a
rapidly changing climate. And while the floodwaters have not yet receded, it is
not too early to assess what this crisis can teach us about the challenges of
humanitarian response in an era of increasingly extreme weather.
Since the
mid-20th century, humanitarian action has made a measurable impact on lives and
communities. Disasters, especially famine, kill far fewer people today than
they did before the 1960s. But the changes wrought by the climate emergency
mean disasters will become deadlier unless the humanitarian aid sector adjusts
its strategy. For all the good humanitarianism has done, it has also created
dependency on a system that reacts to, rather than seeks to prevent, disasters
from occurring.
Meeting the new
challenges will require rethinking some of the core tenets of humanitarianism
and speeding up reforms and changes to create a more flexible, proactive system
built on principles of prevention, resilience, and decentralized disaster
governance.
First, risk
analysis and modeling must become firmly baked into the heart of
humanitarianism. Early warning systems that can detect impending droughts or
floods have long been a feature of disaster prevention and mitigation (and may
have helped limit the number killed in Pakistan’s floods, a tally that now
exceeds 1,250). Models predicting the impact of changes in temperature, precipitation,
disease outbreaks, and other variables are already helping communities prepare
for the worst.
But current
systems need more funding to maintain, and new systems must be decentralized
across global regions to maximize their utility. Critically, data needs to be
shared more widely between state and civil society organizations.
Second, disaster
management must shift from a response mindset to one of reducing risk and
building resilience before crises strike. In 1970, flooding triggered by a
massive cyclone killed around 500,000 people in Bangladesh (then part of East
Pakistan). A similar cyclone and flood in the same area two years ago killed
30, thanks to extensive flood-mitigation measures and policies. Meanwhile,
governments in Pacific Island states like Kiribati and Vanuatu are investing in
health infrastructure that will be better able to withstand floods and
typhoons, as well as preparing community-based disaster preparedness plans to
respond more rapidly and effectively.
It is not only
countries of the Global South that are focused on making systems, structures,
and societies more resilient. The Californian state government recently
allocated an additional $15 billion to reduce the risk and mitigate the impact
of wildfires. Ensuring that transport networks, health systems, and food
systems can withstand shocks is vital for protecting the most vulnerable during
a disaster.
Meeting the new challenges will require rethinking some of the core tenets of humanitarianism and speeding up reforms and changes to create a more flexible, proactive system built on principles of prevention, resilience, and decentralized disaster governance.
Building
resilience and preparedness is often seen as falling outside the humanitarian
sector’s area of responsibility, acting as it does as the global first
responder. Yet such activity is core to disaster management, and must be a core
part of humanitarianism’s mandate.
The third change
is shifting how the sector responds to disasters themselves. Here, reforms are
needed to speed up and better integrate local solutions that ensure more
resilient communities emerge when the emergency passes.
In the aftermath
of the devastating 2010 Haitian earthquake, humanitarian organizations were
criticized for failing to work with local, state, and non-governmental
organizations in their responses, creating parallel and separate systems that
increased aid dependency and made building back local capacity harder.
Reflecting on
those failures and others, the humanitarian sector and donors have committed to
delivering more aid and interventions through local organizations. To date,
however, progress has been slow and limited. Embedding responses within local
contexts, with active participation from affected communities, will enhance and
improve those responses.
But localization
also needs to be integrated more fully into global and regional
infrastructures. The UAE has played a critical role in coordinating support to
Pakistan, while Dubai’s International Humanitarian City is the largest of a
growing network of humanitarian hubs that can respond quickly to regional
disasters. Such infrastructure can support the bridging of global and local
responses.
Many
humanitarian organizations view building more resilient systems as beyond their
remit, concerned that anything that deals with social inequality and
vulnerability risks becoming politicized in a way that might conflict with the
humanitarian concept of neutrality. But failing to address this necessity will
only perpetuate dependency on external responses and organizations and worsen
the impact of disasters.
The devastating
human toll of the floods in Pakistan is a warning to us all. As the impact of
the climate emergency picks up pace, and as rich countries continue to evade
their culpability in its creation, the poor, vulnerable, and marginalized are
dying as a result.
These issues are
already being debated within the humanitarian sector, but as Pakistan’s
horrific floods remind us, commitments and discussions alone will not prepare
the humanitarian system for the challenges that await.
Michael Jennings is a professor in global development at SOAS University of London, where
he works on issues related to global health and the politics and history of
global development. Syndication Bureau.
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