Complaint units for women set up at police stations

Source: Dawn

Date: Sep 30, 2010

ISLAMABAD, Sept 29: The capital police have established three ladies complaint units (LCUs) at different police stations to ensure speedy justice to women victims of violence.

A formal inaugural ceremony was held here at Industrial Area police station on Wednesday.

Gender Audit of Police Organisations, a project of Gender Responsive Policing (GRP), was also launched.

German Ambassador Michael Koch was the chief guest at the ceremony. IG Islamabad Syed Kaleem Imam was also present on the occasion.

The ambassador inaugurated the LCU at Industrial area police station and congratulated all the technical cooperation partners--National Police Bureau, the police organizations and GTZ -- on the achievement.

The LCUs in Industrial Area, Margalla and Women police stations were pilot projects.

The German ambassador, Dr Michael Koch, said that the LCUs would help women access police stations and lodge complaints of violence besides interacting with women police officers.

IGP Imam on the occasion said that Islamabad Police had fulfilled their commitment of establishing LCUs and a Gender Crime Unit in Ramna police post.

He said that women police staff was posted in the units to facilitate women complainants especially victims of violence and provide them assistance without a fear of being intimidated.

LCUs will establish links with the available service providers to facilitate victims to get free legal aid, counseling and shelter services.

These units will also keep liaison with the community to sensitise them about the issue of violence against women and give them information about the units.

 

WB approves $130m credit for Pakistan highway rehabilitation project

Source: The News

Date: Sep 30, 2010

ISLAMABAD: The World Bank has approved a credit of $130 million in additional financing for the Pakistan highway rehabilitation project to continue revitalising and modernising Pakistan’s highway system, a bank announcement said on Wednesday.

According to the announcement, the project will further create a productive and efficient highway network, lowering transportation bottlenecks and costs, particularly crucial in the light of tremendous damage caused by the recent floods.

The additional financing route was chosen to ensure fast processing of funds for the flood-affected communities. Out of $130 million, $20 million is part of the billion-dollar floods package announced by the World Bank, it said.

The credits from the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank’s concessionary arm, have 40 years to maturity with a 10-year grace period; they carry a service charge of 0.75 percent.

The project consists of three components, rehabilitating 514km of highways, resurfacing 342km of highways and reconstructing 128km of damaged roads that provide vital access to remote and disaster-prone communities.

View the link for details: http://thenews.com.pk/30-09-2010/ethenews/e-7340.htm

 

Pashto as compulsory subject in KP

Pashto recommended to be taught as compulsory subject

Peshawar: 29 sep, A cabinet committee on Tuesday finalised its recommendations under which Pashto would be introduced as compulsory subject in 17 districts. The recommendations would be placed before the provincial assembly for legislation after approval by the provincial cabinet.

"As per recommendations of the committee, Pashto will be included as compulsory subject in 17 districts from Class-I to XII, while in the remaining seven districts mother tongue will be included as compulsory subject in the curriculum," said a communiquÈ issued after the meeting.

Besides Minister for Information and Public Relations Mian Iftikhar Hussain, the meeting was also attended by Secretary Administration Hifzur Rahman and officials of the Primary and Elementary and Higher Education and Textbook Board Peshawar.

It was decided that Pashto as compulsory subject would be introduced in 17 districts including Swat, Swabi, Buner, Dir Upper, Dir Lower, Mardan, Charsadda, Shangla, Malakand, Nowshera, Hangu, Lakki Marwat, Karak, Bannu, Tank, Kohat and Battagram. It was also decided that mother tongues would be introduced in the remaining seven districts in class 6 from the next academic year 2011-12.

For more details: http://www.interface.edu.pk/students/Sep-10/Pashto-as-compulsory-subject-in-KP.asp

Farewell Akhyar

Source: The News

Date: September 24, 2010

It is humbling. Reading about someone who you opposed politically with ferocious conviction, who you do not like at all for his views on people, places and the world at large, and then feeling so thoroughly compassionate about him as a person who has a family, friends, regular contenders and outright foes, and of course who carried his own share of personal grief. For once, I felt that about ZA Suleri after reading a very objective analysis of his person by daughter Sara, in `Boys will be Boys'.  Until the 1980s, there were three functional ideological camps among the journalists, so to speak. One, the Suleri and Nizami type Muslim Leaguers, two, the ones who were influenced by the Jamaat-i-Islami, and three, those who belonged to the left. The groups would contest each other at the level of ideas as well as fighting turf-wars when it came to matters of their union and the press clubs. Although this acrimony would rarely get translated into personal feuds but the social and political circle in which people like us grew up would reject Suleri and the likes for the positions they took on issues faced by the Pakistani state and society and brand them as `reactionary', `pro-establishment' or `right-wing'. One such `right-winger' was M Abul Akhyar. Being a close associate of ZA Suleri once and a deeply conservative man when it came to religion and politics, he would abhor progressive political ideals. But at a personal and professional level, he remained close and dear to leftist stalwarts in Karachi like Anis Hashmi, Dr Ashraf, Zamir Niazi and Wahid Bashir. When I was assisting Zamir Niazi in compiling a book of his writings in Urdu, I remember meeting Akhyar Sahib in Niazi's office and then at his home. For long, Niazi was seriously ill but continued his invaluable work on press history and freedoms in Pakistan and finished his books, `Press under Siege', `The Web of Censorship' and `Hikayat-i-Khoon'chakaan (Urdu)'. Irrespective of their political differences, Zamir Niazi would discuss and review his findings, analysis and chronology of events with Akhyar. Because Abul Akhyar was a journalist first and foremost -- a dedicated professional who would speak the truth about an event or a happening and restrain himself and others from giving an unwanted, prejudiced spin of personal views when he was reporting or editing. He will not reject the fact if it challenged his faith. He may analyse the cause differently.  Abul Akhyar was tough on novices on the desk and in the newsroom. When my younger brother joined `Business Recorder', Akhyar asked him and another two colleagues of his who were fresh, to sit in his room for two months and directly report to him. "They don't teach you anything in the college or university. I am going to make you learn." For two months, he grilled them hard. My brother tells me that he would do the same with everyone and put in so much time and energy in making young people learn the profession.  Abul Akhyar is no more. He was 83 and worked until January last. A journalist friend laments the blurring of lines between journalists and non-journalists in this age, and keeps reminding me that only that person can claim the identity of a journalist who lives off journalism. Perhaps what he should worry about more is the lack of both calibre and character amongst those who are qualified to be called journalists.  The writer is an Islamabad-based poet, political analyst and advisor on public policy. Email: harris. khalique@gmail.com

 

British agency stops funding child health project

Source: Dawn

Date: 24 Sep, 2010

ISLAMABAD, Sept 23: The Department for International Development, UK, has blocked financial assistance for Pakistan’s maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) programme citing ‘financial transparency concerns’, it has been learnt. 

The federal health officials informed members of the Senate standing committee on health that DFID had stopped assisting the project putting the important health initiative of the federal government in limbo. 

With support from Department for International Development, the health ministry had launched the programme meant to train 12,000 midwives in the next five years while creation of a cadre of trained community midwives was also planned. 

However, a source close to the international assistance said they had serious reservations over the MNCH financial transparency besides several audit observations were still pending.

 “The matter is needed to be resolved at the earliest,” said Senator Kulsoom Parveen of BNP-A. Senator Zahid Khan of the ANP said Rs2 billion were stuck with the DFID. 

View the link: http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/local/islamabad/british-agency-stops-funding-child-health-project-490

 

Education sector - always at the receiving end

Source: Dawn

Date: 24 Sep, 2010

The issue of the lack of funding to the education sector is no secret in this country. Despite repeated proclamations by every incoming government be it a democratically-elected one or a dictatorship – there has been little improvement in the sector. This much is clear from the fact that Pakistan is bracketed with sub-Saharan states region when it comes to education.

 The present government in its new education policy had also announced that it would achieve over 80 per cent literacy by 2015. Though how it reached either the figure or the year remains unexplained. But it is now clear that this was simply rhetoric because since then the government has not even been able to spare a meagerly two per cent of the GDP for the education sector. 

However, the biggest blow came this year to the HEC. The annual budget of a commission that was the cornerstone of General Pervez Musharraf’s education policy kept on increasing every year till 2008 elections rolled in. Since then, the HEC has seen a scaling down of the finances at its disposal; a downward revision was made last year when the budget was reduced from Rs22.5 billion to Rs15 billion for the development of public-sector universities this year. 

View the link: http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/local/islamabad/education-sector-always-at-the-receiving-end-490

New Arrivals

This is to inform you that we have recently added followings books in our Development Resource Centre (DRC).

·         Criss-Cross Times by Mr. Javed Jabbar

·         Ray of Hope Dr. Khangharani by Mr. Abass Khoso

 

Pakistan Flood Losses

Source: NDMA,PDMA

Date: Sep 20, 2010

Province	Deaths	Injured	Houses Damaged	Population Affected
Balochistan	48	98	75,261	*700,000
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa	1,156	1,198	200,799	3,800,000
Punjab	110	350	509,814	8,200,000
Sindh	213	1,173	1,114,629	7,251,550
AJK	71	87	7,108	200,000
Gilgit Baltistan	183	60	2,830	100,000
FATA	86	84	4,614	Awaited
Total	1,867	3,050	1,915,055	20,251,550

*Additional 600,000 IDPs from Sindh are living in Balochistan
The degree of severity to which people have been affected by the floods varies depending on their particular losses and damages. UN assessments have been launched in at least three provinces to identify severely affected families who require life-saving humanitarian assistance. The UN experts have identified 2.7 million people in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 5.3 million in Punjab and 4.4 million in Sindh that are in need of immediate humanitarian assistance.

 

 

 

43 ministries, departments adopt code of conduct

Source: The News

Date: September 23, 2010

According to the data collected by the Ministry of Women Development (MoWD) on implementation of ‘Protection against Harassment of Women at Workplace Act 2010’ in public sector, around 43 ministries, departments and divisions have adopted the code of conduct whereas 79 institutions have formed inquiry committees up till now.

The information was shared by Director General Gender Equality Kishwar Shaheen Awan at a national level awareness-raising seminar organised by the MoWD. The seminar was organized at the Ministry of Population Welfare (MoPW). As part of the monitoring strategy for effective implementation of the Act, all public sector departments are asked to report to the MoWD about progress in the adoption of code of conduct and establishment of the inquiry committee. 

For details view the link: http://www.thenews.com.pk/23-09-2010/islamabad/6214.htm

 

PA adopts child protection bill

Source: Dawn

Date: Sept 21, 2010

PESHAWAR, Sept 21: The Khyber Pakhtun-khwa Assembly on Tuesday passed the Child Protection Bill 2010 after rejecting a Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal move to reduce the age limit for children from 18 to 15 years.

Mufti Kifayatullah and Iqbal Din of the MMA tabled their identical amendments in the bill seeking substitution of the words “eighteen years” with “fifteen years.” Law and parliamentary affairs minister Arshad Abdullah on behalf of the minister for social welfare tabled the bill in the House with Speaker Karamatullah Khan Chaghermati in the chair.

The law, passed with certain amendments brought by two lawmakers of the MMA and PPP member Abdul Akbar Khan, is designed to provide care, protection, maintenance, welfare, training, education, rehabilitation and reintegration to children at risk in the province.

Under the new law children protection court would be set up in consultation with the Peshawar High Court. The court may issue orders in respect of handing over custody of a child at risk either to his/her parents, guardian, a suitable person or a child protection institution.

Giving arguments in favour of their identical amendments for lowering the age to define a child, the MMA lawmakers said that Sharia determined puberty period at 15 years, therefore the bill should be aligned with the teachings of Islam. They said that some people could exploit the age period and that it would also encourage criminal activities and child abuse in the society.

“A faithful observes fasting from the age of 15 and adolescence period also starts from the same age. Therefore child age should be reduced from 18 to 15 years,” argued Mufti Kifayatullah.

View the link: http://epaper.dawn.com/ArticleText.aspx?article=22_09_2010_009_008

 

SPO sets up temporary learning centres

Source: Dawn

Date: Sept 20, 2010

ISLAMABAD, Sept 20: The Strengthening Participatory Organisation (SPO), with the technical assistance of Unicef, has established 12 temporary learning and recreation (TLR) facilities at the relief camps set up for flood-affected people in Makli, Thatta.

The affected children have been engaged in recreational and learning activities such as drawing, colouring, games, story-telling and singing rhymes through interactive methods, said Malick Shahbaz, the head of SPO special projects, in a press statement here.

In the aftermath of the floods, children are the most vulnerable to hazards and susceptible to traumas. He said SPO was planning to establish 52 TLR sites covering all nine tehsils of Thatta.

Mr Shahbaz said SPO had planned to reach 16,400 households in the districts of Charsadda, Nowshera, Swat, Naseerabad, Sibbi, Dadu, Ghotki, Layyah and Mianwali through funding from international donors and UN agencies.

“Realising the gravity of the situation, SPO along with its partner organisations has initiated relief activities for people in the affected areas.

Currently, SPO is involved in provision of food and nonfood items, cholera kits, medicine besides establishing health camps in the flood-affected areas,” he added.

Link: http://epaper.dawn.com/ArticleText.aspx?article=21_09_2010_153_004

US, WB urge Pakistan to ensure transparency Ban calls for urgent global response to Pak disaster;

Source: The News

Date: September 21, 2010

UNITED NATIONS: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for an urgent global response to the Pakistan floods on Sunday as he opened an international ministerial meeting on the disaster.

The meeting, which brought together US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and about 25 other top ministers, sought extra resources for the stricken country after the United Nations issued a record two billion dollar emergency appeal.

“We are here because the Pakistan floods are one of the biggest, most complex natural disasters we have faced in the history of the United Nations,” Ban told the meeting. He highlighted that it had affected an estimated 20 million people, with up to 12 million needing urgent humanitarian assistance.

“This new appeal extends the emergency relief to six months and includes the crucial element of early recovery for the next 12 months. I call for your urgent response,” said the UN chief. “The floods in Pakistan are a global disaster, a global challenge, and a global test of solidarity,” he said. “Of course, we know this is happening in a part of the world where stability and prosperity are profoundly in the world’s interests.”

A special analysis on the impact of the floods is to be prepared for mid-October and the Pakistan government and UN agencies will then outline new long term plans to rebuild the stricken area.

Clinton said the United States has now allotted about $340 million in disaster relief to Pakistan. Britain doubled its aid to about $200 million and the European Union said it has now contributed $315 million. Iran said it has now set aside $100 million, China and other countries also announced new financial contributions and emergency food aid, but it was unclear whether it would all add up to the two billion dollars requested. Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal said his country also had contributed $345 million in aid.

For more details: http://thenews.com.pk/21-09-2010/ethenews/t-739.htm

 

Ensnaring ideas by Aziz Ali Dad

Source: The News

Date: September 18, 2010

The study of the Platonic theory of forms leaves the reader wondering about Plato’s logic of keeping ideal realities, such as justice, equality, beauty and knowledge, away from the mundane world. His logic becomes clear when we read the Platonic theory of the world of ideals in the light of our own experiences. As social animals, we exist in the broader context of society where we are enmeshed in power relations and institutions that determine our ideas. The corruption of ideals precedes the corruption of individuals. 

In modern times, the ruling group controls people by maintaining its hegemony over ideas through the cultural industry and different institutional arrangements, which help in the manufacturing of consent and legitimacy. According Antonio Gramsci, consent is achieved not by force but by the reproduction of a particular ethos in the public sphere. Modern societies are more vulnerable to manipulations of power than traditional societies, because their mode of operation in the realm of ideas is subtle. Owing to the current economic and political order, the world of ideas has been ensnared by the ruling group’s power to safeguard its interests. This is also true in Pakistan in the case of the interface between state and ideas.

The Pakistani state’s experiments with different ideas clearly illustrate the failure of ideas manufactured for the vested interests. Since its inception the rulers of Pakistan have experimented with different concepts to provide legitimacy for their rule. Despite the change in performers the script remains the same, which is to maintain the status quo. During the last 63 years we have ersatz ideas and botched experiments, starting from the industrial revolution of Gen Ayub Khan, the socialism of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the Islam of Ziaul Haq, the social contract of Benazir Bhutto, to the enlightened moderation and national reconciliation of Gen Pervez Musharraf. These ideas failed to deliver because their real meanings have been leached out for the expediencies of power. 

For more details: http://thenews.com.pk/18-09-2010/ethenews/e-5189.htm

 

 

Ensnaring ideas

Source: The News

Date: September 18, 2010

The study of the Platonic theory of forms leaves the reader wondering about Plato’s logic of keeping ideal realities, such as justice, equality, beauty and knowledge, away from the mundane world. His logic becomes clear when we read the Platonic theory of the world of ideals in the light of our own experiences. As social animals, we exist in the broader context of society where we are enmeshed in power relations and institutions that determine our ideas. The corruption of ideals precedes the corruption of individuals. 

In modern times, the ruling group controls people by maintaining its hegemony over ideas through the cultural industry and different institutional arrangements, which help in the manufacturing of consent and legitimacy. According Antonio Gramsci, consent is achieved not by force but by the reproduction of a particular ethos in the public sphere. Modern societies are more vulnerable to manipulations of power than traditional societies, because their mode of operation in the realm of ideas is subtle. Owing to the current economic and political order, the world of ideas has been ensnared by the ruling group’s power to safeguard its interests. This is also true in Pakistan in the case of the interface between state and ideas.

The Pakistani state’s experiments with different ideas clearly illustrate the failure of ideas manufactured for the vested interests. Since its inception the rulers of Pakistan have experimented with different concepts to provide legitimacy for their rule. Despite the change in performers the script remains the same, which is to maintain the status quo. During the last 63 years we have ersatz ideas and botched experiments, starting from the industrial revolution of Gen Ayub Khan, the socialism of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the Islam of Ziaul Haq, the social contract of Benazir Bhutto, to the enlightened moderation and national reconciliation of Gen Pervez Musharraf. These ideas failed to deliver because their real meanings have been leached out for the expediencies of power. 

For more details: http://thenews.com.pk/18-09-2010/ethenews/e-5189.htm

 

 

Unnatural causes of disaster

Source: The News

Date: 19-09-2010

Lurking catastrophes of the future demand serious investment into disaster prevention and response systems
By Naseer Memon

There is a need to comprehend the role of institutions that exacerbated the impact of recent floods. Many still see recent floods as a prelude to the worst. Without indulging in speculations one can safely say we ought to be equipped to respond to the vagaries of nature.

In August, Pakistan received more than half of its monsoon downpour during one week, which would normally have taken three months. This year flood sustained for abnormally long durations.

In Sindh, three barrages had to brace furious flow of over 1.1 million cusecs for almost eleven days. This lunacy of flood is a clarion call from the nature that we seriously need to realign our response mechanism to commensurate with such somersaults of climate.

The recent experience of disaster response mocks at our administrative adequacy. The institutional tentacles of our disaster response system were practically paralysed by the enormity of flood. National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and its provincial and district extensions were sent into a tailspin by the disaster. PDMAs and DDMAs were found ineffective.

In disaster response, the lowest tier i.e. DDMA is of paramount importance by virtue of being the first and the last line of defense for communities. The DDMAs, under Section 21 of the National Disaster Management Ordinance are charged to devise disaster management plans for their districts but there was hardly any in place. Certain international donor organizations provided technical and logistical support for capacity-building of selected DDMAs in the country but provincial governments seldom considered institutionalization of PDMAs and DDMAs as serious business.

Though DDMAs are under administrative control of provincial government yet there were instances when they were reprimanded by NDMA if they approached any donors for any support. PDMA in Sindh is manned by less than a dozen staff at Karachi without any outreach stations in the rest of Sindh.

Punjab till recent days did not have any PDMA at all and those established in the remaining provinces lacked agility due to dearth of human, technical and financial wherewithal. Our shoddy disaster management machinery was soon on its knees as the disaster unraveled the patchwork of dykes.

For details: http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/sep2010-weekly/nos-19-09-2010/pol1.htm#4

 

Pakistan missing MDGs due to meltdown in global economy

Source: The News

Date: September 19, 2010

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is going to miss the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) targets for improving social sector indicators owing to meltdown in the global economy, sharp rise in oil and food prices, militancy and increased expenditures on war on terror, political instability and the recent catastrophic floods, an official report launched on Friday admitted.

The report, titled “MDGs report 2010”, launched by Planning Commission reveals that the country was lagging behind or moving slow on 25 most crucial targets out of total 33 for gauging performance on social sectors such as eradication of poverty, literacy, mortality rates and safe drinking water etc for achieving MDGs targets till 2015 envisaged under United Nations umbrella. Pakistan is ahead on six indicators while it is on track on two. The country is off the track on infant mortality-rate indicator. Pakistan is going to present the MDG report 2010 before the special session of UN next week.

“Pakistan faces numerous challenges and is unlikely to achieve MDGs targets,” says the report launched here at the Planning Commission’s Auditorium on Friday afternoon in the presence of deputy chairman Planning Commission Dr Nadeem Ul Haq, United Nations resident coordinator Onder Yucer and UNDP’s country head in Pakistan.

The report was prepared and launched after a gap of four years by Centre for Poverty Reduction and Social Policy Development (CPRSPD), a joint venture of the Planning Commission and the UNDP but it did not incorporate the latest available poverty figures of 17.2 per cent on the basis of survey done in 2007-08 that was also validated by the World Bank. However, the report has used the poverty figure of 22.3 per cent on the basis of survey done in 2005-06.

For more details please view the link: http://www.thenews.com.pk/19-09-2010/Top-Story/696.htm

 

No fund for HEC: Over 70 VCs threaten to resign

Source: Dawn

Date: 17 Sep, 2010

ISLAMABAD, Sept 16: The vice-chancellors of 71 public sector universities have threatened to resign en bloc against the government’s refusal to provide fund for higher education. 

Federal Minister for Finance Abdul Hafeez Sheikh on Thursday refused to provide funds to the cash-strapped Higher Education Commission. Instead, he asked it to generate its own resources. 

Incensed by Mr Sheikh’s response, the vice chancellors of 71 public sector universities threatened to resign en bloc. They also outrightly rejected the minister’s suggestion to set up a special committee headed by Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Nadeemul Haq to determine the universities’ needs, saying in the presence of Higher Education Commission (HEC) there was no need for any committee. 

On the special request of HEC Chairman Dr Javed Leghari, the minister held an emergency meeting with the members of vice chancellors committee on the HEC premises. He was also accompanied by Mr Nadeemul Haq. 

During the meeting, which lasted for a couple of hours, the minister not only refused to make any financial commitment but also appeared dismissive of the issues raised by vice chancellors of 68 state-run universities present at the meeting, a participant of the meeting told Dawn.

At one point after the VCs had spoken about their financial woes, Mr Sheikh told them that the government had more compelling commitments than the higher education sector. 

He was equally non-committal when the future of the HEC’s scholars studying in foreign universities came under discussion. If the HEC continues to remain short of cash, some 4,000 students may need to be called back before they get their degrees. However, the finance minister argued that at the moment the flood victims were more vulnerable than anybody else. In the absence of funds, the HEC has already scrapped all its future scholarship schemes.

For more details view the link http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/local/islamabad/no-fund-for-hec-over-70-vcs-threaten-to-resign-790

 

Unhygienic conditions cause skin, eye infections at camps

Source: Dawn

Date: Thursday, 16 Sep, 2010

KARACHI, Sept 15: Although the government and community efforts in feeding the thousands of homeless flood survivors are commendable, unfortunately little efforts are being made to improve the conditions the internally displaced persons have been living in for about a month. 
The situation has, consequently, given rise to a number of health problems at the city’s flood relief camps. 

Visits to the camps showed that the situation was so deplorable at many places that it was not possible even to go inside some sections of the relief camps as the whole area was stinking with foul smell. 

Speaking to Dawn, health staff deputed at the sites said that IDPs must be educated about basic hygiene and provided with items needed for personal hygiene. 

“There is no difference between the life of these flood survivors and the life of an animal. And this unfortunate reality is a major obstacle to the proper management of the IDPs,” says Ms Zaidi while attending a patient at a flood relief camp in Gadap Town.

“But this is not their fault. The blame for their continued uncivilized existence solely lies on the politicians who never made use of their means to educate their constituents and improve their living standards.”

A lady health visitor, Ms Zaidi (name changed to protect identity) seems to be seriously perturbed over the camp’s conditions. “They just have no sense of what basic hygiene means to their survival. If you go to the rooftop, you will find the entire surface littered with human excreta because they are not using toilets. And if some of them are using the facility, they don’t bother to wash the place properly. This attitude makes us feel miserable,” she continues. 

What Ms Zaidi is experiencing is not an isolated case. Similar conditions prevail at other state-run relief camps also.

For more details: http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/local/unhygienic-conditions-cause-skin,-eye-infections-at-camps-690

 

 

Pakistan: Two million malaria cases expected over the next four months

Source: Merlin - UK

Date: 14 Sept, 2010

Merlin is ramping up our work in Pakistan to respond to the approaching peak of malaria season.

"We must be prepared to respond to as many as two million cases of malaria over the next four months in all areas that are mildly or severely flood-affected," says Naeem Durrani, Merlin's malaria expert in Pakistan.

"By comparison, last year's estimated figures for all of Pakistan were around 1.5 million cases for the whole year."

Once scale up is complete, the Merlin-trained network of over 2,000 health workers in 16 districts, will provide malaria control services through nearly health centres.

Durrani points out that malaria is widespread in all 62 districts that have been severely affected by the floods.

For more details: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/fromthefield/218926/d73d1b2712a91b2ab814eb53802c07b2.htm

 

 

Punjab's losses increased 331pc in new FFC report

Source: Dawn

Date: September 6, 2010

SLAMABAD, Sept 5: A report of the Federal Flood Commission released on Sept 1 shows a surprising increase of 331 per cent in the number of flood-affected people in Punjab — rising to 8.20 million from 1.90 million mentioned in a report released in August.

Despite the big increase in the number of affected people, the number of affected villages and the acreage of affected area remain the same, 3,132 villages and 2.63 million acres.

The number of damaged houses is also the same in the August and September reports. Even the number of the injured and the dead is the same — 350 injured and 103 dead.

An official of the Ministry of Water and Power said the figures were compiled by the FFC after they had been released by the provinces.

A secondary survey undertaken in Punjab by the Board of Revenue is being directly monitored by Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif.

According to sources in the BOR, reports suggest that the number of villages hit by the flood in Punjab is 2,100 compared to the initial estimate of 3,132.

The FFC’s estimates have been rejected by Sindh Minister for Culture Sassui Palejo, who is a member of flood monitoring committee formed by the Sindh chief minister.

She said concerns over FFC’s figures relating to Punjab had been highlighted at a meeting with Prime Minister Gilani and President Zaradari in Karachi on Sunday.

For more information please visit website: http://epaper.dawn.com/ArticleText.aspx?article=06_09_2010_012_009

 

 

The banality of violence

Source: The News

Date: September 06, 2010

In 1960, Israeli agents kidnapped former Nazi official Adolf Eichmann from Buenos Aires and tried him for his role in the Holocaust. The New Yorker sent philosopher Hannah Arendt to what was then West Jerusalem to report on his trial. Eichmann was hanged on May 31, 1962. Arendt published a series of articles about the trial in the newspaper and later published the book Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil. The book, particularly “banality of evil” in the sub-title, enraged leading intellectuals of the day, as well as Jewish leaders. What she meant by the phrase was that evil deeds committed during the Holocaust on a gigantic scale were not committed by demonic Nazis but by average (banal) persons, like Eichmann. 

The lynching of the two brothers by a mob in Sialkot on Aug 15 shows that violence has become banal for the average Pakistani. The way the two young men were brutally beaten, and from the treatment meted out to their dead bodies strung upside-down from a pole, people thronging to see the brutality and recording it on mobile sets reveals that callousness has become mundane in Pakistani society and does not shock our sensibilities. Factors contributing to this phenomenon have emerged in different times and contexts, but their intersection these days is what makes violence banal. 

The 1980s witnessed the emergence of Jihadi ideology, Kalashnikov culture and ethnic violence in Pakistan. The 1990s saw the rise of the sectarian monster, and more ethnic violence. With the advent of the 21st century Pakistan faced the scourge of terrorism. The post-9/11 period coincided with the phenomenal growth of the electronic media in Pakistan, and its extensive focus on the issues of terrorism, insurgency, invasions, bombings and atrocities around the world. Since then we have been consistently bombarded with violent images, and our language has been imbued with vocabulary drawn from violent events. 

For more details: http://www.thenews.com.pk/06-09-2010/Opinion/3196.htm

What worsened flood disaster?

Source: The News (Political Economy)

The devastation from floods could have been much less had certain practices of disaster-management been in place

By Naseer Memon

Rivers this year brought unprecedented disaster in all provinces of the country. From rickety civil infrastructure to shabby administrative web, everything has been washed away by the horrendous disaster. According to one estimate, half of the 367,000 people who lost their lives to natural disasters between 1986 and 1995, were victims of storms, river floods or flash floods. From 1998 to 2002, the world witnessed 683 flood disasters with 97 percent of these visitations occurred in Asia. The trend clearly indicates doomsday projections for the years to come and calls for a tectonic shift in current practices of disaster management in vogue in countries like Pakistan.

The Indus River that brought the major havoc in parts of Punjab and Sindh provinces is still tormenting human settlements. Its fury is set to catapult more during the leftover monsoon. Both natural and human factors triggered this devastation. According to Professor Martin Gibling of Dulhousie University, the Indus was even mightier during a warm period some 6,000 years ago. Then 4,000 years ago as the climate cooled, a large part of Indus dried up and deserts replaced the waterways.

The professor points finger towards localized warming phenomenon as responsible element for the disaster. In his opinion, monsoon intensity is somewhat sensitive to the surface temperature of the Indian Ocean. During times of cooler climate, less moisture is picked up from the ocean, the monsoon weakens and the Indus River flow is reduced. In this backdrop, climate change seems to be a major factor behind pathologically insane monsoon this year.

For details : http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/sep2010-weekly/nos-05-09-2010/pol1.htm#6

 

 

30,000 marooned people running out of food

Source: Dawn

Date: 06 Sep, 2010

LARKANA, Sept 5: More than 30,000 people stranded in Kachho and Qubo Saeed Khan areas are fast running out of food and are in need of immediate help.

Most of the people of Shahdadkot, Garhi Khairo and Jafferabad and Naseerabad (Balochistan) have moved to Kachho, Marri ja Quba and Barija after the floods. 

Ghaffar Pandrani, coordinator of NGOs Development Society, said that about 75,000 people had moved out of Shahdadkot, Qubo Saeed Khan, Ghari Khero and Jafferabad. All land routes to Kachho are closed and access to the area for relief services is limited.

Nisar Khoso, a social worker from Katchee Pul, said that stagnating water would take at least a month to recede and people were trapped with all road links disconnected, food stocks exhausted and almost non-existent medical facilities.

He said that three to four people were dying daily of different diseases in Kachho area and called for immediate evacuation of the stranded people. In Bago Daro, 15 kms from Shahdadkot, people who had taken shelter in a graveyard were also facing food shortages, said Gada Hussain Bhatti of Shahdadkot.

Abdul Sattar Chandio, a resident of Kachho area, told Dawn on phone that people had to go to Jhal Magsi to buy food at highly exorbitant rates.

Link: http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/national/30,000-marooned-people-running-out-of-food-690

 

Transparency in relief activities: Minister vents his spleen on NGOs

Source: Dawn

Date: 03 Sep, 2010

PESHAWAR, Sept 2: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Irrigation Pervez Khattak has burst into a diatribe against non-governmental organisations engaged in the relief activities in the flood-hit areas of the province.

“The NGOs are thieves and plunderers and nobody can dare to hold them accountable for spending the funds meant for the relief of flood survivors,” he alleged, while taking part in the general debate on the flood situation in the provincial assembly on Thursday. Speaker Karamatullah Khan Chaghermati presided over the proceedings. 

The minister said that NGOs were turning poor people into beggars and defaming the government too. He demanded that NGOs engaged in relief activities in the flood-hit areas of the province should be held accountable.

Mr Khattak was of the view that NGOs were receiving funds while general impression was that the government and public representatives were misusing relief assistance. He proposed that the government should conduct audit of the NGOs, which had received funds from donors in the name of affected people.

Taking part in the discussion Senior Minister Bashir Ahmad Bilour said that previous government had diverted £ 300 million, meant for rehabilitation and reconstruction activities in the earthquake-hit areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Azad Kashmir as a result international community response was initially slow in the disaster.

Link for details: http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/national/transparency-in-relief-activities-minister-vents-his-spleen-on-ngos-390

 

 

Flood loss estimates rise to $43bn: PM

Source: Dawn

Date: 02 Sep, 2010

ISLAMABAD: The federal cabinet was informed on Wednesday that economic losses inflicted by the floods were estimated at $43 billion, almost equal to the expenditures incurred on the war on terror over the past nine years.

The floods have affected 79 of the 124 districts — 24 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 19 in Sindh, 12 in Punjab, 10 in Balochistan and seven each in Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said the government had released massive funds to the provinces under the 7th National Finance Commission Award and relief funds would be disbursed after the Council of Common Interests evolved a mechanism.

He said the national economy had grown by 4.1 per cent last year and was expected to grow four per cent this year, but it might end up at 2.5 per cent, causing massive job losses and affecting incomes of thousands of families.

The prime minister said the devastation might also affect revenue collection and increase expenditures, widening the budget deficit.

For more details view the link: http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/front-page/inflation-spike%2C-job-losses-feared-flood-loss-estimates-rise-to-%2443bn-pm-290