Medical Relief After the detrimental floods in Pakistan, because so many people are living together in close quarters for shelter, poor hygiene and sanitation issues along with the unbearable heat creates a breeding ground for potentially fatal diseases such as cholera, diphtheria etc. That is why nations around the world need to team up to provide medical relief to this struggling nation. The two most important necessities regarding medical relief in Pakistan would be doctors and sanitary medical equipment. We need to be specifically sending disposable sanitary equipment and assisting mobile health clinics to ensure that every area in need of medical assistance is provided with it. Pakistan already has a strong mobile health clinic organization going called Government of Pakistan which is assisted by several other NGO’s (Non Government Organization). With donations of medical supplies and doctors, foreign nations can build up this organization. In general we need more of a centralized concrete effort rather than several nations and charity groups donating some medical supplies here and there. If the medical relief system becomes centralized we will be more efficient and effective with our donation and can make sure the areas in Pakistan that most need the supplies get them. We should centralize the relief program around the Doctors Worldwide Organization which is a humanitarian NGO whose main goal is to work with local grassroot organization and help nations that need medical assistance, the cheapest and most effective way they can. Community participation is the main focus which would encourage several nations to get involved. To ensure respect for the Pakistani relief effort, we need to work under the organization Doctors Without Borders which is an organization dedicated to helping Pakistani people who are affected by national disasters or civil unrest. This is a way to show respect and show the nation that we are not there to take over and be overbearing, but to simply assist with the relief they are already trying to provide their own nation with. This is essential so as not to offend the hierarchy in Pakistan.
Table. Highlight "Add Data or Map", click File icon, upload file from desktop, add source in caption.
Add Data or Map
Add Graphic file
Seamus
Click "Edit" and paste your paragraphs here.
One immediate concern that has arisen from the flooding in Pakistan is the problem concerning the lack of a sustainable food source for many of the victims. Although some have resorted to scavenging, spending “days in an open field, eating whatever they [can] forage”, this is not sustainable and once the scraps are all taken, a suitable agricultural system needs to be reinstated (The Guardian). One way in which the Pakistani government can encourage this would be to allow a faster path to small business ownership. This will ensure that agricultural workers will have a market for their produce. As is said in Naked Economics: “it is hardest to open a new business in countries where [regulation] is the highest” (Wheelen 73). This will allow the refugees to become self sufficient in the short term. The proposal above allows the people affected by the flood to create a sustainable lifestyle within the upcoming weeks, but in order to ensure immediate relief from hunger, the board proposes a food for work program that is controlled by the IMF. The IMF will invest several million dollars (in the form of food) in the improvement of the dikes that surround that surround the Indus river system. This will allow for better regulation of the water once the flooding subsists and the biggest problem becomes lack of water as “glacial melting will dry up” explains Gwynne Dyer in The Japan Times (New York Times). The IMF believes that an increased productivity in this region will make a return on our investment withen the next 100 years in the form of a greater peace between India and Pakistan, as the agriculture will help Pakistan to become independent of Indian agricultural exports.
Table. Highlight "Add Data or Map", click File icon, upload file from desktop, add source in caption.
Add Data or Map
Add Graphic file
Max Qian
Homelessness
After the recent flooding that devastated the whole country of Pakistan, “the floods are still devouring villages and farmland in the southern province of Sindh, and about 800,000 people remain stranded and without food, Josette Sheeran, executive director of the World Food Program of the United Nations, said in an interview during a visit to Pakistan last week” (NY Times.) According to Shout Solutions, a nonprofit organization from the UK, about 20 million people are now homeless because of the floods. Because of this, there is social unrest amongst the people of Pakistan, as the flood victims complain about looting and increased lawlessness (Shout Solutions Housing Group.)
Even with the slow response, the only way to resolve homelessness and other immediate problems is to provide as much aid as possible. And to do that, the Pakistani government needs as much help as possible from relief organizations and other countries such as the US. With the money and supplies, when the water recedes, the country can finally rebuild itself by fixing the roads, and building sturdier housing for the people of Pakistan. Donations from other countries and other relief organizations will help the government rebuild its infrastructure including the roads and housing and help repave the road to normality for Pakistan again.
Add DataMap
George
With GDP expected to drop approximately 2.5% this year according to economists at the Associated Press, it is imperative that Pakistan focuses on long term economic growth. Experts estimate that flood relief will require approximately $200 million compared to the over $1 billion it will take to repair damaged infrastructure. This means that, combined with the loss of output from farmland, economic growth is an extremely pressing issue that needs attention especially after Pakistani citizens have enjoyed well over fifty years of steady economic expansion. Without swift and effective action, the effects of the current flood on the Pakistani economy could be devastating and lasting as a resuly of crop failure, as well as poor government institutions and the lack of human capital present in Pakistan (Wheelan, 212).
The main focus of Pakistani people and those countries assisting them should be on infrastructure, and bypassing the government in these efforts.
With over $1 billion in damages and hundreds of thousands of people out of work as a result of flooded farmland, rebuilding infrastructure is an ideal course for jumpstarting Pakistan’s economy. With aid from foreign countries being directed to this cause, investment spending would be boosted, causing a jump in aggregate demand and GDP combined with a drop in unemployment as well as providing vital roads and other structures vital for crop transport which have thus far not existed. This course of action would serve the triple purpose of boosting the economy, getting Pakistani citizens back to work and proving the tools for increasing agriculture profits in the future, as Pakistan's geography makes it unsuitable for many elements of a strong economy to grow, making such roads vital (Wheelon 214).
However several factors need to be taken into account when considering how to grow the Pakistani economy. First and foremost, many government officials in Pakistan tend to keep money designated for relief for their own personal use. This coruption can have devistating effects on an economy, as Wheelan states that "the world's worst famines are not caused by crop failure; they are caused by faulty political systems (Wheelan, 224). To rectify this, countries giving money must ensure that their donations go to groups such as UNICEF and others working in the area, so these funds can have the maximum possible impact. Additionally, in Pakistan’s hierarchy-based society, it is imperative that relief organizations work closely with the respected members of each community so as not to appear overbearing and offensive. Thus it is apparent that while relief efforts in Pakistan’s flood affected regions need to be swift, it is still important for cultural considerations to be factored into the course of action.
Works Cited
Contrast, By. "Floods in Pakistan: After the Deluge | The Economist." The Economist - World News, Politics, Economics, Business & Finance. Web. 09 Sept. 2010. <http://www.economist.com/node/16846266?story_id=16846266>.
"The Floods in Pakistan: Washed up | The Economist." The Economist - World News, Politics, Economics, Business & Finance. Web. 09 Sept. 2010. <http://www.economist.com/node/16889663?story_id=16889663&CFID=141989997&CFTOKEN=51664885>.
"Pakistan Flood Waters Recede but Country's Debt Rises - CSMonitor.com." The Christian Science Monitor - CSMonitor.com. Web. 09 Sept. 2010. <http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-South-Central/2010/0831/Pakistan-flood-waters-recede-but-country-s-debt-rises>.
Wheelan, Charles J. Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science. New York: Norton, 2002. Print.
Table. Highlight "Add Data or Map", click File icon, upload file from desktop, add source in caption.
Add Data or Map
Add Graphic file
Conor Bruce
Quelling the Political Concerns The topic of this paragraph is about how Pakistan officials should address the criticisms of corruption and diverting the floods to save the well-connected, and how to keep the military and the Taliban at bay. It is imperative that the Pakistani government react in the most appropriate way because it is only about 2 years old, and is not immune from a political upheaval. According the New York Times article “Floods in Pakistan Carry the Seeds of Upheaval,” “the real dangers for the government may lurk once the first phase of the emergency passes. Many of the flood victims will accept immediate hardship, but will be less able to withstand prolonged hunger and homelessness.” This basically means that it is just as important for the government to focus on the long term as it is to focus on the short term.
The best way for the Pakistani government to divvy out the aid it has available, for example food and medicine, is to give the supplies out directly to the people who need it most to the greatest extent they can without disrupting the unique and fragile social system long in place in the region. This means keeping the well connected people of the land happy by giving them enough “power,” meaning the ability to give out supplies, and keeping everybody else happy by making sure they have enough aid to survive, regardless of what the well connected do. Although it is obviously important to keep the masses alive, keeping well connected happy will create heavy political support from not only these people, but the people they influence. All this will help to quell any threat of a powerful Taliban because there will be no incentive to join them, and as mentioned in the NY Times Article above, the army chief “seems to have little appetite to take on direct management of the country while he can enhance the military’s image” helping the relief efforts. So by evolving the cultural leaders and still making sure everyone gets what they need, the Pakistani government can manage the political concerns about corruption and keeping the military and Taliban at bay.
Table. Highlight "Add Data or Map", click File icon, upload file from desktop, add source in caption.
Olivia
Olivia Rojas
Period 1
Medical Relief
After the detrimental floods in Pakistan, because so many people are living together in close quarters for shelter, poor hygiene and sanitation issues along with the unbearable heat creates a breeding ground for potentially fatal diseases such as cholera, diphtheria etc. That is why nations around the world need to team up to provide medical relief to this struggling nation. The two most important necessities regarding medical relief in Pakistan would be doctors and sanitary medical equipment. We need to be specifically sending disposable sanitary equipment and assisting mobile health clinics to ensure that every area in need of medical assistance is provided with it. Pakistan already has a strong mobile health clinic organization going called Government of Pakistan which is assisted by several other NGO’s (Non Government Organization). With donations of medical supplies and doctors, foreign nations can build up this organization.
In general we need more of a centralized concrete effort rather than several nations and charity groups donating some medical supplies here and there. If the medical relief system becomes centralized we will be more efficient and effective with our donation and can make sure the areas in Pakistan that most need the supplies get them. We should centralize the relief program around the Doctors Worldwide Organization which is a humanitarian NGO whose main goal is to work with local grassroot organization and help nations that need medical assistance, the cheapest and most effective way they can. Community participation is the main focus which would encourage several nations to get involved. To ensure respect for the Pakistani relief effort, we need to work under the organization Doctors Without Borders which is an organization dedicated to helping Pakistani people who are affected by national disasters or civil unrest. This is a way to show respect and show the nation that we are not there to take over and be overbearing, but to simply assist with the relief they are already trying to provide their own nation with. This is essential so as not to offend the hierarchy in Pakistan.
Table. Highlight "Add Data or Map", click File icon,
upload file from desktop, add source in caption.
Click "Edit" and paste your paragraphs here.
One immediate concern that has arisen from the flooding in Pakistan is the problem concerning the lack of a sustainable food source for many of the victims. Although some have resorted to scavenging, spending “days in an open field, eating whatever they [can] forage”, this is not sustainable and once the scraps are all taken, a suitable agricultural system needs to be reinstated (The Guardian). One way in which the Pakistani government can encourage this would be to allow a faster path to small business ownership. This will ensure that agricultural workers will have a market for their produce. As is said in Naked Economics: “it is hardest to open a new business in countries where [regulation] is the highest” (Wheelen 73). This will allow the refugees to become self sufficient in the short term.
The proposal above allows the people affected by the flood to create a sustainable lifestyle within the upcoming weeks, but in order to ensure immediate relief from hunger, the board proposes a food for work program that is controlled by the IMF. The IMF will invest several million dollars (in the form of food) in the improvement of the dikes that surround that surround the Indus river system. This will allow for better regulation of the water once the flooding subsists and the biggest problem becomes lack of water as “glacial melting will dry up” explains Gwynne Dyer in The Japan Times (New York Times). The IMF believes that an increased productivity in this region will make a return on our investment withen the next 100 years in the form of a greater peace between India and Pakistan, as the agriculture will help Pakistan to become independent of Indian agricultural exports.
Table. Highlight "Add Data or Map", click File icon,
upload file from desktop, add source in caption.
Homelessness
After the recent flooding that devastated the whole country of Pakistan, “the floods are still devouring villages and farmland in the southern province of Sindh, and about 800,000 people remain stranded and without food, Josette Sheeran, executive director of the World Food Program of the United Nations, said in an interview during a visit to Pakistan last week” (NY Times.) According to Shout Solutions, a nonprofit organization from the UK, about 20 million people are now homeless because of the floods. Because of this, there is social unrest amongst the people of Pakistan, as the flood victims complain about looting and increased lawlessness (Shout Solutions Housing Group.)
Even with the slow response, the only way to resolve homelessness and other immediate problems is to provide as much aid as possible. And to do that, the Pakistani government needs as much help as possible from relief organizations and other countries such as the US. With the money and supplies, when the water recedes, the country can finally rebuild itself by fixing the roads, and building sturdier housing for the people of Pakistan. Donations from other countries and other relief organizations will help the government rebuild its infrastructure including the roads and housing and help repave the road to normality for Pakistan again.
George
With GDP expected to drop approximately 2.5% this year according to economists at the Associated Press, it is imperative that Pakistan focuses on long term economic growth. Experts estimate that flood relief will require approximately $200 million compared to the over $1 billion it will take to repair damaged infrastructure. This means that, combined with the loss of output from farmland, economic growth is an extremely pressing issue that needs attention especially after Pakistani citizens have enjoyed well over fifty years of steady economic expansion. Without swift and effective action, the effects of the current flood on the Pakistani economy could be devastating and lasting as a resuly of crop failure, as well as poor government institutions and the lack of human capital present in Pakistan (Wheelan, 212).
The main focus of Pakistani people and those countries assisting them should be on infrastructure, and bypassing the government in these efforts.
With over $1 billion in damages and hundreds of thousands of people out of work as a result of flooded farmland, rebuilding infrastructure is an ideal course for jumpstarting Pakistan’s economy. With aid from foreign countries being directed to this cause, investment spending would be boosted, causing a jump in aggregate demand and GDP combined with a drop in unemployment as well as providing vital roads and other structures vital for crop transport which have thus far not existed. This course of action would serve the triple purpose of boosting the economy, getting Pakistani citizens back to work and proving the tools for increasing agriculture profits in the future, as Pakistan's geography makes it unsuitable for many elements of a strong economy to grow, making such roads vital (Wheelon 214).
However several factors need to be taken into account when considering how to grow the Pakistani economy. First and foremost, many government officials in Pakistan tend to keep money designated for relief for their own personal use. This coruption can have devistating effects on an economy, as Wheelan states that "the world's worst famines are not caused by crop failure; they are caused by faulty political systems (Wheelan, 224). To rectify this, countries giving money must ensure that their donations go to groups such as UNICEF and others working in the area, so these funds can have the maximum possible impact. Additionally, in Pakistan’s hierarchy-based society, it is imperative that relief organizations work closely with the respected members of each community so as not to appear overbearing and offensive. Thus it is apparent that while relief efforts in Pakistan’s flood affected regions need to be swift, it is still important for cultural considerations to be factored into the course of action.
Works Cited
Contrast, By. "Floods in Pakistan: After the Deluge | The Economist." The Economist - World News, Politics, Economics, Business & Finance. Web. 09 Sept. 2010. <http://www.economist.com/node/16846266?story_id=16846266>.
"The Floods in Pakistan: Washed up | The Economist." The Economist - World News, Politics, Economics, Business & Finance. Web. 09 Sept. 2010. <http://www.economist.com/node/16889663?story_id=16889663&CFID=141989997&CFTOKEN=51664885>.
"Pakistan Flood Waters Recede but Country's Debt Rises - CSMonitor.com." The Christian Science Monitor - CSMonitor.com. Web. 09 Sept. 2010. <http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-South-Central/2010/0831/Pakistan-flood-waters-recede-but-country-s-debt-rises>.
Wheelan, Charles J. Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science. New York: Norton, 2002. Print.
Table. Highlight "Add Data or Map", click File icon,
upload file from desktop, add source in caption.
Quelling the Political Concerns
The topic of this paragraph is about how Pakistan officials should address the criticisms of corruption and diverting the floods to save the well-connected, and how to keep the military and the Taliban at bay. It is imperative that the Pakistani government react in the most appropriate way because it is only about 2 years old, and is not immune from a political upheaval. According the New York Times article “Floods in Pakistan Carry the Seeds of Upheaval,” “the real dangers for the government may lurk once the first phase of the emergency passes. Many of the flood victims will accept immediate hardship, but will be less able to withstand prolonged hunger and homelessness.” This basically means that it is just as important for the government to focus on the long term as it is to focus on the short term.
The best way for the Pakistani government to divvy out the aid it has available, for example food and medicine, is to give the supplies out directly to the people who need it most to the greatest extent they can without disrupting the unique and fragile social system long in place in the region. This means keeping the well connected people of the land happy by giving them enough “power,” meaning the ability to give out supplies, and keeping everybody else happy by making sure they have enough aid to survive, regardless of what the well connected do. Although it is obviously important to keep the masses alive, keeping well connected happy will create heavy political support from not only these people, but the people they influence. All this will help to quell any threat of a powerful Taliban because there will be no incentive to join them, and as mentioned in the NY Times Article above, the army chief “seems to have little appetite to take on direct management of the country while he can enhance the military’s image” helping the relief efforts. So by evolving the cultural leaders and still making sure everyone gets what they need, the Pakistani government can manage the political concerns about corruption and keeping the military and Taliban at bay.
Table. Highlight "Add Data or Map", click File icon,
upload file from desktop, add source in caption.