UN Raises Aid Appeal for Pakistani Quake Victims in Race Against Time - Essay Example

Commentary Coversheet Economics Commentary Number: Standard level number trial) of Extract: UN raises appeal for Pakistani quake victimsin race against time Source of Extract: AFP Date of Extract: October 26, 2005 Word Count: 1496 Date Commentary was Written: January 9, 2006 Section of the syllabus to which the commentary relates: Section X Candidate Name: UN raises aid appeal for Pakistani quake victims in race against time AFP October 26, 2005 GENEVA --  The United Nations and Red Cross raised their appeals for emergency relief for Pakistani earthquake victims to more than half a billion dollars on Wednesday amid warnings that time is running out for millions of injured or homeless people. "The revised appeal is $549.6 million," said Elisabeth Byrs, a spokeswoman for the UN humanitarian coordinators office (OCHA). "The needs are growing and many agencies are not being financed," Byrs added. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies doubled its appeal for 570,000 survivors in the worst hit areas to 152 million Swiss francs ($117 million, €98 million). Both agencies will press their demands to donor nations at a meeting in Geneva later on Wednesday, nearly three weeks after the quake destroyed Pakistani Kashmir, leaving 54,000 people dead and some 77,000 injured. Relief agencies are trying to rush shelter and medical treatment to villages in the mountainous region before they are cut off by winter snow within around three weeks. The Red Cross warned in a statement on Wednesday that thousands of the most vulnerable survivors in remote villages could die of exposure if they are left without care or shelter in the freezing cold of the Himalayan foothills. "It is clear this is a major humanitarian disaster that requires the international community to scale up its already significant and timely response," said Red Cross federation chairman Juan Manuel Suarez del Toro. The UN has been struggling to fill its current appeal of $312 million for emergency assistance over six months and says that the shortage is slowing the relief effort. It has received $68 million in committed cash and another $28 million in pledges from donors. The total amount represents just 17 percent of the new appeal, Byrs underlined. By contrast the Red Cross appears to have generated a better response, receiving 42 million Swiss francs and pledges for a further 35 million, largely covering its earlier 73 million Swiss franc appeal for funding. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan is due to press appeals for a speedier response during the meeting with 65 countries. Pakistans Senate chairman, Muhammad Soomro, and minister for economic affairs Hina Rabbani Khar, are expected to outline the extent of destruction of life and property in Pakistan caused by the 7.6 magnitude earthquake. The quake devastated an area of more than 28,000 square kilometers (11,000 square miles), depriving more than 1.1 million people of their jobs and reducing thousands of schools and hospitals to rubble, according to Pakistani officials. "We need to sensitize the international community about the continuing and urgent need for humanitarian intervention to save lives, to provide shelter, and to stem the spread of disease." said Masood Khan, Pakistans ambassador to the UN in Geneva. Byrs said that the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), which is delivering urgently needed tents for about 3.3 million homeless people in Pakistani Kashmir, and the World Food Program, which provides food rations, were short of funding. Bad weather has been forecast in the region this week, while snowfall is expected to ground most of the 100 or so helicopters ferrying help to isolated villages in the region by the middle of next month, according to the UN. Aid is filtering through by air, truck, mule and by foot, Suarez del Toro said. Swiss foreign minister Micheline Calmy-Rey heads the list of ministers and senior national development or relief officials from Western countries due at the Geneva meeting (1230 GMT). Despite the shortfall in funds flowing through the UN, aid sources indicated that overall funding and pledges, including bilateral assistance from countries offered directly to Pakistan, has reached $718 million. Just $164 million of that has been paid out both through UN and other agencies and as bilateral aid, the sources said. Commentary Number 1 (trial) As a result of the devastating earthquake in Pakistani Kashmir both multilateral and bilateral aid has been received. Multilateral aid is given by institutions with an international membership, such as the World Bank. In this case the main agency has been the United Nations (UN). Bilateral aid is financial aid given by one country directly to another. Total donations to Pakistan from all sources, the UN, the Red Cross, and direct bilateral aid, amount to $718 million, yet according to this article only $164 million of that has been paid out. There may be difficulty in distributing aid due to the political dispute over the region and the terrain and climate. The mountainous terrain of Kashmir and the severe weather pose yet another problem, making it both difficult and costly to get aid to the people. Due to the large scale of the damage, multinational assistance was necessary, as Pakistan is a Less Economically Developed Country (countries with low income, weak human resources, and a low level of economic diversification). According to the World Bank’s poverty assessment “Pakistan still lags behind the averages for comparable low income economies,” with about a “30% higher infant mortality rate and high incidences of consumption poverty. Long-term aid must address the need for better housing and emergency preparedness training and an early warning system. The injection of resources into the economy provided by aid could actually enable investment and growth. Long-term aid could support infrastructure projects and promote business development, education and training. Aid-funded projects, must be carefully selected to avoid ‘showcase’ projects that could damage the environment and have very little impact on raising living standards or developing the economy. A major disadvantage to foreign aid is that it can lead to dependency rather than self-reliance, if funds are not invested in human capital and employment. . According to Adam Smith, national wealth is created by the division of labor and free markets. Productivity is defined as the ratio of the useful output of a production process to the inputs of the factors of production.1 Pakistan’s economic structure, based in agriculture and tourism, both weak sectors to begin with, and now heavily damaged. It is imperative that long-term aid develop the industrial sector in order to incite and sustain economic growth. Following the severe devastation of the earthquake and the immediate and urgent necessity of salvaging lives, the enormous process of rebuilding must begin. After the critical phase, an aggressive program of education and skill building must take place to develop a sector 2 economy. The infrastructure and technology that are needed cannot operate or manage themselves. Pakistan, like other lesser-developed countries, must not only grow, but growth must pace that of other more modern, developed countries, and so human capital must be cultivated and sector 2 developed. According to The Institutionalist Theory of Economic Development, development is the product of a permanent tension or struggle between change and social institutions. Thus in order to generate significant growth leading to development, social change as it related to human capital and distribution of resources is necessary. Another disadvantage is the potential for corruption. Due to the severe imbalance between supply and demand created in a crisis, local officials often take bribes and aid may be distributed according to favoritism. Not only can this deprive some people of much need aid, but it can cause conflict within close-knit communities. As Kashmir is a very mountainous area “aid is filtering through by air, truck, mules and by foot” makes fair distribution even more difficult, and provides another avenue for abuse and exploitation by those who have or control available transportation. The data in the article is weak; however, with poor correlation between numbers and lack of cohesiveness between statements in regard to numbers involving people and aid. For instance, the Red Cross appeal was raised to cover 570,000 people. Are the 77,000 injured included in this figure? How is it that there are 570,00 survivors yet 3.3 million homeless? Also the writing forces the reader to work to figure out the breakdown of aid. Complete information in a chart would have remedied this. There is also no confirmation of the dollar amount untied. All in all, the article was a decent treatment of the subject, but with too many holes in critical information. 1Cameron, Rondo. A Concise Economic History of the World: From Paleolithic Times to the Present, 3rd ed. New York, Oxford: New York, U.K., Oxford University Press, 1997. Works Sited Pakistan, C.I.A. World Fact Book, 2004 Cameron, Rondo. A Concise Economic History of the World: From Paleolithic Times to the Present, 3rd ed. New York, Oxford: New York, U.K., Oxford University Press, 1997. Read More