Bloggers for Bangladesh and the situation in Pakistan

August 28, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Tomorrow three bloggers from the parenting community are travelling to Bangladesh to report on the work Save the Children are doing with mothers and children there.   This will kick start a campaign to put pressure on world leaders  when they meet at the UN summit to deliver on their promises to mothers and children around the world.

We have all seen the pictures on TV when various crises occur in other parts of the world where children are so badly affected. It’s easy to turn over, a bit harder to watch, almost impossible to stop the tears.  We can’t imagine living in a world where food and water are such valuable commodities, we take so much for granted.  
Maybe you don’t, but I do. 
I regularly throw away old food that’s past it’s sell by, I regularly leave the tap running when I brush my teeth, I think I’m a bad mother if Eliza is wearing a top that’s stained with strawberry juice.  
What these women Josie, Eva and Sian are doing is an important part of raising awareness to affect change for these women and their children.  They will be tweeting, creating videos and writing about their experiences direct.  
You can support Save the Children by visiting the campaign’s facebook page .
Pakistan
I thought it might be worth including in this post an update from Save the Children about neighbouring Pakistan and the flood situation there.  Here is what they sent me: 
As floodwaters continue to move to southern areas of Sindh, causing further damage, it is likely that the number of people in need of assistance across this province will rise.

More than 200 people, mostly children, have died of gastro and other diseases in relief camps. Health officials admitted that more than 500,000 persons are suffering from various diseases in camps and may lose their lives if they are not treated in time. 

Some 7,820 schools are now reported to have been fully or partially damaged, and 4,935 schools are being used as relief shelters.

At least half a million pregnant women need special care and attention in these flood-affected areas. Over 100,000 are expected to give birth within the next three months. With very little maternal and newborn healthcare available, women and their babies are in severe danger. Most of the lady health workers in the flood-hit districts have also been affected by the floods and hence there is a dearth of maternal and newborn healthcare throughout the flood zone.   

The NDMA now reports that 1,226,678 houses have been damaged or destroyed, with the highest numbers being reported in Punjab (500,000) and in Sindh (462,251).

The Ministry of Livestock and Dairy Development estimates that 1.2 million large animals and 6 million poultry have been lost across the country. At least 3.6 million hectares of standing crops have so far been damaged or lost. Loss of draught animal power and seeds as well as damage to agricultural land and infrastructure has crippled farmers’ production capacity for the next planting season.

800,000 people could be reached only by air, said the United Nations, and it called for 40 more helicopters from the international community to help deliver aid.

According to the United Nations, there have already been over 120,000 documented cases of dengue and malaria, while hundreds of thousands have been affected by skin infections and diarrhea.

Overview of Save the Children response

In 26 days, Save the Children has reached over 162,000 people through emergency medical care and distribution of tents, shelter kits, hygiene kits, food and other supplies.
Save the Children provided healthcare to 5607 patients through static clinics in district Shikarpur and Sukkur, Sindh Province, in collaboration with the district health department. 
In Swat, seven health facilities are functional; total consultations in last four days was 2931. In DI Khan, 5 static health facilities and 1 mobile team continued providing health services to flood affected villages, 2 Save the Children ambulances are supporting the DoH flood relief services; 2318 patients have been treated this week.
In the remote and inaccessible village of Kund in Allai, KPK, Save the Children medical teams treated 472 patients.
Save the Children has provided emergency health care services to 1,325 people in district Muzaffargarh while two days camp in affected union councils of Multan have treated 386 men, women and children.
Save the Children launched mobile health teams in district Rajanpur with a local partner RDO on August 8th, 2010. To date, these mobile health teams have provided emergency medical aid to 12,800 people in the district.
In partnership with WFP Save the Children distributed food to 600 families at a relief camp in Sukkur. In DI Khan, 600 families who received food rations; In Swat, food has been distributed to 2316 families, 1978 in Kalam and 348 in Babozai.
Save the Children teams provided 915 families with 79 MTs of food supplies in several union councils of tehsils Kot Addo, district Muzaffargarh. To date, 3100 families have been provided 267MTs of food supplies in district Muzaffargarh.
In DI Khan, 320 families were given tents and household kits. Non Food Items comprised of a tent, jerry cans, water buckets and blankets has been provided to 243 families in district Muzaffargarh.
In Swat, 1604 families were provided NFI packages including tents, and health and hygiene kits, and household Kits. In Allai, 300 families were provided with one month food rations and NFIs. 
Save the Children is advocating for the following for the flood emergency:
  1. Urgent and substantial humanitarian funding is required to meet the critical needs.
  2. The Government of Pakistan and the international community should not forget to focus attention and resources on the longer-term effects of the floods on food security and livelihoods in the affected areas.
  3. Emergency education and child protection should be prioritized.
  4. The Government of Pakistan and international partners should make every effort to ensure humanitarian relief is delivered by civilian agencies.

 
Our aid workers are in Pakistan, responding to the devastating floods that have now affected around 20 million people. Those who have survived the floods now face homelessness, debilitating hunger and disease. We’re reaching families now with food, shelter and medicine – but we want to help 2 million people within six months and we need your help to do this. Find out more atwww.savethechildren.org.uk/pakistanfloods 

Filed Under: Bloggers for Bangladesh, Pakistan emergency
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