Disappointment with governmental response to rehabilitation of flood victims.

Aman Ittehad while expressing its deep concern over the lack of planning by the Government to meet the challenges of rebuilding a post-flood Pakistan condemns the absence of political will to provide relief to the millions that have been affected by the 2010 floods in Pakistan. The devastations caused by the floods it believes reflect a failure of the state to provide sustainable and effective protections to its citizens against such natural calamities.

The Ittehad’s committee meetings held in Peshawar, Karachi, Quetta, Lahore and Islamabad demand that all rehabilitation actions must empower citizens, reduce the trust deficit between the state and citizens. Special attention must be given to involve women from affected areas in the disaster management processes, at the district, provincial and national levels.The resettlement and rebuilding must respect the will and choice of people regarding relocation, livelihood, and community arrangements. Indigenous solutions for rebuilding must be pursued and donor-imposed products must not be imposed on people.

The Aman Ittehad demands the State must respond through the following measures:

* Urgent action to complete the issuance of National ID Cards and correct the record of NADRA so that those that have been denied Watan cards due to incomplete or incorrect documentation are not denied their entitlement to compensation or claims for relief and rehabilitation services;

* Immediate replacement or compensation for loss of livestock; and, debt relief by writing off micro-finance borrowings by farmers from landlords for crops that were destroyed in the floods;

* Allotment of 12 acres of land for women farmers affected by the floods. Also special attention to support women in resuming agricultural activities; and, providing training in cooperative farming, alternative cropping, kitchen gardening, preservation of vegetables and dairy farming;

* Compensation for land lost due to soil erosion in the flash floods to small land owners and measures to stop further erosion;

* Compensation for losses to small traders and businesses, along with interest-free bank loans for a period of 5 years to rebuild their businesses;

* Exemplary action and zero tolerance for any form of discrimination against religious minorities in relief or biased relief operations based on political affiliations;

* Effective consultation with affected people in drawing up reconstruction plans for houses, schools, health facilities and other public services;

* Inclusion of rehabilitation of location-specific priorities such as access in Kohistan (KPK) and other areas in Gilgit-Baltistan along with more pervasive concerns like agriculture, etc.;

* Immediate rehabilitation of infrastructure to restore access to affected populations still effectively stranded in the mountainous regions. Until access is restored, affected people must be provided food rations and cash grants to off-set carriage costs of goods;

* Strict monitoring must be done to ensure good quality and design of bridges, check dams, spurs and retaining walls. Any transgression should be strictly penalized;

* Along with stopping deforestation, government action to establish mechanisms for storage and transportation of timber in mountainous areas; and strict monitoring of hazardous storage of timber particularly prior to the monsoon;

* Owner-driven policy for supporting house reconstruction. A lump sum compensation must be paid to each household existing within a joint family system without discriminating on the basis of gender or marital status. The compensation should be paid to the woman of the household, where possible. The government should only provide necessary technical training and assistance in material supply;

* Provision of scholarships to all students from the flood affected areas pursuing higher education and provision of books, stationary and cash support to all other flood affected students for a period of 3 years;

* Land reforms, beginning with allotting for the landless (including women) a minimum of 12 acres of land per affected family; the title of land ownership allotted to the woman of the household. All revenue records and data to be computerized;

* Provision of universal social protection, according to Article 38 of the Constitution; self registration of those affected by the flood for social protection; extension of ‘unemployment benefits’, ‘protection against disasters’, ‘old age benefits’, ‘disability allowance’;

* Decentralization of relief operations; complete autonomy for provincial and district-level disaster management machinery; and channelling resources for relief and rehabilitation through the provinces;

* Immediate restoration of local government and the devolution of power and autonomy to the districts for decision-making and execution;

* Massive budget re-prioritisation to address resource constraints to meet rehabilitation needs. This must include reduction in non-development expenditures of public sector and unnecessary allocation of funds for defence expenditure;

* Resource mobilization through directly taxing the rich by extending the tax net and also by looking creatively at government land and buildings including GORs and Cantonment lands. Allocations of housing and vehicles to senior government servants should also be replaced by cash remuneration to free up valuable public assets and reduce expenses;

* The state must present a strong debt cancellation plan and a unified demand to donors for retiring unfair debt on Pakistan. All savings must be diverted to reconstruction and rebuilding post-flood Pakistan;

* All assistance from foreign donors and international financial institutions must be in grants or donations and not in loans because in the case of the latter the burden of economic hardships ultimately affects women the most. In consideration of the unprecedented flood crisis that has affected most parts of Pakistan and has severely affected agriculture and economy, the foreign governments and international financial institutions should also write-off their previous loans to Pakistan;

* Monitoring of engagement between all humanitarian actors including the government, UN, INGOs, and national and local NGOs to promote empowered partnership. The current unequal relationship is reflected in the issues of accountability, transparency, and resource-sharing that undermine the capacity of national assistance organizations;