What's new

Americans less responsive to flood victims in Pakistan

unicorn

FULL MEMBER
Oct 6, 2010
1,416
0
958
Americans less responsive to flood victims in Pakistan
By Oren Dorell, USA TODAY

sharing-pakistanx-topper-medium.jpg


Groups providing aid to millions of families displaced by flooding in Pakistan say their U.S. fundraising efforts for the disaster lag behind other recent major calamities.

Flooding in Pakistan, which killed about 1,700 people and destroyed 1.9 million homes, left 7 million people homeless and "displaced" about a million more, according to the United Nations. That compares with 1.2 million people displaced by the January earthquake in Haiti, 1.5 million displaced by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and 1.7 million by the 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean.

The floods resulted in the U.N.'s largest-ever appeal for funding, but only 49% of the $2 billion needed has been raised; 42% of that from the USA. Another $239 million was raised for purposes not identified in the U.N. appeal, the U.N. says.

In the 11 weeks after torrential rains in late July caused rivers to overflow and inundate villages and farmland across 62,000 square miles of Pakistan, U.S. groups raised $48.7 million, according to the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University.

That compares poorly with fundraising measured after five weeks for Hurricane Katrina ($1.9 billion), 9/11 ($1.1 billion), the tsunami ($900 million) and the Haiti earthquake ($900 million), says Patrick Rooney, the center's executive director.

"It's a huge difference," and a major reason is political, he says.

Americans are concerned about terrorism and "negative images of Pakistan as an incubator, or a place that has tolerated the Taliban and other terrorists," he says.

International Medical Corps, which has 300 people in Pakistan providing medical care, received fewer than 100 donations from the USA in the first two weeks after the floods, compared with more than 1,000 after the Haiti earthquake, says Rebecca Milner, vice president for institutional advancement.

Americans coping with a down economy are experiencing donor fatigue after a string of disasters this decade, she says.

Also, "It's a slow-build catastrophe that happened over a number of weeks rather than 46 seconds in Haiti," she says.

People feel the U.S. government is spending a lot of money in Pakistan and their tax dollars are supporting that effort, so they're not as interested in giving, Milner says.

Caryl Stern, president of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, calls the Pakistan flooding "a slow-motion tsunami." UNICEF raised $6 million for Pakistan in the first two months after the floods, compared with $40 million in two months for Haiti.

Stern says Pakistan is too remote for many Americans. "It's not a vacation destination," she says. "It's not a quick plane ride for most journalists."

Stern, too, has heard people say they don't want to give because of the country's politics.

Her response: "They're kids. I tuck my kid in every night with a cup of tea and a cookie by his night table, and in Pakistan a mother is standing with her family in a foot of water."
 
Sorry to say but I believe that when even Pakistanis are not very concerned then why blame the US?

I've been following this website for about 15-20 days now and it shows debates from nearly all major News channels and to be frank, as far as I remember, I've not seen even a single program addressing the issue of floods on any of the channel for the past 15-20 days.

http://pakistanherald.com/

They're discussing Obama's tour of India.

They're discussing prospects of India getting UNSC permanent seat.

They're discussing the sorry state of Pakistan's film's industry and mostly the programs focus on Bollywood.

They're discussing Asia Bibi.

They're discussing Afghanistan.

I mean they're discussing everything except floods.

Then why blame the US when your own people have forgotten about it?

In fact, why go far?

How many threads have been started on PDF over floods in the past one month?

How many posts have been made in flood related threads?

Shows how concerned the common Pakistani is aboutthe floods.

Then why blame the Americans?
 
Sorry to say but I believe that when even Pakistanis are not very concerned then why blame the US?

I've been following this website for about 15-20 days now and it shows debates from nearly all major News channels and to be frank, as far as I remember, I've not seen even a single program addressing the issue of floods on any of the channel for the past 15-20 days.

They're discussing Obama's tour of India.

They're discussing prospects of India getting UNSC permanent seat.

They're discussing the sorry state of Pakistan's film's industry and mostly the programs focus on Bollywood.

They're discussing Asia Bibi.

They're discussing Afghanistan.

I mean they're discussing everything except floods.

Then why blame the US when your own people have forgotten about it?

Buddy first read the article.:hitwall:
 
Decide? lol I'm not the one making any decisions here.

The decision has already been made by the Common Pakistanis and the proof lies in my first post.

Refute my point if you can.

Partially right; Americans have nothing to do with it. We shouldn't be expecting help from them anyway.

But you're wrong otherwise. We Pakistanis have worked hard to help the ones at home. I know because I am one. End of story.
 
The fundraising comparisons ignore the fact that funding was often diverted from other causes to Pakistan flood relief. Furthermore, the effort is by necessity more military than civilian, since civilian relief efforts to Pakistan gained a bad reputation (money vanishing into officials' pockets) after the 2005 earthquake.

So if you want the predominant U.S. display of generosity, here it is:

http://www.defence.pk/forums/milita...photos-us-military-pakistan-flood-relief.html
 
The fundraising comparisons ignore the fact that funding was often diverted from other causes to Pakistan flood relief. Furthermore, the effort is by necessity more military than civilian, since civilian relief efforts to Pakistan gained a bad reputation (money vanishing into officials' pockets) after the 2005 earthquake.

So if you want the predominant U.S. display of generosity, here it is:

http://www.defence.pk/forums/milita...photos-us-military-pakistan-flood-relief.html

Good good, the next step is not to put foot in our country.
:cheers:
 
Partially right; Americans have nothing to do with it. We shouldn't be expecting help from them anyway.

But you're wrong otherwise. We Pakistanis have worked hard to help the ones at home. I know because I am one. End of story.

And where are those common Pakistanis?Don't assume your self that your post is a highlight of Pakistani members.

I made my points:

a. By observing a sample of Pakistanis and their activities on a forum in which they are present in large numbers and I couldn't find much attention being given to floods of late.

b. By observing the reporting pattern of a majority of Pakistani channels.

Now only one of two things are possible:

1. You guys on PDF are not a proper representative sample of the Pakistani society (this will actually make many Indians doubt the very logic of visiting this forum if you guys are not).

2. The common Pakistani is indeed not very concerned about floods now.

Pick one.

@ Clarifier:
I did not say you guys have not worked for the flood victims. I said your society in general has shifted focus from floods to other issues lately.
 
I made my points:

a. By observing a sample of Pakistanis and their activities on a forum in which they are present in large numbers and I couldn't find much attention being given to floods of late.

Just because we are not mentioning a disaster long gone on a forum doesn't mean we don't care.

I doubt there is anyone on this forum who hasn't done something to help with floods.

b. By observing the reporting pattern of a majority of Pakistani channels.

Our media doesn't need to tell people living in Pakistan to let them know that their country was in a flood and they need to help. The fact is that the majority of people watching Pakistani media are, well, living in Pakistan.
Now only one of two things are possible:

1. You guys on PDF are not a proper representative sample of the Pakistani society (this will actually make many Indians doubt the very logic of visiting this forum if you guys are not).

Most peopel on this forum are of the middle/upper middle/expat society of Pakistan and make no mistake, many of us are helping our own country.

2. The common Pakistani is indeed not very concerned about floods now.

Floods are long gone bro, the common Pakistani is concerned about rebuilding his home and housing his family. I thought this should be clear.




@ Clarifier:
I did not say you guys have not worked for the flood victims. I said your society in general has shifted focus from floods to other issues lately.
[/QUOTE]

The media is not going to go on about an issue again and again because the people of Pakistan know it happened and that we need to help.
 

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Total: 2, Members: 0, Guests: 2)


Pakistan Defence Latest Posts

Back
Top Bottom