Search

Begin New Search Topic Natural Disasters Political Geography Pakistan

1. A Multiple Streams Explanation of Pakistan’s Climate Change Policy

Author:
Warda Ajaz
Publication Date:
07-2017
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Political Studies
Institution:
Department of Political Science, University of the Punjab
Abstract:
Despite having minimal contribution to the global carbon emissions, Pakistan is considered to be one of the most vulnerable countries to the catastrophes of climate change. The country experienced back-to-back super floods in 2010 and 2011. In 2010 alone, the floods inundated 20 percent of the country and displaced some 20 million people, making it the biggest human displacement caused by a single climate-induced event in the history(Ministry of Climate Change, 2012). In the wake of these disasters, the Government of Pakistan established the world’s first full-fledged National Ministry of Climate Change and approved a National Policy on Climate Change in 2012. In this context, this paper applies a Multiple Streams lens to understand the agenda-setting process that prompted the development and approval of this policy. The paper will first discuss Pakistan’s vulnerability to climate change and the relevant literature on climate change agenda setting, and will then explore how various facts and events fit into the three streams of Multiple Streams Framework to account for the agenda-setting process that led to development and approval of the national climate change policy.
Topic:
Climate Change, Natural Disasters, Governance, and Flood
Political Geography:
Pakistan and South Asia

2. Pakistan Floods Emergency: Lessons from a continuing crisis

Author:
Shaheen Chughtai and Cate Heinrich
Publication Date:
02-2012
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
The floods that began in August 2011 resulted in one of the most destructive disasters that Pakistan has experienced. More than five million people have been affected: 1.8 million people were left homeless and more than 2.2 million acres of crops were lost, resulting in agricultural losses of nearly $2 billion.
Topic:
Economics, Humanitarian Aid, Poverty, and Natural Disasters
Political Geography:
Pakistan and South Asia

3. Crises in a New World Order: Challenging the humanitarian project

Publication Date:
02-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
Tens of millions of people suffer in today's humanitarian crises. In East Africa alone, over 13 million have faced a devastating food crisis. But millions of people also help their neighbours, families and communities. For example, in Pakistan, neighbours, communities and local NGOs were once again first with relief when floods struck in 2011, just as they had been in 2010, when aid agencies struggled to reach the 14 million in need of assistance.
Topic:
Humanitarian Aid, Non-Governmental Organization, United Nations, Natural Disasters, and Reconstruction
Political Geography:
Pakistan, South Asia, and East Africa

4. My Land, My Right: Putting land rights at the heart of the Pakistan floods reconstruction

Publication Date:
06-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
In the aftermath of the 2010–11 floods, the path to recovery and reconstruction in Pakistan will be long and full of challenges. However, there is also an opportunity to tackle crucial structural issues such as crippling inequalities in people's rights and access to land. A failure to do so would not only condemn millions of Pakistanis to continued and deepening poverty, it would also undermine the scope and sustainability of the country's recovery from this disaster and its ability to cope with the next.
Topic:
Agriculture, Political Economy, Poverty, and Natural Disasters
Political Geography:
Pakistan and South Asia

5. Land Rights and the Indus Flood, 2010-2011: Rapid assessment and policy review

Author:
Azmat Budhani and Haris Gazdar
Publication Date:
06-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
The Indus floods of 2010-2011 were the direct cause of over 1,700 deaths and the displacement of an estimated 18 million people across Pakistan. Official estimates of the economic costs of the damage caused by the floods range from $8.74bn to $10.85bn, which include the estimated costs, early recovery for the provision of relief, rebuilding destroyed infrastructure, and other economic losses to individuals, communities, firms, and the government.
Topic:
Political Economy, Poverty, and Natural Disasters
Political Geography:
Pakistan and South Asia

6. Pakistan Floods Progress Report July 2010 / July 2011

Author:
Lucy Davies
Publication Date:
07-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
A year has passed since the first news reports alerted the world to unnaturally heavy monsoon rains in Pakistan's north-western province of Kyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), a region already ravaged by conflict and only just recovering from the devastating earthquake of 2005. The floods that followed were of a size and scale that are difficult to conceive. Floodwaters inundated up to one-fifth of the country and affected 20 million people, destroying 1.6 million homes and leaving over 14 million people acutely vulnerable (www.pakresponse.org). Oxfam launched a fundraising appeal on 3 August 2010, asking supporters to give generously to save lives. Over $75m (PKR 6,400m, €57m, £48m) was raised by Oxfam for the relief effort in Pakistan through a range of donors: the public, donor governments, and other institutions and organisations. Together all Oxfam affiliates raised $21m (PKR 1,805m, €14m, £13m), much of this was from public sources. This was a good result given difficult economic times, and the money entrusted to Oxfam directly helped to improve the lives of over 2.4 million people. This report is intended as a tool to account to the individuals, governments, and other institutions who have given generously to Oxfam's humanitarian fund, and to partners, allies, staff and volunteers. A finance section at the end of the report provides an overview of how funds were raised and spent. And the final section focuses on 'The Future' and identifies Oxfam's plans for helping during the reconstruction phase of this emergency.
Topic:
Humanitarian Aid, Natural Disasters, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:
Pakistan and South Asia

7. Ready or Not: Pakistan's resilience to disasters one year on from the floods

Publication Date:
07-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
The floods that hit Pakistan in 2010 were the worst in the country's history. The humanitarian response achieved remarkable successes in minimising the immediate loss of life and providing relief to millions of people. However, it could have been better: more than 800,000 families remain without permanent shelter and more than a million people remain in need of food assistance. These unmet needs must be addressed as a matter of urgency.
Topic:
Economics, Humanitarian Aid, Poverty, and Natural Disasters
Political Geography:
Pakistan and South Asia

8. Six months into the floods: Resetting Pakistan's priorities through reconstruction

Author:
Shaheen Chughtai and Helen McElhinney
Publication Date:
01-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
Six months after the flood disaster began, this briefing paper evaluates the humanitarian response so far, the continuing crisis, and the challenges that lie ahead. It looks at the immediate reconstruction task, as well as the underlying socio-economic and political issues that need to be tackled by the Government of Pakistan, backed by the international aid community, in order to help vulnerable Pakistanis rebuild stronger, safer communities and a more equitable and self-reliant country.
Topic:
Development, Poverty, and Natural Disasters
Political Geography:
Pakistan, South Asia, and Asia

9. Flooding Challenges Pakistan's Government and the International Community

Author:
Mary Hope Schwoebel and Altaf Ullah Khan
Publication Date:
08-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:
The flooding and associated devastation that have battered Pakistan since late July 2010 present yet another series of challenges to its government, already contending with violence from extremist groups. The international community would do well to assist the Pakistani government in responding effectively to these challenges. Natural disasters are social as well as environmental events. The poor and marginalized members of society suffer the most. Marginalization is one of the root causes of violence and militancy in Pakistan. As the government of Pakistan responds to the suffering of its people and the damage to the environment and infrastructure, it should seek to provide relief and recovery assistance in ways that contribute to ameliorating marginalization. Disaster managers should ensure that urgent humanitarian demands do not miss the opportunity to achieve relief and recovery in ways that contribute to good governance, sustainable development and stable peace.
Topic:
Humanitarian Aid and Natural Disasters
Political Geography:
Pakistan and South Asia

10. Pakistan: The Worsening IDP Crisis

Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
The monsoon floods in Pakistan have caused massive de- struction and turned a displacement crisis in the insecure western borderlands into a national disaster of mammoth proportions. When the floods hit, almost all those displaced from Malakand had returned hom e and were struggling to rebuild lives in a region where much of the infrastructure had been destroyed in fighting; 1.4 million more displaced from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) were living in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province. The disaster would have proved challenging under any circum- stance. The fragile civilian government, already tackling an insurgency, and its institutions, neglected during nine years of military rule, lack the capacity and the means to provide sufficient food, shelter, health and sanitation without international assistance. The Pakistan govern- ment and international actors should ensure those in the flood-devastated conflict zones are urgently granted the assistance they need to surv ive and to rebuild lives and livelihoods. If military objectives dictate rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts, a population exhausted by con- flict could become a soft target for militants, making sta- bility in the northwest even more elusive.
Topic:
Human Welfare, Humanitarian Aid, Natural Disasters, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:
Pakistan and South Asia