Funding shortfalls undermine fragile gains made in Afghanistan and affect preparations for upcoming monsoon season in Pakistan | WPN World People News

OCHA Operations Director John Ging highlighted the serious consequences of humanitarian funding shortfalls following his weeklong mission to Afghanistan and Pakistan with the Emergency Directors of six UN agencies.

“We are very concerned that donor funding for humanitarian operations in Afghanistan and Pakistan is falling short at a critical moment of positive transition in the region,” said Mr. Ging, who briefed the media at UN headquarters.

Mr. Ging welcomed the US$16 billion in international aid pledged for Afghanistan at the Tokyo Conference in July 2012, but reminded donors that the funding does not contribute to humanitarian work. He added that without a properly funded humanitarian response, development and stability could be fatally undermined.

“With the international community focused on security and development, they must not make the mistake of neglecting their foundation, which is humanitarian. We are worried that with the humanitarian appeal for Afghanistan, which is only 38 per cent funded so far, this may already be happening,” he said.

Mr. Ging and the Emergency Directors also highlighted that the drawdown of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) brings with it new security and economic challenges. Despite this, Mr. Ging said he was inspired by the “courageous determination” he saw among the people and aid workers he met in Afghanistan. He commented on the “heroic” courage and dedication of aid workers, especially in the face of recent attacks on their accommodation in Kabul and Jalalabad. He praised local authorities in Kandahar for making human rights for women and education for girls a national priority.

In Afghanistan, there have been improvements in gender equality over the past decade with maternal mortality rates decreasing by more than 75 per cent since 2001 and the number of children in school increasing from 1 million in 2001 to 6 million in 2011. Yet, illiteracy rates remain alarming and only 12 per cent of women in Afghanistan can read and write. Afghanistan has stunting levels of 59 per cent, well above the emergency threshold of 40 per cent. Some 50,000 people have been displaced by conflict since the beginning of this year, bringing the total number of internally displaced to over 535,000.

Turning to Pakistan, Mr. Ging highlighted that the positive momentum generated by the recent elections – the country’s first civilian transfer of power – could be undermined by lack of international support for humanitarian programmes.

"There is a lot of optimism in Pakistan right now,” he said. “Yet, at such an important moment, humanitarian and development programmes are severely underfunded and we are entering the 2013 monsoon season with our warehouses virtually empty.”

Recurrent floods have affected some 30 million people in Pakistan over the last three years, many of them multiple times, and early forecasts for the 2013 monsoon season indicate higher than average rainfall. However, funding for the floods response has decreased significantly over the past three years from 70 per cent in 2010 to just 29 per cent last year.

Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs