Lack of funding and media interest have pushed international aid agencies to the brink of closing their emergency relief programmes in Pakistan, writes Paul O'Brien, overseas director for Irish aid agency Concern Worldwide.
The story is there is no story. The question is 'why?'
As I remember the death and destruction in northwest Pakistan after the 2005 earthquake - an event that attracted huge international attention and saw international aid agencies like Concern Worldwide mount a rapid response, little did I know that some four years later, 2 million people would be on the move in this part of the country. Most have been displaced since late April by a sustained and intense military conflict between the army and Taliban insurgents.
The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, has said of the current situation that he doesn't recall "any internal displacement crisis in which so many people have moved in such a short amount of time".
Few of the Swat valley's residents were prepared for scale of the military operation there, which involved heavy artillery and aerial bombardment from helicopter gunships and fighter jets.
They were fearful enough for their lives, in the midst of a conflict not of their making, that they fled, taking what little they could carry. Now they need food and water. They have children, the elderly and the sick to care for.
In Western jargon, we used to call the involuntary movement of 2 million people a human tragedy of "biblical proportions".
This exodus is bigger and faster than the movement of people following the Rwandan genocide in 1994, when pictures were constantly on our TV screens showing the plight of the displaced and the efforts of the international community to deliver aid.
So why are we not hearing much about the Pakistan humanitarian crisis on the radio or television, in the newspapers or even on the web?
As overseas director for Concern, I find this lack of interest frustrating and hugely disappointing. We have tried to raise the Irish public's awareness of this tragic movement of people, but we have had little or no success.
Our London office is experiencing similar reactions, and a multi-agency fundraising appeal in the UK has been "iced" due to lack of interest. The United Nations launched an appeal for Pakistan last month for $543 million, but it has a 65 percent shortfall. Why is this?
MEDIA SILENCE
It seems highly unlikely that the public in Ireland or international donors worldwide who donated to - and empathised so strongly with - the people of Pakistan in the wake of the 2005 earthquake have suddenly lost their spirit of solidarity and support for their fellow human beings.
Is it the political background to the military offensive that is colouring reaction to it? Or perhaps it is simpler - people are unaware of what is going on because they are not seeing pictures on the news or hearing about it on the radio.
One noteworthy aspect of the current mass movement of people is the role of so-called host communities, where over 90 percent of those who've fled their homes are staying.
This reflects the Pashtun tradition of treating guests with honour. In Mardan district, one area where we work, the number of displaced people now outnumbers the number of residents.
Making the situation worse are daytime temperatures reaching 45 degrees Celsius. Those uprooted by the fighting are likely to remain living in camps, the homes of strangers and public buildings for months to come.
The international humanitarian response is a drop in the ocean compared to the effort the locals have mounted. But if the international community does not step up to the mark soon by making funds available, we may find that both the hosts and their guests are going without.
Then we would have a disaster of epic proportions. This is the story that needs to be told.
TOUGH CALL
Among the members of the small Concern team in Islamabad, we have one Pashtun staff member who is managing a site for the displaced in a half-built health clinic with his friends and relatives.
Other Pakistani Concern employees are giving to the host communities from their own pockets, as part of the national effort to care for one's compatriots. For the Pashtuns, it is a question of meeting their greater social obligations. Contributing time and energy through working for Concern is not enough - especially as our response is so limited.
Against this background, I am facing the difficult decision of having to close our emergency response programme in Pakistan in mid-July as funds will have run dry - just as health risks escalate with the onset of monsoon rains.
Concern is one of nine major international aid agencies that face the closure of their projects as money fails to arrive, in what is proving to be the worst case of funding in a decade.
Concern has put 300,000 euros ($420,000) of its publicly raised emergency response fund into coping with this emergency, and has received 100,000 euros from Irish Aid. We have provided thousands of families with essential items, including cooking equipment, kitchen utensils, toiletries, mosquito nets and floor mats.
In 2005, in the first month following the earthquake, we received over 1 million euros from the public in donations and 2 million euros from Irish Aid. Our total income for Pakistan over the last few weeks has been miniscule by comparison.
Does the media matter in heightening public awareness, interest and support when lives are at stake? The answer is clear.
LITTLE CASH FOR NGOS
In addition to the small amount of money flowing into the U.N. appeal, even less money is being dispersed to frontline agencies.
In a humanitarian crisis, speed of delivery is vital. Previously, donor governments would give part of their aid money directly to non-governmental organisations.
The U.N. system can improve coordination and reduce duplication of effort, but the allocation of money to frontline agencies takes far too long. The anomaly here is that 80 percent of any aid in an emergency is delivered by these agencies, not the United Nations itself.
Just last week, the EU announced it would give 100 million euros to Pakistan. But EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner added, "In exchange, we want Pakistan to take the fight against terrorism very seriously and that they do a lot on their home front." Interesting.
Being in the position of having to pull out of an international emergency situation like this is a tough call. It is an action with consequences that I believe the Irish people - even amid our own worrying economic situation - and the Irish media would find troubling and morally questionable.
It's a call I hope I'm not forced to make.
For information on Concern's work, visit www.concern.net
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