ISLAMABAD: The struggles to eliminate terrorism and reduce poverty have hampered government efforts to protect vulnerable people, particularly women and children, against calamities, said federal Minister for National Health Services Saira Afzal Tarar here on Thursday.
Speaking at the launching ceremony of the State of World Population Report 2015, she stressed the need for initiatives aimed at raising awareness among all stakeholders, particularly the communities, about prevention of and preparedness for dealing with catastrophic emergencies.
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Since the demand for humanitarian assistance outstripped supply, she said, the federal and provincial governments were working in collaboration with the stakeholders to explore and strengthen mechanisms for humanitarian relief operations.
Ms Tarar said there were opportunities for adoption of a more coordinated approach aimed at addressing the life-saving needs of vulnerable and affected communities in the event of a disaster.
She said the government was committed to providing basic facilities for family planning, reproductive healthcare and safe childbirth. The federal government was coordinating with the provincial governments to provide maximum support to fulfil needs of women and girls, she added.
About the assessment of the report that 1.2 million people across the world were migrating to cities every week, the minister said that urbanisation was increasing in Pakistan as well. Coupled with population growth, urbanisation was adversely affecting resource planning for the cities.
The government’s ‘Vision 2025’ was focused on such issues, she said and added that the government was trying to meet all the requirements needed to solve the problems.
The report, released by the United Nations Population Fund and sub-titled “Shelter from the Storm”, reveals that more than 100m people in the world need humanitarian assistance, more than at any time since the end of the Second World War.
Among those displaced by conflict or uprooted by disaster are tens of millions of women and adolescent girls. More than a billion people have seen their lives upended by crises. War, instability, epidemics and disasters have left a long trail of turmoil and destruction, it says.
In Pakistan, the report estimates that 1,900,000 people were internally displaced by conflict and violence in 2014.
It says that sexual and reproductive health services, which are critical to health and survival of women and adolescents, are scarcest at the time when they are needed the most. About three-fifths of maternal deaths occur in countries that are considered fragile because of conflict or disaster. Pregnancy and childbirth kill 507 women every day in these settings.
The report says: “Today about three-fifths of all maternal deaths take place in humanitarian and fragile contexts. Each day 507 women and adolescent girls die from complications of pregnancy and childbirth in emergency situations and in fragile states. And gender-based violence continues to take a brutal toll, shattering lives and prospects for peace and recovery.”
Protecting health and rights of women and adolescent girls is not only critical to weathering the worsening storm of wars and natural disasters, but can also accelerate recovery from crises, it says. A better, stronger and more resilient shelter is needed to help them weather the storms that endanger their health, rights and futures.
Because the demand for humanitarian assistance outpaces supply, a new approach is needed, with emphasis on prevention, preparedness and building resilience of nations, communities, institutions and individuals. A pathway to resilience is equitable and inclusive development that protects rights, the report concludes.
Published in Dawn, December 4th, 2015
