Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Adeline's Post
Challenges faced by World Food Programme in providing food aids to people in Pakistan.The United Nations’ World Food Programme (WFP) has invested more than US$1.5 billion since the 1986, assisting generations of Pakistan’s poorest citizens.
WFP has been involved in the response to the complexity of food security challenges, assistance encompasses emergency and also recovery and developmental components of Pakistan to help the most vulnerable people in the country – women and children. There are a few factors that pose as threats to the food security in Pakistan. These are the (1) earthquakes, (2) poverty, (3) extreme environmental conditions and (4) low education levels.
There are several emergency programmes such as “Food Assistance to Internally Displaced and Conflict-Affected Persons in NWFP and FATA”, “Assistance to Vulnerable Populations Affected by High Food Prices” and other country programmes by the WFP that aims to improve access to food that can enable women and girls to take advantage of developmental opportunities and also contribute to an improvement of household food security, while addressing the health and nutrition needs of women and children, and promoting basic education.
Although these programmes have been successful so far, there are still difficulties in providing food aids to the citizens of Pakistan, especially to women. This is because the country is of strong Muslim religious background and the men dominate the society. Giving food to women and focusing on women and girls rather than boys will not be effective as it may lead to men’s opposition and resentment. This is challenge for WFP when it comes to providing food aids to the most vulnerable in Pakistan.
Since this involves food security, perhaps by bringing men into the process will lessen the challenges that WFP may face. Targeting the family as a unit can better reinforce food security for the household and really benefit the citizens of Pakistan as a whole.
On the other hand, Pakistan is greatly affected by earthquakes and extreme environmental conditions. In 2005, a deadly earthquake struck Pakistan and 3 million people were left homeless. There were also floods in recent years that have killed many people. The citizens of Pakistan needed more help than what was given.
Recently, on 10 March 2010, six aid workers from World Vision International were murdered while working in the earthquake area to assist survivors. That was followed by a suicide attack in October 2009 on the main office in Islamabad of the WFP that killed five workers.
Pakistan is also facing displacement crisis caused by military incursions. More than 2.2 million people were internally displaced.
The biggest challenge for WFP is not in providing aid, but for its aid to be accepted. The problem lies with the location that aid is being provided. Pakistan is a place that faces many problems due to natural disaster and conflicts that caused hurt to the citizens. It is possible to provide aids to the victims of earthquake, but it is difficult to bring these aids to the citizen, especially when the lives of aid workers are endangered.
It is difficult for WFP’s food aids to reach the Pakistanis as many regions are complicated by danger of guerilla attacks. Although the government tries to help in delivering these aids, they are also vulnerable to attacks by the Taliban. This is because the Taliban’s attitude towards aids was often suspicious and most of the foreign donors and aid workers are non-Muslims. When such violent incidents occur, the food aids that were meant for the citizens do not get transported and it may also be wasted.
It is not an easy to overcome this big challenge that WFP and most international aid agencies face. There are a few recommendations that may help WFP to overcome the challenge. When sending food aids over to Pakistan, the aids can be sent to places in Pakistan where it is much safer even if it does not reach the citizens directly. Perhaps WFP can work with other organizations to later transport the aids directly to the citizens with the help of intermediaries. Another recommendation can be to work with organizations that are already situated in Pakistan and are within the citizens. Food aids can be sent to these organizations or the aid workers can join the organizations that are already providing aids to the citizen. By working with organizations, it can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of food aids reaching the citizens. Lastly, if food aids is unable to reach the citizens, conceivably, WFP can provide monetary support to other organizations that are able to bring aids to the people more effectively.
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