Islamabad, August 19(ANI): An effective disaster reduction mechanism could have prevented fresh flooding in the southern areas of Pakistan, international aid agency Oxfam has said.
"Failure to develop and implement effective disaster reduction relief measures after the lessons learnt from mega floods of 2010 will keep crippling country's economy," the Dawn quoted Oxfam, as saying in a statement issued here to mark the World Humanitarian Day.
It urged the government to urgently spend at least two per cent of its district budget on disaster risk reduction measures.
The fresh flooding has increased the number of those needing shelter, making 60,000 people homeless along with 800,000 people who are still without proper homes after last year's massive floods.
"It is unfortunate that despite being a disaster-prone country people still continue to suffer year after year, and absence of effective disaster reduction relief measures is the main reason," said Neva Khan, head of Oxfam in Pakistan.
"While disasters are likely to increase due to climate change, the government has a chance to make the state more resilient by ensuring that opportunities to embed disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation principles in the recovery and reconstruction activities are not being missed," she added.
According to United Nations (UN) estimates, two to five million people are likely to be affected by floods during this year's monsoon season.
"This is an extremely worrying trend, and ignoring the need for disaster reduction relief puts an immense pressure on the government and humanitarian community in Pakistan," Oxfam said. (ANI)
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