Challenges of Recovery in Pakistan: An Interview with Anbreen Ajaib of Bedari

Conducted by Gretchen Alther
Originally published in the Spring/Summer 2011 issue of Rights Now

Massive flooding in Pakistan in July 2010 submerged more than 1.9 million homes and 9 million acres of croplands, affecting over 20 million people. UUSC has partnered with Bedari, a grassroots organization working to promote the rights of women and children in relief and recovery efforts. We talked to Anbreen Ajaib, Bedari’s executive director, about the obstacles that people in Pakistan face following the floods.

What has Bedari done so far in response to the floods, and what are your plans moving forward?

Ajaib: While we initially planned to focus on providing psychosocial support to women, we revised those plans based on what we were seeing on the ground in the areas we began working [in Muzaffargarh and Rajanpur districts in southern Punjab province]. It became clear we needed to address women’s and men’s health, and so we organized mobile clinics to go in to some of the worst-affected villages and provide medical care. We are also organizing women’s assemblies at the local and national level to help ensure women’s voices are heard in the recovery process. So even as we are addressing some of survivors’ immediate needs, we are working with people to help get their longer-term needs understood and met.

UUSC is partnering with several local groups in Pakistan, including Bedari, in response to the devastating floods. With another partner, Participatory Village Development Program, we are strengthening the living conditions of 200 Hindu-minority households in severely flood-affected areas of Sindh province who have been overlooked in the mainstream aid response because of their minority status.

How are people’s lives different now than they were before the disaster?

Ajaib: Livelihoods have been totally damaged. Because agriculture and livestock were destroyed, people must now find other livelihoods. Unemployment is an even bigger issue now. For those who were living hand to mouth before, their situation is much worse. And women are worse off than men because there are fewer options for women in general. If there are no fields for women to work in, it will be harder for them to find jobs in factories because everyone else will be seeking those jobs, too. People will have to learn new skills to find other alternatives.

What situations did people face before that further impacted them in the wake of the flooding?

Ajaib: Landlords were already exploiting the people in the area that is now damaged by the flooding. And people have lost everything. Employment has become more difficult post-disaster, especially in southern Punjab and Sindh provinces. Also, because people now have a stronger excuse for not sending girls to school, we expect enrollment of girls to decrease, and things like early marriage to increase.

What are the biggest challenges that people are facing now?

Ajaib: Livelihoods are the main challenge. Women can no longer sell milk, butter, and seeds, which had allowed them to earn some money in the past. And with men not earning enough, domestic violence — strongly linked to unemployment — will increase.

Poverty, corruption, and political unrest are major challenges. Paddy [rice] seed was promised but unevenly distributed. Low-income people got poor-quality seeds that aren’t germinating well.

If people are rebuilding, it is because they are doing it on their own — but they cannot build schools or hospitals; recovery has to be led by the government. The people are calling for the state to act, but the state is not there. Furthermore, there is not enough international funding to bridge some of these gaps, especially with the political unrest that makes donors wary. I am afraid this will become a vicious cycle.

What challenges is Bedari facing in this work?

Ajaib: Our challenges include limited access to communities and being unable to cover more area. We’ve selected our locations based on the extent of the disaster’s impact and the lack of response. While we’re an organization that usually focuses on women’s advocacy, we have to focus on immediate needs right now, because the state is not responding. A challenge for addressing violence against women is that violence is tolerated when a woman is being beaten by her husband if he is managing to provide for the family, because the woman’s priority is feeding her children. Similar things are happening with child labor — education becomes a lower priority if children can contribute much-needed income to the family.

What inspires hope for you in the midst of all of the challenges?

Ajaib: This is a difficult question; there is more disappointment than hope. Civil society and the community itself represent the only hope. The government has done little for relief, and I don’t see any plans for future disaster management. Communities have started to rebuild their lives and find a new normal. Mutual support within communities is the major inspiration right now.

You can help survivors and UUSC’s partners in Pakistan overcome these challenges by learning more and donating to the UUSC-UUA Joint Pakistan Flood Relief Fund.

Gretchen Alther is a senior associate in UUSC’s Rights in Humanitarian Crises Program.