ISLAMABAD: The International Labor Organization (ILO) has announced that it is preparing an assessment of the loss of jobs and livelihoods caused by floods in Pakistan.
The organization said it is working with the World Bank, the United Nations and the European Union on a post-disaster needs assessment of Pakistan to identify jobs and job losses and livelihood impacts.
The ILO has set the country’s decent work priorities for the next five years (2023-27) in consultation with the federal government, provincial labor ministries, employers’ and workers’ organizations and other key stakeholders.
The World Health Organization has already released $10 million from its emergency fund for emergencies to deliver essential medicines and other supplies.
Meanwhile, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says in its situation report that the humanitarian situation in the flood-hit areas remains dire, with widespread damage to physical infrastructure and ongoing harm to people and livestock.
Over the past week, more than 12,700 kilometers of roads across the country reported as damaged or destroyed have nearly doubled, while the number of bridges reported as damaged or destroyed has risen to 375.
The impact of the heavy rains and floods on agricultural production and market prices was severe across the country, even in flood-free areas, and threatened to worsen food security.
In some parts of the country, the price of a kilogram of rice has risen by almost 80 percent since January.
Nearly 936,000 farm animals have been lost since mid-June, with severe impacts on the livelihoods of affected households and on milk and meat supplies.
An analysis of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) of 28 high-risk districts in Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa found that an estimated 5.96 million people in the assessed districts fell into IPC phase 3 (crisis) and 4 ( Emergency) and November – a number expected to rise to 7.2 million people from December this year to March 2023.
The prevalence of global acute malnutrition (GAM) and severe acute malnutrition (SAM) is high in Balochistan and Sindh, with both exceeding emergency thresholds in some districts, and expected to worsen due to the impact of the floods.
Published in Dawn, September 19, 2022
