Daily Times

The Pakistan Humanitarian Forum (PHF) Annual Report launched here on Wednesday unveiled its progress throughout the year highlighting that its member organizations (INGOs) implemented 400 projects throughout Pakistan including AJ&K and Gilgit Baltistan with a dedicated 296 projects providing humanitarian assistance, particularly in response to 2022 floods, and 104 focused on development interventions.

These initiatives, worth over $330 million, benefited more than 21.2 million people across the country emphasizing the importance of long-term recovery and efforts. Pakistan Humanitarian Forum (PHF) serves as an independent and registered organization, acting as a voice for international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) in their engagements and coordination with the Government of Pakistan, UN agencies, humanitarian actors, and civil society organizations. It represents 42 INGOs and 8 affiliate members, including the National Humanitarian Network (NHN), Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), and IFRC/ICRC in Pakistan.

In his opening remarks Country Coordinator, PHF Syed Shahid Kazmi provided a brief overview of the forum and its efforts in compiling the annual report.

He said the PHF Annual Report launch was a regular event where the forum was established in 2003 as a platform of international non-governmental organisations (INGOs) which at present comprised of 42 international organisations approved by the government of Pakistan.

“The annual report is a tedious process in that we gather information from all 42 member INGOs. It takes 3-4 months to collect data,” he said. He thanked the international donors and partners contributing to the cause.

A documentary screening of the PHF Annual Report 2022 was also showcased depicting relief and humanitarian efforts, testimonials of partner organisations’ heads sharing their experiences and comments on the flood response. A panel discussion was also moderated by PHF Country Coordinator, Syed Shahid Kazmi. Country Director, of Save the Children, Muhammad Khurram Gondal, Country Director of International Rescue Committee, Shabnam Baloch, Executive Director, of Muslim Hands, Syed Javaid Gillani, and Country Director Helvetas, Dr Arjumand Nizami expressed their comprehensive insights on the flood response 2022 and humanitarian efforts made by the PHF partner organisations. USAID Country Director, Rachel Grand in her keynote address said the US deeply appreciated PHF’s leadership for coordinating flood response as its contributions were very important.

She also applauded PHF partners’ perseverance while facing challenges in relief and humanitarian efforts.

“We are proud of US’s long-standing partnership with international organizations. US-Pakistan Green Alliance is an effort to jointly learn from experiences for energy shift, environmental conservation and other issues.” Rachel Grand added that the US understand the depth of underdeveloped countries facing a climate crisis and its USAID was supporting climate-smart technologies in agriculture and water.

Jo Moir, Development Director British High Commission said PHF is the eye and hands in the field whereas the vast population of Pakistan was extremely challenging to deliver services.

She mentioned that the British High Commission during its field visits to flood-affected areas witnessed the commitment of INGOs reaching out to far-flung areas.

“Floods last year are indicative of how climate change is taking place. We are working with partners on climate resilience, water governance and community development,” she added.

Julian Harnes, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator thanked PHF for its efforts and interventions.

He said over the last decade Pakistan faced two major changes one was a response to the humanitarian crisis that had been led by the government and Pakistani society. As it required different relationships with government, INGOs and national NGOs. However, the second major change was that earlier there was a major mistrust between NGOs that make the UN agencies’ work difficult. “Ever-increasing trust between INGOs, national NGOs and the government has been witnessed. It is the area where we need to work in the future,” he added.