Daily Times

Amid a sordid and blatant political mudslinging on sugar crises inquiry recently completed by Federal Investigation Agency, the civil society in Pakistan is focused on managing the pandemic crises that has erupted emergencies at multiple planes. Overwhelmingly, governments across the globe with the exception of few, failed to take the initial warning signs seriously, thus faltered a great deal allowing the contagion to spread. Now, once it has spread, the governments including ours, are feeling incapacitated due to lack of funds and resources. In Islamabad, situational awareness immediately transpired the undeniable fact that government would not be able to pitch a matching response plan. Ensuring availability of medical equipment such as ventilators even PPEs for hospitals and medical staff became a challenge. Everything government was doing seemed too less. While the corporate sector and philanthropists in the neighboring country came forward to assist the government, the PTI led government seemed to be left alone. Even the NGOs and NPOs that normally activated their funds and managed to plug in the gaps in government efforts, were seen hesitating. The government certainly deserved such a response since it spread a scare that was unnecessary as well as fruitless. It seemed that government was being punished for its abrasive and punitive policies towards civil society. In the recent years, philanthropists and their organizations were brought under strict legal regimes, NGOs were pushed hard in the name of compliances, unnecessary regulatory channels were introduced and donors settled abroad were discouraged. It took some time for government to realize that without civil society led by NGO sector, government would not be able to do much. By the time civil society and NGO community stood ready to respond, the needs that this crisis was generating were extraordinary.

The number of organizations involved in relief work in humanitarian logistics across the country is encouraging. However multiple organizations / groups working in same geographical area is liable to create a new complexity

Despite all the hesitations, compelled by the need and adversity of affected communities, NGOs and social society has now become active. NGOs had to struggle to mobilize their resources since response to such unusual crises demands an anticipatory financing mechanism to make finance raised in advance available at scale to address immediate needs, and to adapt as those needs and contexts change. Since no NGO had such a finance mechanism, thus almost all the NGOs had to begin with what so ever they had managed after passing the strangulating financial regimes placed by government.

In Gilgit Baltistan, which remains the hardest hit area so far, the provincial government allowed space for NGOs to come forward and play their role. Local NGOs such as Rupani Foundation and few others operating as domestic NGOs were able to take a lead role in a very short time to assist the government that lacked resources as well as the relief expertise. These organizations did not operate in Gilgit Baltistan only but also tried to participate in relief operations in the entire country. As an immediate measure Rupani Foundation managed rations for about four thousand families and committed to raise the figures up to ten thousand families in Nagar, Hunza and Gilgit districts while contributing rations for affected in DI Khan and other areas indicated by Federal Government. It also started a country wide campaign to create awareness in society to contain the pandemic.

The number of organizations involved in relief work in humanitarian logistics across the country is encouraging. However multiple organizations / groups working in same geographical area is liable to create a new complexity. In this regard a private, citizens’ imitative, platform known as CRN (Corona Response Network) has started to gather number of organizations and volunteer professionals from around the world. Initially conceived by professionals from Gilgit-Baltistan, CRN has now participation of organizations and volunteer professionals from other south Asian countries and Europe. CRN, initially focused on containment and mitigation activities in the hard-hit areas of Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), is also open to working in other parts of Pakistan. The Mission enunciated by CRN is to inform, educate, coordinate and facilitate emergency and longer-term responses to COVID-19 Pandemic, following WHO and Government protocols. The primary mandate of CRN is coordination, facilitation and resource mobilization to contain and mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 in the short-term and recover and rebuild livelihoods and businesses in the medium to long-term. CRN intends to work with individual volunteers, community and youth organization, and relief and development agencies, including local community support organizations, NGOs, government departments and other international partner organizations. The specific tasks and activities of CRN would include; inform, educate, mobilize, coordinate and facilitate. These volunteers are contributing their time and energies in nine Working Groups deliberating on containment and mitigation, economic recovery, psychosocial support, health, education, communication and advocacy, resource mobilization, and gender. While each of these working groups are working the CRN as a whole aims to complement traditional response strategies, rooted in provision of material support, with forms of support that are more knowledge intensive, this approach by CRN would take a long-term perspective to influence development processes in the crises. The plans the Working Groups will develop may have implications for governance. The CRN has been formed by volunteers with a realization that despite many challenges and uncertainties, we cannot afford inaction.

At this time we as civil society need to analyses different types of coordination and roles for each organization that it may like to assume. Different and unclear roles of the organizations will create significant problems before and after the activation of relief system. The clarity of the roles affects the overall relief work. It would also be appropriate to indicate hesitation of corporate sector who have so far remained hesitant to come forward and assist the government and people. Government as well as corporate sector also need to see how this hesitation can be removed allowing space and encouragement to corporate sector to come forth and contribute. It needs to be understood by philanthropists and corporate sector in particular that no contribution and effort would be sufficient to help the government as well the people in these trying times. Our government, NGOs like Rupani Foundation and initiatives like CRN need generous support from corporate sector in their appreciated cause.

The writer is a versatile analyst and a speaker on contemporary issues