Pakistan has been suffering from terrible floods for a whole month now. More than a fifth of the country is currently under water. According to the UN, it is the worst flood in Pakistan's history.
The Pakistani government stated that the toll is already heavy: at least 1600 people are dead and around 20 millions persons are affected (which sums up to more than the 2004 Tsunami, the Pakistani earthquake in 2005 and that of Haiti in 2010 together). This disastrous situation has been reffered to as "a slow-motion tsunami" by Ban Ki-moon." He also said that "Its destructive powers will accumulate and grow with time."
These floods remain largely unnoticed by the international community and are not sufficiently reported by the medias. The tremendous generosity impetus that followed the Haitian earthquake has not been reiterated. Pakistan's important needs are far from being met.The international community still struggles to mobilise. To face this emergency situation, raised funds to help Pakistan are insufficient. Reconstruction will be particularly expensive and difficult to achieve (a need of 43 billions dollars is currently estimated).
This terrible events remind us again of the necessity to reinforce coordination of humanitarian relief and the necessity to optimise its efficiency. The creation of Red Helmets, a scouting and interventioin device, under UN authority, appears to be an undeniable urgency.
