Pakistan Flooding Updates

September 2, 2010

As Christians and people of good will, we are called to respond to crises such as the current flooding in Pakistan as generously as we can, both individually and as a community.

Many news reports, however, suggest that donations have been slow in coming, especially in comparison to the January earthquake in Haiti. This short background paper [PDF: 2 pp/31 KB] offers some context for United Church people who are asking why. It looks at

• Pakistan’s image in the international media, and the scale of media attention and public reaction that the crisis has generated
• the remoteness of many of the communities affected by the flooding and the gradual nature of the events
• Pakistan’s lack of proximity or a shared language with Canada
• “donor fatigue” (to be distinguished from compassion fatigue)

The United Church is grateful for the donations it has received to date, and continues to appeal to church members to donate to Pakistan flood relief. As of August 26, United Church members had donated $40,000 to the church’s Pakistan Flood Relief Appeal, and we anticipate more donations after Labour Day, when church activity tends to resume with vigour.

Earlier in August the General Council Office contributed $65,000 to the ACT Alliance appeal for Pakistan, $75,000 also to ACT through its membership in the Canadian Foodgrains Bank (an amount that includes CIDA matching funds), and seed money in collaboration with other Canadian churches to attract a grant of $50,000 from the Manitoba Council for International Cooperation which also will be sent to ACT.

We continue to seek other options to generate more funds for relief and reconstruction in Pakistan. Read more on how you can help.