For many students, the floods have disrupted their education.

At a makeshift school set up under tarp sheets near Malook Khaskheli, schoolteachers said that about half of the batch of 63 students aged five to 12 are still attending classes, while the rest had moved away.

University student Wasseem Ali Khan, 21, was pursuing a bachelor’s degree in medical sciences at Makhdoom Mohammad Zaman Talib ul Moula Government Boys Degree College, New Saeedabad.

Two months ago, the college building was converted into temporary housing. Mr Ali Khan has not been able to attend classes since then. He is among 400 people from his village now sheltering on campus.

WOMEN’S HEALTH

Besides students’ education, the floods in Pakistan have also severely disrupted access to healthcare.

This is compounded by the spread of malaria and waterborne illnesses in the wake of the disaster, with the United Nations warning of a “second wave of death and destruction”.

On Wednesday, the Mercy Relief team visited a roving clinic serving about 80 women from three villages in Tando Allahyar district.

This is part of a medical camp for ante- and post-natal care organised by NRSP, which provides free consultations and medicine to pregnant women and new mothers.

The clinic will move on to serve different flood-affected villages over the coming days.

Gynaecologist Dr Maira Yaqoob, 27, said that most patients she sees are showing signs of pain, fever and weakness. Some also had symptoms of waterborne illnesses such as diarrhoea and skin infection.

In Pakistan, nearby farms have long been supplied with water from the Indus River in order to expand irrigation systems and support agricultural growth. Over the years, embankments along the rivers have been built with government assistance to shield the farming land from sporadic floods.

Settlements constructed along the riverbanks and in flood-prone areas contributed by choking the natural drainage through which the excess waters move towards the sea.

The majority of farms receiving irrigation water from the Indus are owned by wealthier farmers. Wealthy farmers have prospered from these irrigation infrastructures, leaving the poor to bear the burden of flooding and devastation. That has raised questions about equity and justice in Pakistan.

GLOBAL CLIMATE INEQUALITY

The floods have also drawn attention to global climate inequality. Though Pakistan contributes to less than 1 per cent of global greenhouse and carbon emissions, it was ranked among the top 10 most vulnerable nations to the effects of climate change by the Global Climate Risk Index.

To address these multifaceted challenges and combat the climate crisis, Pakistan will need to implement a diverse set of short- and long-term strategies that are carefully designed, discussed and inclusively implemented. Science and policy must connect climate change risks and mitigation measures in an actionable way.

Better climate preparation is required for South Asia as a whole, not only in Pakistan. The entire region has experienced extreme weather events, such as flooding, droughts and heatwaves.

The tragedy in Pakistan is a wake-up call to the world’s most densely populated region. If immediate measures are not taken to improve climate crisis preparedness, mitigation and adaptation, disasters will worsen.

As UN Secretary-General António Guterres urges: “Today, it’s Pakistan. Tomorrow, it could be your country.”

Manita Raut is PhD student and John Allwright fellow at the Crawford School of Public Policy, ANU. Kuntala Lahiri-Dutt is Professor at the Resource, Environment and Development Program at the Crawford School of Public Policy, ANU. This commentary first appeared on East Asia Forum.

Another expert, Ms Nusrat Nasab, chief executive of Aga Khan Agency for Habitat in Pakistan, told CNA938’s Asia First that a priority is getting basic needs to those affected, especially the vulnerable.

“Initially, of course, food, shelter, health, water and sanitation – these are some of the key areas where the need (for help) is required during this response phase”, said Ms Nusrat, whose organisation helps with disaster and humanitarian response.

Responding to a question specifically on the urgent help that children need, Ms Nusrat said nutrition is a priority for infants. Sanitation is also a “dire need” given the potential spread of diseases like dengue fever, she said.

UNICEF on Monday reported that half of those affected by the floods are children, including at least 3.4 million who need urgent support. More than 17,000 schools have also seen significant damage, further hampering the country’s education infrastructure already hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Resuming schooling for children will take time as many schools are underwater, Ms Nusrat said.

Beyond relief for immediate recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction will be a “huge challenge” that will require a lot of resources, said Ms Nusrat, whose agency has trained more than 40,000 people across the country in disaster emergency preparedness.

Collaboration among those providing aid and relief to the country will be crucial in ensuring that beyond short-term aid, there are longer-term efforts to rebuild the country’s infrastructure, Ms Nusrat said.

A majority of people who have been affected by the floods are poor, she noted.

“Their economic situation may not have been very good in the past. Whatever they had, they lost it … coming to a normalcy it’s very difficult for this segment of the society,” she said.

However, Pakistan is a resilient nation, she said.

“People, right now, I would say they’re trying to bounce back,” she said.