Pakistan

Medical aid to Pakistan

The situation in the north-west province of Pakistan is incredibly dangerous. People face the threat of violence from militant action on a daily basis. Families have been forced to leave their homes and move elsewhere. With food, water and medication in short supply, people are living in extreme poverty.

WER first sent aid to Pakistan after the devastating earthquake in 2007. But, up until recently it has been difficult to send aid into the north-west province, due to poor communication and infrastructure.

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Pakistan

Civilian politics in Pakistan in the last few decades has been tarnished by corruption, inefficiency and confrontations between various institutions. Alternating periods of civilian and military rule have led to instability.

After nearly a decade of military rule under General Pervez Musharraf, the present government, led by President Asif Ali Zardari, is seeking to improve the situation in Pakistan. This is a difficult task in a country that has endured so much conflict. Many people live in poverty and the country is hugely in debt.

Relations between India and Pakistan are tense and the disputed Kashmir region has repeatedly thwarted any peacekeeping solutions. Since the bombings in Mumbai in 2008 the relationship has been exceptionally fragile. The people living in the Kashmiri territory of Pakistan are prisoners in their own country, unable to cross the border into Indian administered Kashmir, where many have family members. The area is not a safe place to live, with volatile territory boundaries and threats of military action.

Arguably the biggest problem in Pakistan is in the Northwest of the country, in the tribal areas along the border of Afghanistan, where civilians are caught up in fighting between the Pakistani army and the Taliban. Here, thousands of people have had to flee their homes as the shelling from the army has made the area extremely dangerous.

The conflict, including recent government moves to displace the Taliban, is estimated to have displaced around half a million people.

Years of political unrest, unstable governments and religious and territorial conflict have contributed to every aspect of life in Pakistan leading to a fragile infrastructure and extremes of poverty.

The most recent Human Development Report ranks Pakistan at 141, with a medium human development rating status. The Human Development Index (HDI) value is 0.572 compared to the HDI of the UK, which is 0.947.