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ERT when disaster strikes

When disaster strikes, UNHCR is there, on the ground, saving lives within 72 hours. Help us be there every time.



pak spot

Over 1,700 people were killed and more than 20 million were affected by the worst flooding to hit Pakistan in 80 years. Find out more.



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Stories From The Field

Peter Kessler, UNHCR ERT

Peter Kessler, UNHCR ERT

When did you arrive in Pakistan?

I got the call on the Monday night (August 2), received my visa, caught the plane and was working in Islamabad by 10am Thursday morning (August 5).

Can you give a quick overview of the scope of this disaster?

It is such a calamity. It's like imagining oceans just opening up and swallowing the territory. It's hard to put into words, pictures or television because you can't show what has happened under that water. People are camped out everywhere, along the roads, in public buildings and schools. It is mostly affecting tenant farmers, people who are very poor already.

How many ERT members are on the ground?

I was the first one to arrive but more have been mobilised since. Of course we are working with a large country staff here. UNHCR has an existing programme due to the displacement of more than a million people from the conflict in the Swat Valley and north western Pakistan last year plus, of course, the 1.7 million Afghan refugees who are still here.

What is the emergency team's main priority now?

We are distributing tents, plastic sheeting and kits of survival items. And we are working with partners and other United Nations agencies to ensure the protection of women and children who are homeless and camped out in public buildings. The schools are very crowded - sometimes ten families per classroom - and that leaves women and children very much exposed to a range of threats.

We see pictures of people camped along roadsides. Do they have any access to clean drinking water?

That's a very serious problem. We are giving people plastic buckets and jerry cans so that they can carry water from safe locations.

We are hearing news reports of waterborne disease.

People are definitely getting diarrhoea and many have died - children are especially vulnerable. Cholera is a real danger. Many of the wells are clogged with mud and even the remains of animals in many cases.

So what do people need most right now?

This is a massive crisis. There is a huge need for things like blankets, plastic sheeting, quilts and dry bedding materials, kitchen sets - people have lost all their cooking materials - they have no means of boiling water or cooking their food. It's a crisis which, in many cases, has hit the poorest people. It's going to take a long time to get through, when you think about the sheer numbers of homes, of livestock that have been lost, the crops, the food supply - it's a terrible challenge.

What is it like working in an emergency like this?

The team here is really inspirational. Their efforts to meet the people's needs are really creative and it's inspiring to see the degree of motivation, to see UNHCR looking beyond its mandate to help out.