One last push for Pakistan

Nov 9th, 2010 5:21 PM UTC
By Weldon Kennedy

Pakistan is still reeling from the massive floods earlier this year, but there is a very simple thing we can all do to help: push for a freeze on Pakistan’s debt payments.

For the last couple of months, we’ve been advocating for a freeze that would enable Pakistan to spend more of its resources over next two years on rebuilding. If you’re not one of the 55,000 + people who have signed the petition, please do so because at the end of this week, we’re joining Avaaz, Jubilee Debt Coalition, and Oxfam to deliver the petition at an important meeting of world leaders in Pakistan who will be discussing how to help the country rebuild.

This delivery will come on the heels of the Senate of Pakistan issuing a call last week for a reprieve from debt payments – so it couldn’t come at a better time. It also comes at a time where the slow pace of recovery is starting to sting as there have been outbreaks of dengue fever and cholera among flood victims.

For a bit of a reminder why Pakistan needs this reprieve, I highly recommend taking a look at two sets of photos put together by the Big Picture blog (here and here) capturing a sense of the scale of devastation.

While you’re having a look at those pictures, also keep this map from the BBC in mind to understand just how much of the country was impacted by these floods. To me it makes it clear as can be that we must do what we can to help in the face of such a challenge.

TAGS: Debt, Featured, Pakistan