Poor image hurts Pakistan funds appeal

[mike r]

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/poor-image-hurts-pakistan-funds-appeal-20100817-1276n.html

Poor image hurts Pakistan funds appeal
Agnes Pedrero
August 17, 2010 - 5:54AM

Aid agencies are struggling to get funds for millions of Pakistan flood victims because the country suffers from an "image deficit", aid officials say, with some blaming perceived links with the Taliban and terrorism.

The international response to the disaster was described as "pitiful" by Britain's Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, who said many countries have also failed to grasp the scale of the catastrophe, which has affected up to 20 million people. Elizabeth Byrs, spokeswoman of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said: "We note often an image deficit with regards to Pakistan among Western public opinion." As a result, Pakistan is among countries that are poorly financed, like Yemen," she added.

Melanie Brooks, spokeswoman of the aid group Care International, insisted that the United Nations must explain to donor states that "the money is not going to go to the hands of the Taliban". "The victims are the mothers, the farmers, children. But in the past, information linked to Pakistan has always been linked to (the) Taliban and terrorism," she said.

Filipe Ribeiro, the director-general of Doctors Without Borders (MSF), also pointed to the "bad press" surrounding Pakistan as a reason for the slow flow of aid funds. "In the media, Pakistan is clearly a country linked to terrorism and corruption, that there, the victims are not as innocent as others," he said...

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Here's another reason Pakistan has an image problem:

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\08\04\story_4-8-2010_pg7_32

President visits French chateau

MESNIL-LIEUBRAY: President Asif Ali Zardari visited his family’s stately home in the French countryside on Tuesday.

A French Air Force helicopter deposited Zardari in the grounds of the Manoir de la Reine Blanche (Manor of the White Queen) for a two-hour stopover in the 16th-century chateau, built for the widow of King Philippe VI. Journalists were kept at a distance from the elegant property, which is surrounded by five acres of lakes and wooded parkland and is listed on France’s register of historically significant monuments. The house has belonged to Zardari’s family for 24 years and the president’s father, Hakim Ali Zardari, is a regular summer visitor. “He’s a neighbour with whom we have excellent relations,” said local mayor Jerome Grisel, who owns a farm immediately adjoining the estate. afp

[TygrBright]

1. It's not the perceived "innocence level" of the victims that inhibits giving.

It's the perceived corruption at every level of government and community leadership, including links to terrorism and the Taliban. People who might otherwise wish to give generously wonder just how much of their money will end up greasing the fists of public "servants" and/or in the coffers of Taliban-linked organizations.

Sad. Very sad.

frustratedly,
Bright

[Igel]

2. That's at least part of it.

I'm disinclined to give because the US has given hundreds of millions of dollars, both through governmental and NGO routes. Some of the aid went to the areas affected. It's gone there routinely, and as part of things like earthquake relief aid.

The response is that most of the population has fairly consistently disliked the US. There's a fairly widespread belief in some areas that the US wants to break up Pakistan because it's Muslim. We say it's because of the drone attacks. The favorability rating wasn't affected by the drone attacks, but they were a convenient, self-serving excuse provided by us and them alike.

Another response was to reject the NGOs working in the area. Some was strictly "you're outsiders, scram!" Other rejections were more insidious: Polio vaccine was going to sterilize them so that there wouldn't be any Muslim babies. Fools.

Then, when this comes along, they decry the lack of international aid. They say that they deserve international aid. They say that there's an obligation to help Pakistan. Things like "ask" or "request" don't figure prominently in the discourse.

There are other places that are no less dysfunctional but in which the people don't try to kill those who try to help them or show such open suspicion and resentment towards those who try to help them.

[dyingnumbers]

3. I heard this on the radio

On NPR today I listened to an interview about the Pakistani flood, and to sum it up apparently people can't "wrap their minds" around the enormity of a flood, so people don't immediately relate to the catastrophe. IDK about that but it made me think of Hurricane Katrina and the slow government response to the disaster.