From Zeeshan Mirza
KARACHI: Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai arrived in Pakistan on Tuesday, visiting her home country after four years to travel to areas devastated by unprecedented monsoon flooding and meet flood victims. Her visit aims “to help keep international attention focused on the impact of floods in Pakistan and reinforce the need for critical humanitarian aid”, her non-profit organisation, Malala Fund, said in a statement.
According to the latest estimates, the devastating floods have left 1,700 dead and displaced nearly eight million people in the country.
Earlier, Malala Fund issued an emergency relief grant to the International Rescue Committee (IRC) to support flood relief efforts and “protect the wellbeing of girls and young women in Pakistan”. “With this grant, IRC will provide psychosocial support to girls in Balochistan by creating safe spaces for them, which will offer life skills training and provide menstrual and reproductive health management support,” a statement on the fund’s website said.
It added that for girls experiencing displacement or whose school buildings were destroyed or closed, the IRC would provide emergency education services.
The “IRC will also repair and rehabilitate 10 damaged girls’ government school buildings to ensure girls can return to school”, the statement read.
It further quoted Yousafzai as saying: “My heart breaks seeing the destruction in Pakistan and the lives of millions of people devastated overnight. I urge the international community to respond, not just with generous aid and assistance, but with immediate action on policies to curb climate change and establish climate-finance mechanisms.”
