DUBAI // Vital humanitarian aid has been handed out by a Dubai charity to hundreds of families hit by food shortages following a drought in southern Pakistan.
The Rabbani Foundation organised more than 1,200 aid packages containing milk cartons and nutritious biscuits to be sent to people in Tharparkar district, in Sindh province in south-east Pakistan.
“The affected area is a desert and every two to three years there is a drought due to a lack of rain,” said Mobisher Rabbani, who set up the foundation. “As a result, thousands of people have been affected by malnutrition and disease.”
The issue was made worse by poor management by local food and health departments, he said.
“It was a man-made problem because the food and health departments did not release supplies to those in need and didn’t do their jobs properly,” said Mr Rabbani.
Some reports have said that more than 100 children have died so far this year because of malnutrition.
In response, the country’s military set up an emergency medical camp and this was followed by the foundation’s aid work that took place last weekend.
“We went to the district hospital first and some of the children we saw were in a very bad condition,” Mr Rabbani said.
“Although there are many people living below the poverty line, you don’t tend to get cases of malnutrition in the country, so it came as a shock when we saw them.”
There is only one hospital that serves the entire district, which has an estimated population of about one million people.
The foundation then visited two of the more rural and isolated villages as part of a convoy including a lorry, a car, a 4x4 vehicle and a team of four volunteers.
The aid supplies were bought in Pakistan a day earlier and they were handed out to families in these areas.
“We went to Diplo and Islamkot and they were very isolated,” Mr Rabbani said. “They are close to the border with India and you need a 4x4 to go over the terrain.”
The foundation will continue to monitor the situation in Sindh province and may conduct another aid delivery operation in a couple of weeks.
“We’ll see what the situation is like and if it’s not improving, we’ll send more supplies,” Mr Rabbani added.
The Rabbani Foundation is a philanthropic organisation that focuses on humanitarian work and nation-building.
It has conducted various projects in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Palestine, the Philippines, Bangladesh and the UAE.
nhanif@thenational.ae
