Disasters & Conflicts: Pakistan. Floodings, 2010

Country: Pakistan
Period: 2010
Type of disaster: Floods caused by heavy monsoon rainfall
Disaster: The monsoon period brings heavy rainfall and serious flooding
Estimated number of victims: 2,000 deaths. 14 million Pakistanis are affected

‘I’ve never seen such a disaster. It’s bigger than the tsunami in South-East Asia.’ Those are the words of the head of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, on a visit to Pakistan.
The flooding occurs at the end of July 2010 after intense monsoon rains. More rain falls within 24 hours than falls in the Netherlands during an entire year! The effects are huge. Over 2,000 people lose their lives, and an area five times the size of the Netherlands is flooded, leaving millions of Pakistanis homeless. No fewer than 14 million people, almost as many as live in the Netherlands, are affected by the storm. It is the worst disaster in living memory for the Pakistanis.

When disasters occur in the world, people want to help. For the organisations behind Giro 555, the national account specially set up for fundraising campaigns, the question that then arises is whether to hold a national fund-raising drive. But so much is often unclear at the start. Exactly how big is the disaster? Does the disaster justify a bigger, national campaign? How much money is needed? Are Dutch people prepared to make donations? Will radio and television devote attention to the issue for an evening? Two-and-a-half weeks after the disaster, the relief organisations behind Giro 555 launch a national find-raising effort for Pakistan. After four weeks, radio and television stations highlight the campaign. Over € 27 million is donated in one of the more successful national campaigns ever organised.