Is Pakistan a Victim of Donor Fatigue?

Americans and Canadians who rallied to support Haiti after the island was hit with an earthquake, have been slow to give to victims of Pakistan's floods.

Expressions of (official) dismay sweep our part of the world over the  slowness, reticence, reluctance or whatever it is, of people opening their hearts and wallets for the people of Pakistan, ravaged by unprecedented floods.

News reports tell of upwards of 20 million made homeless -- of no quick end in sight. While predictable sources gear up to help, donations from ordinary Americans and Canadians have remained chary and wary.

The question is why? How come the usually generous pledges (not always honored, it might be pointed out) have not been as forthcoming as they were for the Pacific tsunami, the Haitian earthquake, or even aid for the Chile quake which, extraordinarily, Chile rejected.

The CBC and others fret over why Canadians are so slow to respond. An Angus Reid poll shows Canadians gave to Haiti almost 10 times more than they’re giving to Pakistan.

While there’s some “donor weariness” involved in repeated natural disasters around the world, Pakistan is a bit different. Canadian Pakistanis have blended into the Canadian mosaic, and are viewed by other Canadians differently than they view Pakistan proper. One of the fears is that money donated will never get to the needy.

Right now, Pakistan finally seems to have realized that the Taliban are its enemy as much as our enemy.  But it took a while. Even so, elements within Pakistan support the Taliban and al-Qaeda, and “trust’ is an ever elusive quality (and quantity).

Besides, Pakistan’s record of helping its own people is spotty. It’s 60-plus years of independence have focused on two major industries – politics and the army. Neither of which has much regard for common folk.

Politicians have tended to loot the till, while periodic coups by the army have curtailed what democracy there is, while seeking to eliminate the crass corruption that distinguishes Pakistani politics. Roughly half of Pakistan’s years of independence have seen the army in charge – usually more honestly than when politicians ruled.

We tend to forget that Pakistan started as a divided country. East Pakistan was transformed into Bangladesh after natural disasters were largely ignored by Pakistan proper. The homeless then, were on their own, somewhat like the homeless of today.

If Pakistan’s record and reputation of fending for its own people was as ardent as its interest in being a nuclear power with a huge military approaching one million, maybe international generosity would be more enthusiastic. Among other things, military aid from China, has tainted trust by the West.

Relations with the U.S. have been prickly, especially with the U.S.’s closeness with Pakistan’s dreaded enemy, India. This contributes to paranoia.

None of this reflects on the unfortunates who are victims of nature. But there’s no special empathy in Canada with a disaster in Pakistan of such monstrous proportions. Even the Canadian government was initially cautious about pledging support – a measly $2 million, subsequently elevated to match whatever the public donates, which is pretty standard these days.

Hillary Clinton’s personal pledge of $10 million seems a gesture to prime the pump of American generosity, but it’s unlikely to be very effective.

Canadians don’t even have guilty feelings about passing on the Pakistan disaster -- perhaps because generosity to Haiti seems to have gone for naught; Haiti’s poor are still the poorest in the hemisphere. Corruption is so endemic that some donors feel embarrassed at being taken for suckers. They fear a repeat in Pakistan.