Hollywood super actress and UN humanitarian aid worker Angelina Jolie has long been a friend of Pakistan, having visited the country on more than one occasion since the 2005 earthquake and then during the 2010 floods. She once again visited Pakistan last week to see for herself the devastations caused by floods, particularly to assess the o- ground realities and pathetic situation  of the women and children, who are bearing the brunt of the floods catastrophe across the country, living in the open sky with no little to no facilities. 

Her words depict the real picture of the catastrophe and natural calamities that has fallen upon us for the last two months in the form of unprecedented flash floods after torrential rains. She was particular appalled by the destruction caused by floods in Sindh, saying Devastation in Sindh has been shocking; in my entire life I have never seen anything like this before. Families are sleeping under open skies and have lost everything in these floods, Angelina said.

During Jolie's visit to Jamshoro's Sehwan and Dadu, she was shocked by the situation, saying the entire devastations are the direct result of  the climate change effects, calling upon the world to  not wait anymore for climate change effects, because it's already upon  us, citing the unprecedented natural calamities caused by abnormal rains and flash floods across the country, which is one third under water for the last two and a half months. 

It may be mentioned here that Jolie has been our long-time friend in distress and whenever, a calamity hits out country, she visits us on regular basis. Previous, Jolie was in Pakistan in 2010 when floods caused huge devastations. Earlier during the 2005  earthquakes, she was here to be part of humanitarian aid and help to helpless.  

Her current visit was part of the International Rescue Committee's (IRC) emergency relief activities and response operations and it was a surprise visit during which she tried to reach out to as many flood affectees, manly women, as possible. Her visit coincided with the visit of Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif to New York for the 77th session of the U.N. General Assembly, where he appealed to the world to undo the climate devastations.  In his speech, the PM Shahbaz  highlighted the flood devastations due to climate change effects, telling the world about the losses i.e., $30 billion in damages to our economy. 

Meanwhile, Jolie focused on the plight of women flood affectees. She spend most of the time in Pakistan among women affectees, living in the open with no medical and other facilities. One would agree with Jolie when she highlighted the women's problems after floods.  There no denying that all flood affectees are in distress but  women and children are more affected as they are vulnerable section of the population. There are no toilets for women while the number of pregnant women runs in lakhs. As per UN Funds report,  an estimated 650000 expecting mothers are living in unbearable conditions in the open sky.

Overall, over  six million women and girls are affected, but the plight of expecting mothers is beyond imagination as hospitals and health care facilities have been damaged and washed away by floods and they are in risky conditions in which they are to deliver babies.  That one third of the country is still covered by floods waters speak volume of the calamities caused by flash floods. It is a time of emergency and right not there is an urgent need for providing maternity services to expecting mothers. It ought to be mentioned with concerned that seventy-four of them are expected to deliver in October with no skilled birth attendants or newborn care, and support available to them.

On the other hand, an increased number of women and young girls are at an increased risk of violence as they are living in the open.    Coming back to Jolie's observations about flood devastations in Pakistan, she not only showed real compassion towards the women and girls but also highlighted their plight at international level, calling upon them to hurry up and come to their rescue before it is too late. Her presence at the relief camps among  flood-stricken villages was of great help as it lifted the spirit of the suffering humanity.

It may also be mentioned here that she was here on her personal expenses as she bore  the travel expenses from her own pocket which shows how considerate this Oscar winning actress is. She had also visited Pakistan during the 2010 floods but she said that she has nothing like the current floods in her entire life as some areas which she visited are still under water and many inaccessible with six to eight feet water still standing there. 

Published in The Daily National Courier, September, 26 2022

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