Pakistan floods: three top UN human rights bodies urge the authorities not to leave behind the most vulnerable

GENEVA (27 October 2010) – Three United Nations human rights treaty bodies on Monday issued a joint appeal* to the Pakistani authorities and relief agencies to strengthen the human rights-based approach of their efforts, in order to prevent further victimization of the most vulnerable population affected by the country’s worst monsoon flooding in a century.

“The floods have disproportionately affected them,” said the Committee on the Rights of the Child, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, and the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. “Members of minority communities, Afghan refugees, women, children and persons with disabilities, particularly those living in rural areas, were already among the most vulnerable in Pakistani society.”

The aftermath of the Pakistan floods “calls for special measures to prevent discrimination and protect the most vulnerable, active vigilance regarding human rights violations, and the establishment of channels of participation for all affected persons in the decisions now being taken towards long-term recovery,” said the three UN human rights bodies, while commending the authorities and relief agencies for their efforts.

At least 1,600 persons have died and over 2,000 persons have been injured as a result of the floods. The number of people directly affected by the floods stands at 20.2 million, with over 1.9 million houses reportedly damaged or destroyed.

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women noted that 85 percent of people displaced by the flood are women and children, including half a million women who are pregnant. Each day, 1,700 women go into labour and hundreds experience complications requiring life-saving medical intervention. However, over 200 hospitals and clinics in the affected areas have been destroyed

The UN body called upon the authorities and relief agencies to address the lack of medical facilities, as well as take concrete measures to prevent sexual and physical abuse and trafficking of girls and women, and fight any constraints women and girls may face from accessing basic services or humanitarian aid, including cultural barriers.

The Committee on the Rights of the Child warned that the floods are worsening infant and child mortality in Pakistan, which already has very high infant and under-five mortality rates, with an estimated 500,000 children under five dying each year due to preventable causes.

It noted with concern the breakdown of communication and infrastructure in the north-western area of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkwa province, an area of pre-existing conflict, where women and especially girls are known to have been denied access to basic health and education services. Since the risk of girls being discriminated against, sexually abused and trafficked has risen, the Committee urged the authorities and everyone else involved with relief and humanitarian assistance to increase their efforts to reach the youngest children and those most difficult to access: “Girls and children with disabilities should be the utmost priority,” the Committee said.

The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities pointed out that the disabled “are often a part of society that is kept invisible, even under normal circumstances and more so in times of emergency,” and called upon the authorities “to ensure the full rights of persons with disabilities to security and protection.”

The UN body urged the adoption of special measures, including “the urgent relocation of affected persons with physical, sensory, intellectual and psychosocial disabilities; facilitating reunification with their families; and ensuring access to water, food, medical services, technical assistance, and rehabilitation, as well as to information during the emergency so as to allow the normalization of their lives as soon as possible.”

The Committee asked Pakistan “to address accessibility requirements in the reconstruction of housing and public spaces, in the resumption of education processes, and in the integration of persons with disabilities in the labour force and in social security schemes.”

(*): Check the full statement by the chairpersons of the UN human rights treaty bodies: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/crc/docs/Pakistan_Floods%20_JointStatement.doc

The human rights treaty bodies are committees of independent experts that monitor implementation of the core international human rights treaties. They are created in accordance with the provisions of the treaty that they monitor. Learn more: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/treaty/index.htm

Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW): http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/CEDAW/Pages/CEDAWIndex.aspx

Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC): http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/crc/index.htm

Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD): http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/CRPD/Pages/CRPDIndex.aspx

OHCHR Media Unit can arrange interviews in English, French and Spanish. Please get in touch with Xabier Celaya (Tel: +41 22 917 9383 / Mob: +41 (0)79 444 7578 / email: xcelaya@ohchr.org).