Volume 59, Issue 325, January 2023

The impact of flood relief funds on affected people's social wellbeing in Pakistan

Muhammad Imran¹, Khalid Zaman^1♦, Awais Rashid²

¹Department of Economics, The University of Haripur, Haripur Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 22620, Pakistan
²Department of Management Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Abbottabad campus, Abbottabad 22060, Pakistan

^♦Corresponding author
Department of Economics, The University of Haripur, Haripur Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 22620, Pakistan

ABSTRACT

The monsoon season triggered the worst floods in Pakistan's history, wiping out whole towns and putting an estimated 3.4 million children at risk of water contamination, drowning and famine. This research used a literature review and a survey of first-hand accounts to investigate how distributing flood relief aid in Pakistan affected the social well-being of those who received aid between August and September 2022. Affectees' social well-being increased after receiving social assistance (relief funds) and decreased after a natural disaster. Interviews and discussions about flood relief funds and financial support to affectees of the 2022 Pakistani flood also revealed much emotional and knowledge-based support from interviewees. Not to mention the unity that the country's many parts reflect via their cooperation. Affected communities get substantial assistance from natural disaster management teams, local teams, non-governmental organizations and private citizens. In the aftermath of a natural catastrophe, businesses and individuals from all walks of life band together to provide financial aid to those impacted by the flood. In addition, they received material to aid in building supplies for their homes and businesses. Not only that, but also the non-monetary aid provided to flood victims in the form of food, survival equipment and the restoration of a nation's economy. Similar criticism was leveled at how governments collected and dispersed flood relief funding, how natural disasters were managed and how those affected by floods were rebuilt. Improved disaster preparedness and response and more resilient rural infrastructure were among the study's recommendations. Predicting future climatic and environmental changes may also be aided by bettering natural information warning and natural disaster management systems and enhancing the efficiency and competence of urban-rural people with educational facilities.

Keywords: Flood relief funds, social wellbeing, natural disaster, flood affectees, Pakistan

Discovery, 2023, 59, e5d1011

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Published: January 2023