A list has recently been compiled internationally that assesses the risk of disasters for 193 countries to produce a complete report, measuring the risk profile of countries. This includes traditional factors such as war, conflict and revolt, as well as climate change and the risks of natural disasters or epidemics. The main focus of the report is to assess vulnerability to multiple crises and disasters. Readers will be surprised and dismayed to hear that Pakistan ranks 10th on the above list.
It has been a victim of which is classified in the recent years. Remember that the country has seen it all from the coronavirus and resurgence of polio to the floods of 2022 and the ever-present political instability and growing threat of terrorism beside seems to be constantly on the brink of collapse is standing this being said, it has faced difficulties compared to the bad outcomes of crises seen in other countries.
The surprising thing in this list is that ahead of Pakistan Bangladesh is at number nine India is at number three and the Philippines is at the top.
It is very disturbing for the nation that Pakistan is still among the top 10 disaster-prone countries in the world is among the most vulnerable countries and its risk profile has only increased over the past year.
In 2023 more than 8 million people in Pakistan needed humanitarian assistance despite the fact that the country had just recovered from the devastating floods of 2022. Looking at the various crises faced by the country, what often comes to light is that the ability of the nation, rulers and institutions to deal with these situations is decreasing day by day.
Pakistan’s current tragedy is that all its problems are interconnected as the report points out threats in one region exacerbate threats in another and seemingly unrelated events such as extreme weather, conflicts and epidemics actually exacerbate each other. Areas of Pakistan that are most conflict-prone are likely to reduce our external economy and its resilience to disasters and environmental problems such as water scarcity.
In fact what Pakistan is facing is not a series of isolated crises but a dragon of problems with many interconnected heads. Thus any approach to the threat of our destruction is very unlikely to work. The state must build its core capacity to deal with and adapt to crises.
These are both elements that the Global Risk Index takes into account when ranking countries. Few countries score higher than Pakistan on lack of coping skills and when it comes to lack of skills, the country seems to be in an excellent position and this is really the root of the problem.
Although there is no region or country in the world that is free from the risk of disasters, especially Europe, which many people consider a model of a developed and safe region is currently the host of one of the two most severe wars in the world and the record.
India is struggling to deal with extreme heat and its consequences but Europe and South Asia deal with these same problems very differently. The developed countries of Europe will probably be able to solve it in a few years with their resources and scientific skills but for unplanned countries like Pakistan these world conditions are like living on the edge of a volcano in which the lava continues to boil and it can explode at any moment.
Therefore Pakistan along with other countries of South Asia will have to struggle a lot to deal with these situations for which the most important thing is the long term planning which we seem to lack which our superior minds need to think about to secure our future.
