Islamabad, September 2013. Dr. Abdullah Al Matouq landed in Islamabad on 22 September on a fact finding mission on the humanitarian needs of the country. During his visit, Dr. Al Matouq met with various partners, donors and government official and was briefed by the Humanitarian Country Team on the current humanitarian operations, the outstanding needs and the challenges.
Dr. Al Matouq learned that humanitarian partners require donors' support to ensure basic services for an estimated 3 million people currently benefiting from humanitarian assistance across Pakistan, including the flood-affected areas where hundreds of thousands are still in need of shelter, health care, water and sanitation services and agricultural inputs.
Dr. Al Matouq highlighted that despite the many challenges Pakistanis face, they provide humanitarian assistance globally. In fact, Pakistan is one of the largest troops contributing country to the UN peacekeeping forces; Pakistan has also hosted more than 1.6 million Afghan refugees for decades.
During his visit, Dr. Al Matouq co-hosted with the Minister of Religious Affairs, Honorable Mr. Sardar Muhammad Yousaf, a workshop on "Islam and Aid" for religious leaders and scholars. The discussion focused on the need to support humanitarian activities in Pakistan and on the misconceptions regarding polio vaccination. Participants at the workshop agreed that polio vaccination is safe and doesn't pose any health risks. At the end of the workshop, Dr. Al Matouq urged parents and caregivers to accept vaccination of their children under 5: since July 2012, some 270,000 Pakistani children have missed being vaccinated in both North and South Waziristan and sixteen new cases of polio have been confirmed during 2013.
Before leaving Islamabad, Dr. Al Matouq shared his views on the mission with the Pakistani media at a press conference facilitated by UNIC. Dr. Al Matouq’s mission was organized by UN OCHA with the support of the Humanitarian Country Team.