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The ICC and UNICEF Partner for COVID-19 Relief

The ICC The International Cricket Council (ICC) launched a new partnership with UNICEF in June 2021. The partnership seeks to aid UNICEF’s COVID-19 emergency response efforts in South Asia. The partnership marked another chapter in the two organization’s combined aid efforts through the ICC’s Cricket for Good campaign.

COVID-19’s Effects on Children in South Asia

UNICEF’s efforts in South Asia are a high priority due to the pandemic. The organization estimates that the pandemic likely contributed to the added deaths of 228,000 children younger than the age of 5 in the region’s six largest countries. Disease-related mortality rates rose too. UNICEF estimates almost 6,000 additional adolescent deaths from diseases such as “malaria, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and typhoid” as a result of disrupted treatment services prompted by the pandemic.

Furthermore, “the number of young children being treated for severe acute malnutrition (SAM)” decreased by more than 80% in Bangladesh and Nepal. UNICEF’s report details an expected increase in adolescent health issues. These issues range from stunting to anemia due to a rise in food insecurity and undernutrition in South Asia. The COVID-19 pandemic brought about a significant decline in the availability of essential services. These statistics illustrate the impact of COVID-19 on healthcare services in South Asia, among other impacts.

In addition, the effects of the pandemic extend beyond physical health for children in nations such as India. Yasmin Ali Haque, a UNICEF representative in India states, “Children are facing mental health issues and are at greater risk of violence as lockdowns shut them off from their vital support networks.” Haque also notes the increase in illegal adoptions in the country, prompting concerns of potential child trafficking and abuse.

UNICEF’s Call for Aid

As a result of these consequences, UNICEF called for aid in support of measures to improve the COVID-19 response in South Asia. These actions include increasing medical supplies, sanitation and infection control measures in the region. The organization has already worked to provide critical medical equipment such as ventilators, oxygen concentrators and testing kits to countries such as India and Sri Lanka. While UNICEF continues to request support from both private and corporate interests, the organization’s partnership with the ICC may prove to be increasingly important.

The International Cricket Council and UNICEF

The ICC recently launched a fundraising campaign in support of UNICEF. The campaign, running from June 18 to June 22, 2021, occurred in the English city of Southampton during the World Test Championship Final between New Zealand and India. The Council, through the Cricket for Good campaign, intends to use the massive sports audience to promote UNICEF goals.

The ICC commits to raising funds during cricket games and broadcasts while also utilizing the group’s digital platforms for fundraising efforts. All funds raised through the campaign will go directly toward UNICEF’s COVID-19 relief efforts in South Asia.

“We appeal to cricket fans around the world to come together to show their support for the work of UNICEF at such a difficult time and donate to such a worthwhile cause,” Acting International Cricket Council CEO Geoff Allardice said in the announcement for the partnership.

These recent efforts mark the latest commitments in a string of coordinated efforts between the ICC and UNICEF. Past campaigns focused on areas such as empowering young women and girls through cricket. During the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup, UNICEF’s fundraising efforts garnered $180,000 to finance a girls’ cricket initiative in Afghanistan.

Looking Ahead

As the pandemic continues, support from organizations such a UNICEF and private organizations like the ICC will be critical. Increasing fears are emerging over the potential effects additional waves of the virus would have on children. The Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP) recently emphasized that COVID-19 holds a lower direct health risk for children, releasing a statement detailing that “almost 90% of infections in children are mild/asymptomatic.”

The IAP also explained that there is no evidence indicating that children will suffer severe cases of COVID-19 in a subsequent wave of the virus. Nevertheless, the IAP stresses the importance of increasing medical capacities for children in the country in order to avoid deaths from preventable or treatable diseases.

UNICEF echoes the need to support childhood healthcare as the pandemic continues. Fundraising support from influential groups like the ICC could go a long way. These partnerships are vital in helping relief organizations provide the resources and assistance necessary to alleviate some of the problems affecting South Asia during the COVID-19 pandemic.

– Brett Grega
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

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10 Facts About Corruption in Pakistan

10 Facts About Corruption in Pakistan
Pakistan, a nation of 197 million, has long been an ally of the U.S. and has come a long way in combatting corruption and graft within its government infrastructure. Nevertheless, the 21st century has seen corruption grip the country. Pakistan rates 33/100 on Transparency International’s Corruption Index (lower numbers = more corrupt and vice versa) and ranks 133/180 in terms of corruption. GAN states that corruption is a significant obstacle to all forms of business in Pakistan, regardless of whether the actor is a large multinational, an international NGO or a Pakistani corporation. Despite efforts by the national government and provincial legislatures to reduce corruption, it still presents a severe stumbling block to national growth. NGOs, despite the massive hurdles that corruption creates, have filled in the gap and begun working across the country to fight it. Anti-Corruption Force Organization Pakistan (ACFOP) is one such organization with chapters active in every province of Pakistan providing representation for the marginalized and a voice for those who have suffered monetarily and physically as a result of corruption in the system. With that, here are 10 facts about corruption in Pakistan.

10 Facts About Corruption in Pakistan

  1. Corrupt Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif: The leak of the Panama Papers in 2016 revealed that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his children owned four offshore companies through which they laundered money and facilitated bribes. Sharif received 10 years in jail by Pakistan’s anti-graft court, while his daughter Maryam received a seven-year sentence.  Sharif also garnered a lifelong ban from politics, effectively ending his hopes of a political dynasty.
  2. Corruption in the Army: Pakistan’s Armed Forces has a long history of corruption. According to Shamil Sams, writing for DW, the Pakistani government manages its own budget and can increase it without civilian oversight. Army officials have engaged in illegal activities such as cross-border smuggling, illegal toll collection at military checkpoints, illegally levying funds from private businesses and extorting landowners in the Okara region.
  3. Corruption in Law Enforcement: The presence of police corruption in Pakistan is a daily reality for a shocking number of Pakistani citizens. According to the Michelsen Institute, almost 100 percent of correspondents to a Transparency International survey reported daily solicitation of bribes by police officials. Policemen in multiple provinces have received accusations of performing extra-legal killings and torturing detainees. There is even a phrase for the culture of corruption in the law enforcement field; Thana Culture, an Urdu-derived word for police station. Human Rights Watch indicates that there is a critical lack of political will to reform law enforcement in Pakistan and that there is a framework of legal protections that shield law enforcement officials from accountability.
  4. Corruption in the Judiciary: Bribery is incredibly commonplace in Pakistani courtrooms. The Michelsen Institute found that 96 percent of all correspondents who came into contact with the judiciary encountered corruption in 2006 and that 44 percent had to pay a bribe directly to a court official. The procedure to select judges on a national level is highly susceptible to political favors, and the judges themselves receive an exemption from an audit by the National Accountability Bureau. The PTI party (Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf/Pakistan Movement for Justice) has made judicial reform one of its targets now that it is the head of the ruling coalition. It is currently considering numerous reforms to the judiciary to combat rampant corruption.
  5. Corruption in Rail Transit: According to Pakistan Today, corruption and mismanagement in public transportation are exceedingly common. In a 2010-2011 audit, the Pakistani government concluded that the lion’s share of Pakistan Railways’ financial deficit was the result of embezzlement and wastage of funds. Following the audits, there were numerous investigations to provincial and national level transit administrations. Another high-profile surplus scandal in 2014 prompted another wave of investigations, with the NAB (National Accountability Bureau) spearheading the effort.
  6. Corruption in Public Utilities: Transparency International found that almost 64 percent of citizens surveyed established power in their home through alternative methods, all of which fall under the purview of corruption. These methods include payments to office staff and having to make repeated payments in order to get services. Ninety-five percent of these correspondents also reported additional corruption when it came time to pay the bills. ACFOP has been active in this field, advocating for the poor in provinces like Punjab and Balochistan and offering legal counsel in their struggles against utility companies as a part of their mission.
  7.  Corruption in Health Care: According to research from the University of Karachi, petty corruption in health care is an increasingly dire problem in Pakistan. Its research uncovered the widespread presence of corruption in hospitals servicing low-income communities. It also found that out of 342 people surveyed, one-third encountered corruption in the form of paying bribes during admissions. People paid these bribes to doctors, hospital staff and even nurses. ACFOP has taken to social media and the public sector to raise awareness of corruption in health care on the provincial and national levels.
  8. Corruption in Taxation: Transparency International reports that corruption is prevalent among bureaucrats that involve themselves in tax collection. Its research found that tax inspectors and officials accounted for 14 percent of bribes that the average consumer paid out in a year. NGOs like the ACFOP and Transparency International Pakistan are working across all provinces of Pakistan to fight corruption in tax collection by identifying cases of corruption and lobbying local governments.
  9. Cricket Corruption: Corruption is so prevalent in Pakistan that it has leached into its sports teams. In 2011, members of Pakistan’s national cricket team received a conviction of receiving bribes from a bookmaker and agreeing to underperform at the team’s match against the British cricket team during the Lord’s test match. The International Cricket Council banned the players along with bookmaker Mazhar Majeed, and the players received prison sentences.
  10. National Accountability Bureau: Others have even accused the National Accountability Bureau, which is an organization that emerged in 1999 to fight corruption. In 2015, the Supreme Court of Pakistan accused the NAB of mismanagement. According to DAWN, two mishandled cases, one involving finance officers stealing from bomb victims and another dealing with land misappropriation, drew the ire of the Supreme Court, which claimed that “This represents serious maladministration and want of proper procedures and supervision within NAB.”

Hopefully, these 10 facts about corruption in Pakistan illuminate a critical but often overlooked shortcoming of one of the U.S.’s closest allies in the Middle East. It is important for a wider audience to see these facts so that NGOs around the world can do their part to help the people of Pakistan.

– Benjamin Mair-Pratt
Photo: Flickr