Brussels, 25 October 2022 (TDI): On Monday morning, 24 October 2022, the Federal Public Service for Foreign Affairs of Belgium announced the departure of the B-FAST expert team to Pakistan with a water purification module to provide assistance.
After this summer’s devastating flood, the affected population of Pakistan still has a lot of needs, particularly in terms of access to clean, drinkable water.
In this vein, on Monday, a group of professionals from the Belgian departments of civil protection, FPS Health, the Ministry of Defense, and Foreign Affairs departed for Pakistan.
It is pertinent to note that the European Union (EU) is supporting the operation, which is a component of the European crisis response coordination.
Also, a B-FAST scouting team already visited Pakistan in the middle of October to determine potential locations for the water treatment facility.
It has its sights set on Bhiria and Kot Diji, two places in the Sindh region where B-FAST could help with the problem of the scarcity of drinkable water.
Up to 120,000 liters of water per day can be processed at both locations using the water purification module. The restoration and decontamination of a Kot Diji water treatment facility will take place concurrently.
Also Read: Belgium provides emergency relief to Pakistan
As a result, it will give the community a long-term remedy for the current epidemic of infections and ailments. It will also involve a local team of experts in the entire process to teach Pakistani specialists.
This will be done to enable Pakistani specialists to take over the water treatment plant after the Belgians return home. Moreover, along with the plant itself, Pakistan will receive all the supplies required to filter water for at least a year.
B-FAST
The B-FAST is the Belgian government’s fast intervention framework. When a disaster strikes overseas, it responds to the foreign government’s request for emergency relief.
This is in case there are no active hostilities and the foreign country is no longer able to organize sufficient aid on its own.
EU flood Relief assistance
The Pakistani government requested aid from the international community to deal with the humanitarian catastrophe on August 29. It is noteworthy that since 1990, the EU has provided funds for humanitarian relief initiatives in Pakistan.
The EU has provided flood victims with €1.8 million in humanitarian aid. It is giving households impacted by flash floods in wide areas of Pakistan €1.8 million in humanitarian relief.
The funding will go to EU humanitarian partners working on the ground to provide for the immediate needs of flood-affected families, such as temporary emergency housing, food, clean water, cash transfers, and basic medical treatment.
