Flood victims still in the lurch

It's been six months since flood waters ravaged Pakistan's interior, submerging villages, inundating farmland, washing away the lives and livelihoods of countless thousands.

Now winter is dark and deep in the valleys, where refugees scramble for shelter and food. There is no escaping the deprivation and anguish.

While relief agencies have responded, the plight of the Pashtun is still tenuous. Life is a daily struggle to obtain fuel for heat and cooking — if lucky enough to have food to eat. Flour and basic commodities are scarce, proper medical care scarcer, and hope is the scarcest commodity of all.

The latest bulletin from the UN coordinating body describes a "dynamic situation" in which thousands still wait for the waters to recede before venturing home to villages and an uncertain future.

The only certainty is that the struggle in the coming months will be long, difficult and challenging. For the old, young and vulnerable there is only darkness; for everyone else trying to eke out a life, there is little light.

We all need to remember Pakistan's plight and contribute whatever material and monetary aid we can.

And now is not the time for those in Islamabad to play party politics.