Lt Gen Omar Mahmood Hayat (R)
IN the last five years, Pakistan has endured a relentless sequence of crises—economic, environmental, political and epidemiological—that have reshaped the lives of its 240 million citizens.
These are not isolated events. Together, they form a poly-crisis: a convergence of shocks that has tested the limits of human endurance and national cohesion.
Let’s Look at the events of the last five years with this prism. Between 2020 and 2024, Pakistan’s headline inflation surged to a 50-year high, peaking at 35.37% in March 2023. Food inflation alone reached 47.15%, making basic staples like flour, lentils and cooking oil unaffordable for millions. The cost of living more than doubled: what cost Rs. 10,000 in 2019 required over Rs. 26,000 by 2023.For families like the Khans in Multan, who relied on a single income from a rickshaw driver, this meant skipping meals, pulling children out of school and selling household items to afford medicine. The middle class—once the symbol of upward mobility—has been hollowed out, with savings depleted and dignity eroded.
Pakistan contributes less than 1% of global greenhouse emissions, yet it ranks among the most climate-vulnerable countries. The 2022 floods displaced 8 million people and affected 30 million, submerging entire districts in Sindh and Balochistan. In 2024, another wave of flooding displaced 1.5 million more. The reports of the scale of destruction of 2025 floods are still being compiled. The financial and human cost are bound to be staggering. Temperatures in Jacobabad and Dadu regularly hit 50°C, making outdoor labour dangerous and triggering heatstroke deaths. Agriculture, which employs nearly 40% of the workforce, suffered massive crop failures due to erratic rainfall and glacial melt. The World Bank warns that water availability could drop by 50% by 2050, threatening food security and energy production.
Militant violence resurged in Khyber- Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, where a huge number laid down their lives in targeted attacks in 2024 and 2025. Border tensions with Afghanistan led to mass deportations of refugees while political polarization deepened mistrust in institutions.Journalists faced harassment, enforced disappearances and even death—seven were killed in 2024, according to press freedom watch dogs. Religious minorities were scapegoated under blasphemy laws, facing mob violence and legal persecution.
COVID-19 infected over 1.6 million Pakistanis and claimed over 30,000 lives officially, though the true toll is likely higher due to underreporting. Hospitals were overwhelmed, with oxygen shortages and ICU beds unavailable during peak waves.Over 50 million students were affected by school closures and remote learning was inaccessible for many due to lack of devices and internet. Women in informal sectors lost income, while domestic violence surged during lockdowns. Mental health crises—grief, anxiety, depression—became widespread but remained largely untreated. Every year since then, we are facing outbreaks of dengue and various mutated flu variants resulting in additional loss of life.
To navigate this poly-crisis, Pakistan must embrace bold, inclusive and forward-thinking reforms: Pakistan needs to expand targeted subsidies for food, fuel and education, this must be done after rooting out corruption and inefficiencies that mar the BISP program. Support small businesses and informal workers through microfinance and digital inclusion.Reform taxation to reduce inequality by expanding the tax net and through this additional income we need to fund public services. It is high time that we purposefully invest in flood defences, drought-resistant crops and early warning systems.We need to enforce environmental regulations and protect glacial ecosystems on priority. We must work diligently towards empowering local communities with climate education and green jobs. It is imperative that we strengthen civilian oversight of security operations.This will only be possible with a civilian leadership that enjoys public support and is efficient in governance. We also need to protect journalists, activists and minorities through legal reform and public accountability.It is essential that we start promoting interfaith dialogue and inclusive narratives in media and education. Expand universal healthcare access, especially in rural and underserved areas. Digitize education and bridge the urban-rural learning divide.Address mental health through community-based support and destigmatization.
These reforms may appear enormous, but we must remember that despite the storms that have battered this nation—economic collapse, climate devastation, political unrest and pandemic isolation—the people of Pakistan have not surrendered. From the flood-ravaged fields of Sindh to the crowded alleyways of Lahore, from the displaced families in Balochistan to the frontline nurses in the KP, a quiet strength endures. It is the resilience of a mother who teaches her children by candlelight, the ingenuity of a youth who builds a business from scraps, the solidarity of neighbours who share what little they have. Pakistan’s spirit is not defined by its crises, but by its capacity to adapt, to rebuild and to rise again. In every hardship, there is a story of courage. And in every story, the promise that this nation—scarred but unbroken—will wade through, not just to survive, but to lead with dignity and purpose.
—The writer is Ex-Chairman, National Disaster Management Authority.
