UN launches Pakistan appeal
The United Nations launched an appeal to raise almost $460m (€357m) for flood-hit Pakistan tonight.
The UN said 14 million people had been affected by the disaster, with 1,200 dead and at least 288,000 homes damaged or destroyed.
It said up to seven million people needed immediate humanitarian assistance, including food, clean water, shelter and medical care.
“We have a huge task in front of us to deliver all that is required as soon as possible,” said John Holmes, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, at the launch of the humanitarian response plan at UN Headquarters in New York.
“The death toll has so far been relatively low compared to other major natural disasters, but the numbers affected are extraordinarily high. If we don’t act fast enough, many more people could die of diseases and food shortages,” added Mr. Holmes, who is also the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs.
Floodwaters have caused huge destruction in Pakistan’s volatile north-west region over the past three weeks, also deluging villages and some urban centres in Punjab, the richest and most populous province.
In a typical year, the country gets an average 5.4ins of rainfall during the monsoon season.
This year it had already received 6.3ins, said Muhammad Hanif, head of the National Weather Forecasting Centre in Islamabad.
Shelter is an urgent priority and $105m (€81m) of the total aid sought is required to provide tents or plastic sheeting, as well as basic household goods, for an initial target of more than 2 million people, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
“We are working round the clock to get these items manufactured and delivered,” said Martin Mogwanja, Humanitarian Coordinator for Pakistan. “I can confidently say that the response could not be any faster.”
More than 65,000 tents have already been delivered, covering at least 450,000 people, along with plastic sheets for an estimated 60,000 people.
“The response of the international community has so far been encouraging,” said Mr. Holmes. “It is essential that this continues,” he said, adding that “the magnitude of the disaster is sinking into the international community.”
So far, donors have committed or contributed $47m (€36.5m) to the response activities of the UN and its partners, and a further $99.5m (€77.3m) has been pledged.
At least $300m (€233m) is, however, still urgently needed, the UN said.
