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UN chief says international help ‘crucial’ for flooded Pakistan
By IFTIKHAR ALIUNITED NATIONS, Sept 18 (APP): Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Friday fervently urged member states to help the people of Pakistan deal with the grave situation left behind by the unprecedented floods, saying “your support is crucial now more than ever.” “Every dollar is required to save lives,” UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said at the launch of the over $2 billion Revised Emergency Response Plan, calling the floods “the worst natural disaster the UN has responded to in its 65 year history.”
Dozens of countries present at the event expressed their support for Pakistan where more than 20 million have been uprooted, and some announced new pledges of financial support. “We simply cannot stand by and watch the immense suffering in a disaster of this scale,” said UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos in announcing the appeal.
Adding the first 459 million U.S. dollars of the first flash appeal which was launched on August 11, the total of the UN Emergency Response Plan comes to $2,006,525,183, the largest yet UN disaster appeal. “Eighty percent of the first appeal is funded as of today,” Ms. Amos told reporters here.
Pakistan’s U.N. Ambassador Abdullah Hussain Haroon gave a detailed briefing to the delegates on the flood damage, and thanked the international community for its generous help and support. But, he added, considering the enormity of the crisis, Pakistan needs more help to meet the needs of over 20 million affected people. India, during a plenary meeting on Friday, pledged 20 million U.S. dollars of relief aid, and an additional 5 million U.S. dollars to the World Food Programme.
Other member states have stated that they intend to increase their contributions, Ms. Amos said. Ms. Amos said the projects outlined in the plan would be implemented in a coordinated manner and would overseen by her department. As Pakistan is not facing one humanitarian crisis, but many at once, different responses are required,” Ban, who visited the country and saw the destruction at first hand, went on to say in his moving speech. “Helping the 20 million people affected will be a test for our collective humanity,” he said, noting that “the human tragedy is immense and still growing.”
“Millions of people are waiting for help,” the UN chief noted, calling in particular for help for the millions of children and pregnant women who are at risk and lack access to basic health care. “The UN and the humanitarian community know what to do: getting trained and experienced workers into one of the hardest accessible parts of the country,” Ban said, adding that “the support of the member states is now more crucial than ever.”
Friday’s appeal is the largest one ever issued by the United Nations. Previously, the biggest natural disaster appeal was for victims of Haiti’s January earthquake which totaled nearly $1.5 billion.
Pakistan’s development prospects may be disrupted for many years, UN’s humanitarian agency said. The damage to the economic infrastructure and livelihoods is immense. Irrigation, drainage and storage facilities are badly affected. Farmers who lost their crops and are not able to plant their fields by November are likely to remain dependent on aid until well into 2012. Hundreds of thousands more lost their shops or other small businesses.
The appeal seeks funding for agriculture, camp coordination and management, community restoration, coordination, education, food, health, logistics, nutrition, protection, shelter, and water, sanitation and hygiene. The size of the revised appeal reflects the enormous human and geographic scale of the catastrophe, and the necessity of putting into place the right kind of early recovery, including projects in agriculture, community restoration, education, health and shelter. “In these difficult financial times, countries have been extremely generous in helping those in need around the world, contributing over $5 billion to appeals this year,” Ms. Amos said.
“But more is now needed. The Government and the people of Pakistan have already done much to help families affected by these floods. We must also do our part - we simply cannot stand by and watch the immense suffering in a disaster of this scale.”
The Pakistan Floods Emergency Response Plan will be reviewed in early 2011 and if necessary further revised. The UN World Food Programme (WFP), which has been streaming emergency aid into Pakistan since the beginning of August, Friday urged donors to provide the necessary additional funds.
“No one could have predicted the scale and enormity of this catastrophe where women and children are facing a dangerous downwards spiral of hunger and malnutrition,” WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran said. “We need to scale-up now and we need to scale up quickly.” WFP now aims to provide emergency food assistance to some 6 million people each month through to the end of January while transitioning towards early recovery activities such as food for work and cash for work programmes to restore livelihoods and rehabilitate damaged land, irrigation systems and agricultural infrastructure.
“The road to recovery will be long and arduous and Pakistan will need all the help it can get to build back from this disaster,” Ms. Sheeran said in a statement issued at WFP headquarters in Rome. “Food security
is pivotal to recovery and now, as the floodwaters begin to recede, we urgently need additional resources.” WFP estimates that more than 10 million people need immediate food aid aims to reach the majority of those affected, while governments and NGOs also provide vital food assistance.
The UN World Health Organization (WHO) said it had so far managed to avert a second wave of death from disease, with the rollout of diarrhoeal disease centres treating a 30 per cent increase in numbers over last year. “Much has been done to save lives and prevent illness,” WHO representative Guido Sabatinelli told reporters. “But is just the start.
We are in the middle of the malaria season and already seeing increased cases of suspected malaria in some locations, particularly Sindh and Balochistan.“We know there were already terribly high rates of chide malnutrition in the country, and anecdotal reports from some clinics are showing higher levels. We will need continued and sustained donor support to protect the health of Pakistanis in the months and years ahead by, in great part, building back a health system that should be better than what was there before for many people.”
Courtesy www.app.com.pk