UN racing against time and weather to deliver aid to flood-hit Pakistanis
(August 14, 2010) United Nations agencies are racing against time and weather to
reach as many of the 14 million people affected by the recent floods in Pakistan as
they can amid warnings of fresh floods and more rain across much of the South Asian
nation. “Agencies are accelerating their response to the crisis,” Elisabeth Byrs
of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) told reporters in
Geneva. Ms. Byrs noted that 20 per cent of the almost $460 million requested by the
UN and its partners to help Pakistan tackle the needs of flood-affected families has
been received so far. The funds requested under the emergency response plan launched
in New York on Wednesday covers immediate priorities such as food, clean drinking
water, tents and other shelter and non-food items, as well as medical supplies for
those affected by the flooding, which began late last month in the wake of particularly
heavy monsoon rains. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon intends to travel to Pakistan to
see for himself the flood-hit areas and demonstrate the support of the UN and the
international community for the people and Government, his spokesperson announced
today, although no details of the trip were provided. Humanitarian agencies in Pakistan
are working day and night to deliver life-saving assistance to those in need, OCHA
stated, while stressing that much more funding is required to do this in a timely
manner. More than 1,200 people have been killed, and at least 2 million left homeless,
by the disaster which has also destroyed homes, farmland and major infrastructure
in large parts of the country. In the past three days, nearly 13,000 children, pregnant
women and lactating women had been vaccinated against measles, polio and tetanus in
different flood-affected areas. Despite bad weather and massive destruction to bridges
and roads, the World Food Programme (WFP) said it has been able to deliver a one-month
ration of food to over 430,000 people, and hopes to reach over 2 million in the next
10 days. The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) announced that a chartered flight carrying
100 metric tons of emergency relief arrived in the southern port city of Karachi Friday,
bringing with it health kits, nutrition supplies, midwifery kits and tarpaulins. Some
of these supplies will be dispatched to the worst affected areas of Sindh province,
while the rest will be moved to other parts of the county – all with an emphasis on
reaching women and children in dire need.