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.