More resources vital for Pakistan flood relief efforts, stresses UN humanitarian chief by United Nations News 8:44pm 9th Dec, 2010   Jan 2011    Millions of Pakistanis still in need of post-flood assistance, say UN officials.    Millions of Pakistanis are still in need of assistance as they recover from the floods that inundated large portions of the country during what was one of the most challenging years for the South Asian nation, two senior United Nations officials stated today.    “With an estimated 20 million people affected by devastating floods, the country faced its biggest ever humanitarian crisis,” Rauf-Engin Soysal, the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Assistance to Pakistan, and UN Resident Coordinator Timo Pakkala said in a joint message.    “Millions of Pakistanis still require relief assistance and full recovery of livelihoods and infrastructure will take years,” they added. “Through resilience and determination and with the support of national partners and the international community, the country will overcome this challenging period.”    The floods that began in late July affected some 20 million people across the provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan, and damaged schools, health centres, important infrastructure such as sanitation systems, bridges and roads, and destroyed croplands.    Earlier this month UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos urged the international community to provide the resources needed to help those in need of vital assistance.    “There is a continuing need for a strong financial response and I want to see attention focused on this immense human tragedy,” she told reporters following her second visit to the country since the disaster.    “This is an emergency which will continue for months to come, and considerable relief efforts will continue to be necessary alongside recovery activities and development work,” she added.    The $2 billion appeal for aid for Pakistani flood victims made in September, the largest-ever launched by the UN and its partners for a natural disaster, is currently 51 per cent funded.    Dec 2010    The United Nations humanitarian chief has urged the international community to provide the necessary resources to assist the millions of people in Pakistan who are still in need of vital assistance some four months after floods inundated large portions of the South Asian nation.    “There is a continuing need for a strong financial response and I want to see attention focused on this immense human tragedy,” Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Valerie Amos told a news conference in New York.    The $2 billion appeal for aid for Pakistani flood victims made in September, the largest-ever launched by the UN and its partners for a natural disaster, is currently 49 per cent funded.    “This is an emergency which will continue for months to come, and considerable relief efforts will continue to be necessary alongside recovery activities and development work,” said Ms. Amos, who just returned from a visit to Pakistan last week, her second since the disaster.    Reporting on what had already been achieved, she said that last month alone, the UN and its partners delivered food to 6 million people. In addition, more than 4.3 million people have access to safe drinking water on a daily basis, emergency shelter materials have been distributed to 4.7 million people, and more than 7 million are benefiting from essential healthcare.    “But there is still a great deal to do,” stated Ms. Amos, who is also UN Emergency Relief Coordinator. “The floods in Pakistan are slowly falling out of the headlines but people are still experiencing an acute emergency situation which requires international attention.”    The floods that began in late July affected some 20 million people across the provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan, and damaged schools, health centres, important infrastructure such as sanitation systems, bridges and roads, and destroyed croplands.    Large portions of the hardest-hit areas are still under water, noted Ms. Amos, adding that while approximately 50 to 60 per cent of the water has now receded, it might take another three to five months for the rest of the water to recede, particularly in Sindh.    “People are still living in a very precarious situation, many totally dependent on humanitarian assistance,” she said. “And with winter now setting in, I’m concerned that more needs to be done to ensure that particularly those who are vulnerable have a roof over their heads.”    Dec 2010    Crisis far from over for Pakistan’s children says Unicef.    More than four months after the worst floods in the country"s history, UNICEF warns that winter will worsen the threats against Pakistani children who already suffer high rates of acute respiratory infections and malnutrition.    New polio cases are spreading rapidly, overcrowding and poor sanitation as a result of the floods have exacerbated the threat for children. "This crisis is far from over. It has just evolved in very different ways from one part of Pakistan to the next and the humanitarian effort has had to adapt swiftly to reach children and women most in need as their needs change," said Daniel Toole, UNICEF"s Regional Director for South Asia.    "Although most people have returned to their home areas, many have returned to near total destruction -- with no homes, no crops, no food and no cash. In the north, snow has fallen and we are delivering winter clothes and supplies to help families prepare for a harsh winter, while in the south very slow receding waters have meant over a million lives are still on hold. The coming cold months will sharply increase the numbers of respiratory infections and malnutrition, two of the biggest killers of Pakistani children."    One-fifth of Pakistan"s land area was ravaged by the monsoon floods that affected 20.3 million people. Some 10,000 schools and rural health centres were damaged by the floods and important infrastructure was destroyed or badly damaged, including water and sanitation systems, bridges and roads.    Since the early stages of the floods, UNICEF has been providing clean water to an unprecedented 2.8 million people daily, and sanitation facilities to more than 1.5 million people.    UNICEF has partnered with WHO and the Government of Pakistan to immunize more than 9 million children against measles and polio. Nutritional supplements have reached nearly 300,000 pregnant women and mothers with young babies as well as malnourished children.    In preparation for winter, UNICEF has started to distribute warm children"s clothing and blankets. However, millions of families still need assistance in the form of water, medicine and nutritional supplements to survive the coming months, especially those living in the north of the country as harsh winter conditions approach.    "The scale of this remains massive. The impact of the floods in Pakistan will be felt for years to come, so the more we can do now the quicker children and families will recover, and that means urgently needed funds to do our job better," Toole said.
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