New York, NY (BBN)- The United Nations and its partners has launched their largest-ever natural disaster appeal, seeking over $2.0 billion for millions of Pakistani flood victims.
Overall the floods in Pakistan have affected more than 20 million people, equivalent to over 10 per cent of the total population, and the new $2.07-billion appeal, which more than quadruples the original $460 million sought last month, will provide aid for up to 14 million people over a 12-month period.
“We are seeing the equivalent of a new disaster every few days in Pakistan,” UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos said in launching the appeal in New York on Friday.
The rolling floods have killed fewer than 2,000 people but have exposed over 20 million others to homelessness, malnutrition, risks of epidemics and loss of livelihood as the waters have swept the country from north to south, damaging or destroying nearly 1.9 million homes and devastating at least 160,000 square kilometers – an area larger than England.
Friday’s appeal comprises 483 projects to be carried out by 15 UN bodies, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and 156 national and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
It includes the earlier $460 million, launched on 11 August, which is now 80 per cent funded, making the unmet requirements for this emergency $1.6 billion, a UN press statement said.
BBN/SI/AD-18Sept10-11:08 am (BST)