UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon praised the global community as emergency donations for Pakistan neared US$500 million, but warned the flood-stricken nation faces “years of need.”
Donations have outstripped the US$460 million sought by the UN emergency appeal as the global relief effort kicked into gear amid impassioned pleas for help by Pakistan.
The Financial Tracking Service, a UN database that aims to track all donations, showed late on Friday that US$490.7 million in funding has been collected, with another US$325 million pledged.
PHOTO: AFP
The US leads the way followed by Saudi Arabia and Britain.
The UN on Thursday led a meeting to raise support for Pakistan — a disaster that Ban called a “slow-motion tsunami.”
On Friday, Ban welcomed the donations, saying: “The generosity of countries and individuals will make a real difference in the daily lives of millions of people ... We must keep it up. Pakistan is facing weeks, months and years of need.”
The floods have left almost 1,500 people dead in the nuclear-armed country of 167 million — a top US foreign policy priority on the frontline of the US-led war on al-Qaeda and locked in battles with homegrown Taliban.
Its weak, democratically elected government has faced an outpouring of public fury over sluggish relief efforts and there are growing fears that losses of up to US$43 billion could bring economic oblivion.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, who has been appealing for help in the US, said that it was important to look not only at emergency funding but also at long-term needs.
“I would say the initial response was slow because the world was not aware of the magnitude of the challenge. But now I think it is filtering in,” Qureshi told PBS NewsHour on US public television on Friday.
“But that’s only the beginning. We have to look at the recovery and the rehabilitation and reconstruction costs as well,” he said.
Eight million flood survivors in desperate need of food, shelter and clean drinking water require humanitarian assistance to survive, as concerns grow over potential cholera, typhoid and hepatitis outbreaks.
Elisabeth Byrs, a spokeswoman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said UN agencies were ramping up their aid effort but the full picture was only beginning to emerge.
“It’s a disaster that came very slowly, it’s not an earthquake that hits suddenly that we can immediately see the victims. But we are now seeing the magnitude of this catastrophe.”
The UN World Food Programme said it urgently needs helicopters to get food to millions of flood victims who remain cut off by the high waters, although weather forecasters say the monsoon systems are easing off.
The agency warned that the floods have killed or are threatening millions of livestock and launched an urgent appeal for animal feed.
As aid from around the world has poured in, Pakistan thanked the world for opening its wallets and said more than 20 million flood victims now know that nations and people around the globe are standing with them during the worst disaster the country has ever faced.
Wrapping up a hurriedly called two-day meeting of the UN General Assembly to spotlight the immediate need for aid, Pakistan’s UN Ambassador Abdullah Haroon said the initial outpouring from some 70 countries was “indeed heartening” and “a good beginning,” though he stressed that the country will need much more help in the months and years to come.
Pakistan announced earlier Friday that it would accept US$5 million in aid from neighbor and rival India, which Haroon welcomed saying the disaster transcended any differences and the country was grateful for the offer.
India’s UN Ambassador Hardeep Singh Puri said the US$5 million in relief supplies was an initial offer and the government is ready to do more to assist the relief effort. He said India would also “be privileged” to assist in Pakistan’s medium and long-term recovery.
Iran also announced that day that it was doubling its contribution to US$10 million.
REBUILDING: A researcher said that it might seem counterintuitive to start talking about reconstruction amid the war with Russia, but it is ‘actually an urgent priority’ Italy is hosting the fourth annual conference on rebuilding Ukraine even as Russia escalates its war, inviting political and business leaders to Rome to promote public-private partnerships on defense, mining, energy and other projects as uncertainty grows about the US’ commitment to Kyiv’s defense. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy were opening the meeting yesterday, which gets under way as Russia accelerated its aerial and ground attacks against Ukraine with another night of pounding missile and drone attacks on Kyiv. Italian organizers said that 100 official delegations were attending, as were 40 international organizations and development banks. There are
TARIFF ACTION: The US embassy said that the ‘political persecution’ against former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro disrespects the democratic traditions of the nation The US and Brazil on Wednesday escalated their row over US President Donald Trump’s support for former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, with Washington slapping a 50 percent tariff on one of its main steel suppliers. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva threatened to reciprocate. Trump has criticized the prosecution of Bolsonaro, who is on trial for allegedly plotting to cling on to power after losing 2022 elections to Lula. Brasilia on Wednesday summoned Washington’s top envoy to the country to explain an embassy statement describing Bolsonaro as a victim of “political persecution” — echoing Trump’s description of the treatment of Bolsonaro as
The tale of a middle-aged Chinese man, or “uncle,” who disguised himself as a woman to secretly film and share videos of his hookups with more than 1,000 men shook China’s social media, spurring fears for public health, privacy and marital fidelity. The hashtag “red uncle” was the top trending item on China’s popular microblog Sina Weibo yesterday, drawing at least 200 million views as users expressed incredulity and shock. The online posts told of how the man in the eastern city of Nanjing had lured 1,691 heterosexual men into sexual encounters at his home that he then recorded and distributed online. The
Hundreds of protesters marched through the Mexican capital on Friday denouncing gentrification caused by foreigners, with some vandalizing businesses and shouting “gringos out!” The demonstration in the capital’s central area turned violent when hooded individuals smashed windows, damaged restaurant furniture and looted a clothing store. Mexico City Government Secretary Cesar Cravioto said 15 businesses and public facilities were damaged in what he called “xenophobic expressions” similar to what Mexican migrants have suffered in other countries. “We are a city of open arms... there are always ways to negotiate, to sit at the table,” Cravioto told Milenio television. Neighborhoods like Roma-Condesa
RSS