The UN said the global community has not provided enough funds after the devastating floods in Pakistan, and that it could lead to the suspension of its food support program next month.
The UN World Food Programme could run out of funds to feed 2.7 million people by Jan. 15, said Chris Kaye, the agency’s representative in Pakistan.
The UN’s and Pakistan’s joint efforts garnered only about 30 percent of the US$816 million funds requested, said Julien Harneis, a UN resident and humanitarian coordinator in Pakistan.
Photo: Reuters
“We aren’t getting financing. That’s deeply worried us,” Harneis said at an event in Islamabad after unveiling a UN report on the floods. “International capitals lack understanding of the situation on the ground.”
Pakistan’s unprecedented floods in the summer killed more than 1,700 people, inundated one-third of the nation and reduced the nation’s growth by half. The floods have left about US$32 billion in damages and losses to the nation’s economy.
About 9.1 million people could be pushed below the poverty line, as more funding is needed to restore livelihood activities, the UN report said.
Photo: AFP
About 1.1 million more people would be added to the affected population that needs critical life-saving food support, and seven million people also need nutrition assistance, the report said.
“We have a major, very serious crisis ahead of us,” Kaye said.
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