Islamabad: The United Nations has revised its humanitarian appeal for Pakistan five-fold to $816 million from $160 million as it seeks to control a rise in water-borne diseases after an unprecedented flood situation in the country that has claimed over 1700 lives.
“We are now entering a second wave of death and destruction,” Julien Harneis, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Pakistan said at a Geneva briefing. Harneis was quoted as saying by Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper. “There will be an increase in child morbidity and it will be pretty terrible unless we act rapidly to support the government in increasing the provision of health, nutrition and water and sanitation services across the affected areas,” he said.
In a press statement, Pakistan’s foreign ministry said an up-scaled Flash Appeal is being jointly launched by the Government of Pakistan and the United Nations (UN) on October 4 in Geneva. The Pakistan government said this revision has been made on the basis of an updated on-ground needs assessment of the flood situation in the country.
“Ministerial level participation from the Government of Pakistan will include Minister for Climate Change Senator Sherry Rehman, attending the event in person in Geneva, and Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Professor Ahsan Iqbal, Minister for Economic Affairs Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar participating virtually from Islamabad,” the foreign ministry said.
UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths and Director General World Health Organization Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus will represent the UN, along with Resident Coordinator in Pakistan Julien Harneis.
The meeting will be attended by the UN Member States as well as various UN agencies and humanitarian organizations working in disaster relief.
The Floods Response Plan has been prepared in close coordination between the Government of Pakistan and the United Nations and focuses on providing necessary assistance to the vulnerable people affected by the unprecedented floods. It complements the Government’s overall response to the recent climate-induced floods in Pakistan.
As of September 30, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has recorded nearly 1,700 deaths and more than 12,800 injuries since mid-June. The highest death rates were recorded in Sindh (747), Balochistan (325) and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (307).
More than 2 million houses have been damaged or destroyed and around 7.9 million people are reportedly displaced, including some 598,000 people living in relief camps, according to reports by the Provincial Disaster Management Authorities (PDMA) of the affected provinces.
Estimates indicate that more than 7,000 schools are currently being used to host displaced populations, while an estimated 25,100 schools have been damaged.
