The United Nations and the Pakistani government on Tuesday launched an urgent appeal for donations of 160 million dollars to help more than 5 million victims of the catastrophic floods which hit the country.
This financial aid should make it possible to finance an emergency plan for the next 6 months, first and foremost to provide basic services (health, food, drinking water and shelter) to the 5.2 million people most affected by these rains. historic monsoons, explained Jens Laerke, spokesman for the UN’s Office of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha), during the regular UN briefing in Geneva.
The aid must also make it possible to avoid epidemics of cholera, for example, and provide food aid to mothers and their young children.
The third part of this plan must provide assistance to refugees, the disabled and the elderly and put in place a system to allow families to be reunited.
Tens of millions of Pakistanis are battling the worst monsoon rains in three decades, which have claimed more than 1,000 lives, washed away countless homes and destroyed vital farmland.
Supporting the call, and recalling the generosity of the Pakistani people, especially towards the many Afghan refugees for decades, Antonio Guterres, the UN Secretary General, placed the natural disaster in the broader context of climate change.
“South Asia is one of the hotspots of the global climate crisis. People living in these hotspots are 15 times more likely to die from climate impacts,” Guterres said.
“As we continue to see more and more extreme weather events around the world, it is outrageous that climate action is being put on the back burner as global greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, putting us everyone – everywhere – in growing danger”, he denounced in a video message.
The UN has already mobilized $7 million, including redirecting money from other programs, to fund the most urgent needs and another $3 million has been released through the UN Emergency Response Fund, Mr. Guterres’ spokesman, Stéphane Dujarric, said in New York on Monday.