UN needs $97m for Pakistan flood victims
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ISLAMABAD (AFP) - The United Nations needs US$79 million (S$96.7 million) from donors urgently to save millions of Pakistanis affected by monsoon floods and unrest in the north-west, an official said on Monday.
Pakistan has suffered devastating floods in the past two years, including the worst in its history in 2010 when catastrophic inundations across the country killed almost 1,800 people and affected 21 million.
This year monsoon floods in Pakistan have killed 480 people and affected more than five million, according to the government's disaster relief agency.
"There is a funding shortage - as is most often the case in protracted crisis - US$79 million dollars are urgently required to meet immediate needs," Assistant Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs Catherine Bragg said. "Winter is coming, making the need even more urgent," she told reporters after a visit to affected areas.
