UNICEF: EMERGENCY APPEAL FOR PAKISTAN OUTDATED
The United Nations Children`s Fund says last week`s U.N. $460 million appeal for Pakistan is outdated because the numbers of people needing emergency assistance has grown considerably. In addition, the U.N. now says more than 4 million people in Pakistan have been left homeless by the floods.
UNICEF Regional Director for South Asia, Daniel Toole, has just completed a trip across flooded areas in Pakistan to evaluate the magnitude of the problems and the needs.
He says in the 15 years in which he has been dealing with emergencies, he has never seen one this large. He says the scale and scope of the disaster defies belief.
The government of Pakistan says about 20 million people are affected by the disaster and Toole says the United Nations estimates at least 7 million are severely affected.
"Those are people who have basically lost everything. I have met hundreds of them who have arrived in camps with only the clothes they are wearing," said UNICEF Regional Director Toole. "They do not have food. They do not have water. They do not have clothes. They do not have shelter. And, so those are the most severely affected. Others will have moved to the side of the river and so they are still on high ground. And, they may have moved with some of their belongings, some of their food."
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