Pakistan: Oversvømmelsens konsekvenser forværres uden tilstrækkelig hjælp

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GENEVE, 13. oktober, 2011 (IRIN): Monsunens altoverskyggende oversvømmelser har ødelagt livet for mange milioner af mennesker. Men en måned efter katastrofen holder det internationale samfund sig stadig tilbage med at yde tilstrækkelig hjælp, og en yderligere forværring af omstændighederne kan være en konsekvens.

“The international community is not coming forward to provide funds,” said Joe Cropp of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC.) “Interest just isn’t there,” he told IRIN.

Oxfam, for its part, says that while humanitarian aid will be needed for months to come, relief activities so far “have barely scratched the surface”.

UN agencies have repeatedly called for funds over recent weeks, warning that the situation could deteriorate rapidly if new aid is not forthcoming.

Only 18 percent of the US$357 million Pakistan Flood Response Plan appeal has been funded to date. “It is really too little and it is cause for concern,” said Elisabeth Byrs, spokeswoman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA.)

“Winter is about to set in, and with the cold the situation will become unbearable, notably in Sindh [Province] where 850,000 people live in temporary shelters,” Byrs told journalists in Geneva.

Læs videre på: http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=93953