The donor response to Pakistan flooding "a disaster in the making"

Oxfam International aid has expressed concern about flooding in the provinces of Sindh and Balochistan, with only $ 1.30 per person is committed by international donors in the first 10 days of the call of the UN, instead of $ 3.20 committed to the same period during last year's floods.

Oxfam calls on the Pakistani government and the international donor community to dig deep into their resources and the rapid increase in funding to prevent the disaster from worsening further. The agency warns that the situation of millions of people in Sindh and Balochistan will worsen unless more help arrives.

According to the latest figures show that more than 8.8 million people in Sindh and Balochistan so far 14 000 people are affected by monsoon rains in 2011. Human impact on the accident, the number of people is more than the combined effect of the earthquake in Haiti, and the earthquake in Pakistan in 2005. The losses are estimated at $ 215 million, and this number is likely to rise as some areas are inaccessible and the effects of flooding can not be estimated.

"This is a repeat of last year, too cruel in this case, the funding is too little and too slow donors should recognize the seriousness of the situation Millions of innocent people, most of whom are women and children who desperately notions of basis: ... Food, water, sanitation, health and protection. If the aid does not arrive quickly, then the second increase in emergency malnutrition and waterborne diseases increases the risks to public health, making the reality of a disaster. There is no time to lose. We must all act now, "said Neva Khan, Director of Oxfam in Pakistan.

Source