PAKISTAN: MORE FUNDING REQUIRED TO SPEED UP FLOOD RELIEF EFFORTS

(New York / Geneva / Islamabad: 13 August 2010): Humanitarian organizations in Pakistan are working round the clock to deliver life-saving assistance to at least six million people in need, but far more funding is required in order to do this in a timely manner.

"Relief supplies must reach women, men, and children as soon as possible, in order to avoid further death caused by waterborne diseases and food shortages", said Martin Mogwanja, Humanitarian Coordinator for Pakistan. "The death toll has so far been relatively low compared to other major natural disasters, and we want to keep it that way", he added.

In the Pakistan Initial Floods Emergency Response Plan (PIFERP), published on 11 August, the United Nations and its partners request funding for $ 459.7 million for relief activities in the domains of food, shelter, water, and health. These activities aim to complement the national efforts led by the Government's National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).

The food cluster, led by the World Food Programme (WFP), has so far delivered one-month food rations to nearly 430,000 people, totaling 5,133 metric tons (MT) of food. Out of the $ 156.2 million required for food assistance, only $ 37.5 million has so far been secured. "We are heartened by the initial support we have received, but the food situation is critical right now. We need further generous donations to allow us to buy the food we require and deliver it as quickly as possible to those in need", said Marcus Prior of WFP.

Shelter remains one of the most urgent needs. The shelter cluster aims to provide shelter to an initial target of two million people, although this figure is likely to be reviewed. "We are working at full speed to get tents and plastic sheets manufactured and delivered to those in need", said Mr. Mogwanja, "Tens of thousands of tents have been ordered from local manufacturers, and are being produced as we speak". So far, cluster partners have distributed 59,912 tents and 31,476 shelter kits providing plastic sheeting, benefitting an estimated 514,000 people. An additional 62,709 tents and 126,827 shelter kits are in the pipeline, intended to cover a further 819,000 people. The shelter cluster needs $ 105 million in order to proceed with the relief, but only $ 8.3 million has been received so far.

Funding shortfalls may pose a serious problem to implementation of relief activities envisaged in the PIFERP. In addition to this, and to the logistical challenge of producing and delivering items on such a large scale in a short period of time, physical access to affected areas continues to pose a problem. "Nine trucks with our relief supplies were dispatched from Peshawar to Quetta more than a week ago, but have travelled very slowly due to floods and landslides, and five are still stuck", said Bekele Negash, acting head of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Baluchistan's provincial capital Quetta.

Pakistan's floods have affected an estimated 14.1 million people, of whom six million are due to be assisted by the United Nations and its partners.

For further information, please call: OCHA Islamabad: Maurizio Giuliano, +92 300 8502397, giuliano@un.org; OCHA-New York: Stephanie Bunker, +1 917 367 5126, mobile +1 347 244 2106, bunker@un.org; Nicholas Reader, +1 212 963 4961, mobile +1 646 752 3117, reader@un.org, OCHA-Geneva: Elisabeth Byrs, +41 22 917 2653, mobile +41 79 473 4570, byrs@un.org

OCHA press releases are available at http://ochaonline.un.org or www.reliefweb.int