Stark warning three months into Pakistan flood crisis

By Nasir Jaffry (AFP)
29 October 2010 ISLAMABAD — International aid agency Oxfam warned Friday that three months into Pakistan’s unprecedented flood crisis funds were drying up, putting millions at risk with swathes of farmland still under water. The stark warning came as the United Nations refugee agency said thousands of people displaced by the floods were likely to spend the winter in camps. The UN issued a record two-billion-dollar appeal for funds to cope with Pakistan’s worst humanitarian disaster, which ravaged an area roughly the size of England and affected 21 million people. The World Bank and Asian Development Bank have estimated the damages at 9.7 billion dollars — almost twice those of Pakistan’s 2005 earthquake which killed more than 73,000 people. “Funds for the UN flood appeal are drying up and threatening the aid and reconstruction effort,” Oxfam said in a statement marking the third month since heavy monsoon rains began falling in northwestern Pakistan. “The crisis is far from over,” said Oxfam’s director in Pakistan, Neva Khan. The United Nations issued the funding appeal on September 17 in New York. Officials say around 35 percent of the appeal has been funded. “Cases of disease are increasing and large areas remain under water in southern Sindh province,” said Oxfam. “As winter approaches, seven million people are still without adequate shelter.” UN officials say 10 million people are in need of immediate food assistance and health authorities have reported scores of confirmed cases of cholera. “The funding shortfall is so serious that existing regular food rations to 3.5 million people could be in jeopardy,” Oxfam said. …

Stark warning three months into Pakistan flood crisis