Pakistan: UN Humanitarian Fund Allocates Money for Flood

Pakistan: UN Humanitarian Fund Allocates Money to Sustain Flood Relief

New York, Oct 6 2011 - The United Nations humanitarian fund today announced the allocation of $17.6 million to ensure that more than five million people affected by floods in Pakistan will continue to receive relief, including safe drinking water, sanitation services, food, shelter materials and other essential support.

The new funding from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) will support the operations of UN agencies and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in the flood-affected areas of southern Pakistan, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), which manages the fund.

The UN had last week warned that humanitarian agencies were running out of resources to assist those stricken by the floods, even as the need for clean water, food, shelter and medical services increased.

Last month, UN agencies and their partners launched the Pakistan Floods Rapid Response Plan to support the Government’s efforts to address the immediate needs of up to 5.4 million flood-affected people for six months, but that funding request has only received 15 per cent of the $357 million required.

Pakistan has been severely affected by floods for the second consecutive year. The UN and its humanitarian partners have to date provided emergency shelter for 314,500 households and more than 1.6 million people have received medicines and medical consultations.

More than 413,000 people have received food aid and the UN aims to double its support and provide up to 400,000 new beneficiaries with access to safe drinking water in the coming weeks.

For more details go to UN News Centre at http://www.un.org/news

ENDS

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