UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher has allocated 5 million U.S. dollars from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund to support the response to the floods that continue to devastate large parts of Pakistan, a UN spokesperson said Monday, APA reports citing Xinhua.
The money complements a 600,000 dollar allocation from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Asia and the Pacific Regional Fund, as well as the 250,000 dollars allocated from the Pakistan Country-Based Pooled Fund for local NGOs, Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, told a daily briefing.
The funds will support cash transfers, health, water and sanitation, shelter and food, among other urgent needs, he said.
According to OCHA, many villages remain submerged, with some reports of water depths of up to 10 meters, delaying humanitarian access and assessments, and priority needs include water, sanitation and hygiene, health, shelter and food, said the spokesman.
The United Nations and its partners continue to support the government-led response, he said.
OCHA said that while these new funds will enable lifesaving aid, existing resources are nearly exhausted and urgent additional funding is critically needed.
Since the onset of the monsoon season in Pakistan on June 26, torrential rains and floods have killed at least 905 people and injured 1,044 others nationwide, according to the National Disaster Management Authority of Pakistan.
