(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Funds for the UN Pakistan disaster appeal are drying up and threatening millions of lives three months after floods devastated the country, international development agency Oxfam has warned.
The British charity said that cases of disease are increasing with large areas of the worst-hit region, the southern province of Sindh, remaining underwater.
As winter approaches, seven million people are still without adequate shelter, it said.
The warning follows similar comments from the UK Disasters Emergency Committee and other development organisations, calling on the donor community to fund Pakistan generously in its time of need and help the emergency response across all flood-affected areas.
“The crisis is far from over. Parts of southern Sindh, the worst-hit area, still remain a disaster zone,” said Neva Khan, Oxfam’s director in Pakistan.
“When the world’s attention was focused on Pakistan’s flood victims there was a chance of seeing substantial aid being delivered. But as the worst of the flood waters have receded so has the promise of significant funding”, Khan said.
The slow response to the UN emergency appeal has been widely criticised and remains less than 40 per cent funded.
Oxfam said many of the world’s richest countries are “failing the flood victims, who are amongst the poorest and most vulnerable in the world.”
According to the United Nations, 10 million people are in need of immediate food assistance. The funding shortfall is so serious that existing regular food rations to 3.5 million people could be in jeopardy.
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source : http://www.abna.ir
