PAKISTAN: United Nations seeks half a billion dollars in aid for Pakistan's displaced

Record ID: 1538228

  • Title: PAKISTAN: United Nations seeks half a billion dollars in aid for Pakistan's displaced
  • Date: 23rd May 2009
  • Summary: ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN (MAY 22, 2009) (REUTERS) WIDE OF LAUNCHING OF "FLASH APPEAL" BY U.N DELEGATES FROM DONOR COUNTRIES PAKISTAN'S MINISTER OF STATE FOR FINANCE HINA RABBANI KHAR ANNOUNCING LAUNCH OF APPEAL DELEGATES (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTING U.N. HUMANITARIAN COORDINATOR, MARTIN MOGWANJA, SAYING "The displacement since April 26 has been rapid and significantly large, unprecedented in Pakistan and certainly unseen for decades anywhere in the world. The situation remains very fluid with new IDPs (internally displaced persons) still arriving daily as they get the opportunity to exit from the affected areas." SWABI, PAKISTAN (MAY 21, 2009) (REUTERS) WIDE OF CAMP FOR DISPLACED PERSONS CHILDREN PLAYING BALL OUTSIDE THEIR TENT ELDERLY DISPLACED MAN WITH INJURED LEG DRAGGING HIMSELF ON THE GROUND TOWARDS A BUCKET OF WATER
  • Embargoed: 8th June 2009 17:45
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Pakistan
  • Country: Pakistan
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA1YDIE19D5XPGA0K936YJQA85V
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: The United Nations appealed on Friday (May 22) for $543-million (USD) for more than 2-million people displaced by fighting and enduring "incredible suffering" in northwest Pakistan.
    The military launched an offensive this month in the picturesque Swat Valley and neighbouring districts to stop the spread of a Taliban insurgency that had raised fears for nuclear-armed Pakistan's future.
    The United Nations has warned of a long-term humanitarian crisis and called for massive aid for nearly 1.7 million people displaced by the offensive and about 555,000 people forced from their homes by earlier fighting in the region.
    "The displacement since April 26 has been rapid and significantly large, unprecedented in Pakistan and certainly unseen for decades anywhere in the world," said Martin Mogwanja, the acting U.N. humanitarian coordinator.
    "The situation remains very fluid with new IDPs (internally displaced persons) still arriving daily as they get the opportunity to exit from the affected areas," he added.
    He said a total $543 million of assistance was required until the end of December this year.
    The U.N. appeal came a day after Pakistan's allies promised $224 million in aid for the displaced, including $110 million from the United States, after the government warned that the militants could exploit a failure to help.
    The United States, which sees Pakistan as vital to its plan to defeat al Qaeda and bring stability in Afghanistan, has applauded Pakistani resolve to fight what some U.S. leaders have called an "existential threat" to the country.
    But Pakistan could face even greater turmoil in the months ahead.
    The head of the government relief operation, Lieutenant General Nadeem Ahmed, said on Thursday (May 21) up to 200,000 civilians were stranded in the valley and authorities might have to drop food to them from the air.
    The $543 million which the United Nations is hoping will be spent on 165 projects run by U.N. agencies and aid groups providing emergency shelter, food, education and health services.
    "While we all struggle to be able to face this crisis, let me say that though it looks extremely disproportional, we are quite sure, with the grace of God, that we have the ways and means to be able to handle the crisis," the Minister of State for Finance Hina Rabbani Khar told the gathering at the launch of the appeal.
    "But there is of course a pre-condition: that we all have to work together. And that is where I think, this appeal comes together."
    About 15,000 members of the security forces are fighting between 4,000 and 5,000 militants in Swat, the military says.
    Pakistan says more than 1,000 militants and more than 50 soldiers have been killed in the fighting.
    There has been no independent confirmation of the estimate of militant casualties.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2020. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register