UN demands $180m dollars to feed Pakistan flood victims

ISLAMABAD: The United Nations on Friday called for 180 million dollars to feed six million flood victims inPakistan till the end of this year.

The UN is facing a shortage of money to meet the food requirements of victims of the disaster over the next two months, senior World Food Program official David Kaatrud said.

“We have a very large distribution program for six million people on the monthly basis, with a food basket of eight (essential) items,” he told a news briefing.

Kaatrud said the WFP would face a shortage of cooking oil and pulses in October and November.

“It is over 100 million US dollars for October and an additional 80 million dollars for November, let's say till the end of the year,” he said in response to a question about details of the shortages.

The United Nations has issued a record two-billion-dollar appeal for funds to cope with the disaster, which UN agencies say affected 21 million people and left 12 million in need of emergency food aid.

Kaatrud said the coming winter could be challenging for those affected by the flood because of the difficulties aid workers were having with communications and transport and the knock-on effect on the food supply.

Several roads have been cut off in the north and the quality of tents needs to be improved if they are to cope with the harsher weather, he said.

“There has to be an upgrading of the shelter that they are receiving right now,” he added.

Torrential rain began falling in northern Pakistan in July and the floods have since moved slowly south, wiping out villages and farmland, and affecting an area roughly the size ofEngland.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Friday called the floods in Pakistan “the worst natural disaster the United Nations has responded to in its 65-year history.” – AFP