By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The United Nations said the world community has not provided enough funds after the devastating floods in Pakistan and that may lead to the suspension of its emergency food support program next month.
The UN World Food Organization will run out of funds to feed 2.7 million people by January 15 after its funding appeal received only a third of the target.
“UN and Pakistan’s joint garnered only 30 percent of the $816 million funds requested,” Julien Harneis, UN resident and humanitarian coordinator in Pakistan, told a news conference on Thursday.
In the monster downpour, last summer that inundated one-third of Pakistan, approximately 1,700 people lost their lives, and close to 13,000 are injured. Around 7.9 million are still displaced. Women and children make up nearly 70 percent of the 33 million affected and one-third of all recorded deaths and injuries are children.
The United Nations called the world community for massive financial support after damages caused by deadly deluges exceed $30 billion.
“It is a big concern for us to ensure food security in the coming days and weeks for the people affected by rains as UN agencies and other NGOs have only received $262 million from international donors,” Harneis said.
“It is deeply worrying as other emergency responses around the world get a far higher percentage of response and we’re not getting that financing here.”
Chris Kaye, head of the UN’s World Food Programme in Pakistan said the agency will run out of funds for Pakistan on January 15.
“We have a major and frankly, I think, very serious crisis ahead of us as we go into 2023 unless we get the required support,” he added.
“The number of people in need of life-saving food assistance will grow from the four million previously identified to 5.1 million during the winter.”
The summer’s flooding wiped out huge swaths of crops, leaving already impoverished families struggling to obtain food. Farmers and officials warn that Pakistan could now face serious food shortages at a time when the government is strapped for cash and world food prices are high. The waters also wiped out the personal grain stores that many farming families rely on for food yearlong.
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