World pledges $5.8 bln in aid to quake-hit Pakistan
ISLAMABAD, Sunday (Reuters) - The world boosted aid pledges for
quake-devastated Pakistan to $5.8 billion after the United Nations
warned there could be a second disaster as survivors face the bitter
Himalayan winter.
The sum exceeds Pakistan's target of $5.2 billion for recovery and
reconstruction after the earthquake which killed more than 73,000 and
left hundreds of thousands homeless.
"The results were better than expected ... we have received pledges
worth $5.827 billion," Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz told a news
conference after an international donors meeting in Islamabad.
The new pledges came after U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned
that survivors would die unless relief funds came soon.
"The pitiless Himalayan winter is almost upon us and growing more and
more severe every week," Annan told the conference which opened with
harrowing video of quake damage and survivors.
"We must sustain our efforts to keep people as healthy and as strong
as possible until we can rebuild," he told representatives from about 50
donor countries.
Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf praised old rival India for its
help and appealed to it to seize the opportunity the quake had given the
two countries to resolve their dispute over Kashmir, the region hit
hardest by the quake.
"Let us together solve the Kashmir dispute once and for all,"
Musharraf said.
The neighbours have agreed to open five points on their heavily
militarised, disputed border in Kashmir to help relief efforts and allow
divided families to meet.
Two dozen Kashmiris from the Indian side walked across the heavily
militarised frontier on Saturday - the first time in nearly 60 years
people had been allowed to cross on foot.
Rich nations and multilateral lenders pledged the lion's share of the
extra aid, but even impoverished countries such as Afghanistan and
Bangladesh made contributions. Thanking donors, Musharraf said it was
now the turn of Pakistanis, at home and abroad, to ensure aid needs were
fulfilled.
"I know that we are going to spend about $6 billion," he said. "Now
that is a shortfall which we will make through government efforts and
this is where I feel the people of Pakistan ... need to come forward."
Musharraf told the conference of a "lost generation", referring to
how the quake destroyed schools, entombing classrooms. The quake killed
an estimated 35,000 children. A total of 400,000 homes and over 10,000
schools need to be rebuilt, he said.
Aid agencies say the relief effort is more daunting than for Asia's
tsunami. Helicopters are the only way to reach many survivors living
high in the mountains.
The Asian Development Bank and World Bank each pledged about $1
billion in financial aid, mostly in soft loans, and the Islamic
Development Bank doubled its financial aid to about $500 million for
rebuilding infrastructure.
"The scale of the catastrophe is stunning," Asian Development Bank
chief Haruhiko Kuroda told the conference.
The World Bank said Pakistan's poverty-reduction plan would be at
risk without more aid. China and Saudi Arabia together announced soft
loans and grants worth more than $600 million.
The United States added another $200 million in cash, a targeted $100
million in private donations and said the value of its military relief
support had climbed to $110 million.
Britain gave another 70 million pounds ($122 million), and the
European Union pledged $110 million in addition to about $200 million
pledged individually by its member nations.
Japan said several hundred million dollar yen-loans would be made
available for projects and China offered to help set up a national
network of seismic centres to warn of future quakes.
Musharraf proposed naming new villages after the donors that paid for
their construction, and called on cities round the world to adopt a
district in the earthquake zone. |