UN to raise Pakistan aid appeal
US: The United Nations will raise an emergency appeal to support
flood-ravaged Pakistan, a US official said Monday, despite concerns that
an initial call to donors has fallen short.
Dan Feldman, the US deputy special representative on Afghanistan and
Pakistan, said the enhanced appeal would seek funding to rebuild the
economy and ensure food security after the floods covered one-fifth of
the country.
“The UN has initially given its 460 million dollar appeal. That will
be augmented later this week,” Feldman said, ahead of a meeting Sunday
at the United Nations on the floods.
But UN figures show that donors have met only about two-thirds of the
initial appeal, launched on August 11.
The United States, which has made the fight against Islamic extremism
in Pakistan a top priority, has been by far the largest donor, hoping
its goodwill will curb anti-American sentiment.
The United States has committed more than 260 million dollars for
relief and recovery efforts, about 100 million of which falls under the
flash appeal, according to official figures.
Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States, Husain Haqqani, said that
while the government has been generous, ordinary Americans can do more.
“The United States has been the first, with the most so far, among
governments and we expect the US commitment as a government to go up.
But one thing where the US has not yet reached its full potential is
private giving,” Haqqani said.
Haqqani and Feldman were holding a news conference with General
Electric, whose charitable arm announced one million dollars for
Pakistan to be directed through the World Food Program, making it the
largest US corporate donor. GE has longstanding business interests in
Pakistan. But Haqqani said many Americans may have hesitated to help in
part due to media coverage that focused on the political fallout of the
floods.
“A lot of people in Middle America are not interested in the politics
of another country as much,” Haqqani said.
“If they had been told about the tragedy before you started the
political analysis, then people would have focused a little bit more,
and I think we’ll get there,” he said. Washington, AFP
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