UN calls for urgent global response to Pak disaster

NEW YORK - United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called for an “urgent” global response to Pakistan, which is currently recovering from the worst floods in its history.

Ban said this during an international meeting on the disaster, where US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and about 25 other top ministers were also present.

“We are here because the Pakistan floods are one of the biggest, most complex natural disasters we have faced in the history of the United Nations,” The News quoted Ban, as saying.

He also said that the UN has been forced to increase the emergency appeal from 460 million to two billion dollars because of the unprecedented devastation caused by the disaster.

“This new appeal extends the emergency relief to six months and includes the crucial element of early recovery for the next 12 months. I call for your urgent response,” Ban said.

“The floods in Pakistan are a global disaster, a global challenge, and a global test of solidarity. Of course, we know this is happening in a part of the world where stability and prosperity are profoundly in the world’s interests,” he added.

It is estimated that the floods, triggered by torrential monsoon downpours in July, have affected up to 20 million people, while over 750,000 homes have been damaged or destroyed.

The floods first struck the western province of Baluchistan on July 22 before inundating the worst-hit Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and then entering Punjab and Sindh. (ANI)