UN to launch fresh appeal on Sept 17

The UN is planning to launch a fresh appeal since the $467m appeal made earlier by the organisation needs revision.

ISLAMABAD: The United Nations is planning to launch a fresh appeal for hundreds of thousands of Pakistani flood victims since the $467 million appeal made earlier by the organisation needs revision owing to an increase in the number of affected people.

“UN agencies are assessing the needs before the fresh appeal which is scheduled to be made on September 17,” said Ajay Chhibber, Assistant-Secretary-General and Regional Director of UN Development Programme (UNDP) for the Asia-Pacific Region on Tuesday. Chhiber, who is currently touring Pakistan, said that after the launch of the new appeal a major conference will be convened by the UN secretary-general on September 19 in New York to further assess Pakistan’s requirements.

“Regular funding is vital at this point. More than good plans, good implementation has to take place,” Chhiber said. “This is a slow moving disaster and the international community needs to wake up and help Pakistan with a new vision to recover. What happens here has regional and global implications.”

Published in The Express Tribune, September 8^th, 2010.