Australia to give an additional $40m in aid

Australia announces further $40m in aid to assist relief activities in flood-hit areas doubling the $35m pledged.

ISLAMABAD: Australia on Thursday announced a further $40 million in aid to assist relief activities in flood-hit areas of Pakistan. This more than doubles the $35 million that Australia had previously pledged.

Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd made the announcement while visiting the Camp Cockatoo medical facility in Kot Addu near Multan. He was accompanied by Shah Mehmood Qureshi, the Foreign Minister of Pakistan. Rudd said that he was “shocked” to see the extent of disaster in the region but was also satisfied with the assistance that Australian doctors and nurses were providing at the camp.

Of the newly announced aid, $25 million will be used to help flood-victims “rebuild their lives”, by helping farmers replant their crops and restoring health services and schooling in flood-hit areas. A fifth of the $25 million will be distributed through Australian non-governmental organisations.

The remaining $15 million will be used “to help address urgent humanitarian needs in food, health, water and sanitation” through the World Food Programme, Unicef and the World Health Organisation.

Rudd said the “emergency was far from over”. He added, “A major challenge now is for the Pakistan Government and the international community to help with initial recovery and to plan for the long-term reconstruction of damaged infrastructure.”

Published in The Express Tribune, September 17^th, 2010.