ISLAMABAD: Currently facing a shortage of $130 million, the UN children’s fund (Unicef) warned that it might have to reduce its operations in the affected districts operating very closely to the flood affected people if the funds are not met on time.
The agency stressed the need for receiving a total of $252 million out of which only $120 million has been received.
“First, we have to convince people that the emergency is not over, the donors need to respond to the disaster the way they did with Haiti and other disasters of the world,” Unicef’s regional director for South Asia Daniel R Toole told The Express Tribune.
“We have sufficient funds for the next two months but not enough for the period after that,” added Toole.
“A loss of billions of dollars has been witnessed and the government might be working to rebuild till 2011-2012,” he said. Toole highlighted the need to get people back to their normal lives. “People are going back to damaged and destroyed infrastructure. They are going back to home without having a home there.”
The agency is prioritizing with purchasing and sending essential winter kits before the areas are cut off. Out of the funds received $70 million have been spent to purchase basic life-saving items including water purification tablets, vaccinations, high energy biscuits, medicines, water pumps, clothing and accessories for the affected population.
Toole further highlighted that malnutrition is the biggest threat in Pakistan today, especially amongst children.
“The rates were high in Pakistan even before the flood but the catastrophe has brought the issue forward,” he said.
There are total 126,000 severely malnourished in Pakistan out of which Unicef is targeting to reach 75,000 of these
“Children younger than the age of two will suffer mentally or even physically. These are problems need to be addressed now or else they can lead to further problems,” said Toole.
As people attempt to return to normalcy, other issues have come forward such as child labour, early marriages and prostitution.
“Desperation leads to such decisions and for this the only solution is to restore and re-establish livelihood as soon as possible, as well as enrolling more children in schools,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 22nd, 2010.
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: October 22, 2010
Due to a factual error, an earlier version of this article misstated that the Unicef offices were to shut down. Unicef may reduce the number of operations in the affected districts.
In the second paragraph, it was misstated that Unicef has recieved $20 million to fulfill its needs. The correct figure is $120 million.
In the earlier version of this article, basic necessities were incorrectly described as warm clothing, shoes and accessories for children. The necessities include water purification tablets, vaccinations, high energy biscuits, medicines, water pumps, clothing and accessories.
The number of malnourished children in Pakistan was incorrectly quoted as 75,000. The correct number is 126,000 out of which Unicef is targeting 75,000.
COMMENTS (2)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ