Flood survey: Senior UN official expected to visit

Valerie Amos is expected to return to Pakistan to assure continued unified commitment to flood victims.

ISLAMABAD: The United Nations under-secretary general for humanitarian affairs, Valerie Amos, is expected to return to Pakistan to assure and emphasise continued unified commitment to the flood-affected population of the country.

During Amos’s previous visit in September, she had launched the emergency and early recovery phase, stressing not only the need to raise funds but also on getting new donors on board. Amos is expected to visit flood-stricken areas and assess the progress of the programmes and projects that have been launched for the early recovery and reconstruction phase.

Funding remains a challenge for UN agencies that are currently in the early recovery and reconstruction phase. An estimated 14 million, out of the 18 million affected, are in dire need of immediate humanitarian aid. According to the latest fact-sheet issued by UNOCHA, an estimated four million people are currently without shelter. The revised Pakistan Flood Emergency Response Plan (Ferp) envisages activities costing $1.93 billion over a one-year time frame.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 3^rd, 2010.