Pakistan earthquake: A tragedy the world forgot

[Thom Little]

By Arifa Akbar and Terry Kirby
The Independent
Thursday, Nov. 24, 2005


Six weeks after the massive earthquake that devastated parts of Pakistan, the United Nations and relief agencies are racing against time to avert a horrendous, avoidable humanitarian tragedy.

As winter closes in, aid agencies fear the world's failure to react quickly enough to their pleas for help has made a second disaster a terrifying prospect. About 80,000 died in the immediate aftermath of the quake, and the agencies believe another 80,000 could now perish. As the first heavy snowfalls hit the high valleys most affected by the earthquake, senior UN officials warn that up to 380,000 people in these areas still need emergency housing over the next two or three weeks, almost double earlier estimates.

At the same time, despite many promises of long-term help from the international community, immediate relief aid is still only trickling through at a fraction of the speed it is needed. According to official figures, only $216m has so far been committed or pledged to the UN's relief appeal for $550m, less than 40 per cent. By comparison, at the same stage, the appeal for the Indian Ocean tsunami, was almost 90 per cent complete.

Pakistan announced last weekend that its request for $5.2bn in aid had now been exceeded, with more than $5.4bn in pledges. But relief agencies say that most of this referred to long-term loans, rather than immediate help. " We need more money and we need it now," said a spokeswoman for the United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs in New York. " We are still at the life-saving rather than the reconstruction phase and our operations are dependent on the flow of money coming in."




http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article328991.ece