UITED NATIONS: The UN flash appeal for $160 million to help millions of people affected by record-breaking floods in Pakistan is so far 21 percent funded, having received $34 million, a UN spokesman said Thursday.
The UN chief launched the appeal on Aug 30, and Spokesman Stephane Dujarric said more contributions were expected in the coming days.
Meanwhile, UNESCO, the UN cultural agency, announced an emergency amount of $350,000 to help recovering flood-damaged cultural heritage sites. The agency said it was also working in the field of education, to quickly provide distance learning solutions.
Earlier on Friday, the United Nations Secretary General António Guterres arrived in Pakistan on a two-day visit to express solidarity with the government and people of Pakistan.
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar received the UN chief at the airport.
According to the Foreign Office, during the visit, Secretary General Guterres will have meetings with the Pakistani leadership and senior officials to exchange views on the national and global response to this catastrophe caused by climate change.
The Secretary-General will travel to areas most impacted by the climate catastrophe. He will interact with displaced families and first responders in the field and oversee the UN’s humanitarian response work in support of the government’s rescue and relief efforts for millions of affected people.
The flooding has killed more than 1,300 people and displaced 33 million.
The UN chief had said that Pakistan’s flooding, caused by weeks of unprecedented monsoon rains, was a signal to the world to step up action against climate change.
“Let’s stop sleepwalking toward the destruction of our planet by climate change,” he said in a video message to an Islamabad ceremony launching the funding appeal.
“Today, it’s Pakistan. Tomorrow, it could be your country.”
