ISLAMABAD: The United Nation has revealed that only $38.35 million has been received in Pakistan flood assistance fund after its flash appeal of $160 million initial funding was launched early in September.
“Although, pledges amounting to $150 million have been made after the UN flash appeal, but so far only $38.35 millions of this amount has been converted into assistance,” the United Nations’ Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Julien Harneis said on Wednesday.
Despite the fact that “financing is looking excellent,” he claimed, the demands in Pakistan during this crisis are rapidly shifting, with the health condition being particularly alarming.
“Overall, we may argue that this $160 million flash appeal won’t be enough. Revision of the flash appeal is necessary, according to evaluations and analyses, the UN resident and humanitarian coordinator said. “We are in discussions with the government and other partners.
“Our fundraising efforts have been highly effective, and commitments of $150 million [are] fantastic given the current situation. In addition to the Central Emergency Response Fund of the United Nations, which raised $10 million, the main donors are the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Japan, Denmark, Australia, Singapore, and other countries, Mr. Haneis told reporters at a press conference on relief efforts being carried out by the UN.
The UN and its partners were concentrating on the six million people most affected by the floods, and the flash appeal is for six months (September 2022 to February 2023) alone. According to Mr. Haneis, the administration projected that 33 million people had been impacted by the nationwide flooding.
“We’re still in the early going; not enough has been delivered, and the reaction time needs to be sped up. There is a limit to how much we can do, but the UN and NGOs have some reserve funds on hand that are being repurposed to respond to emergencies. We need money that can be promptly translated into support, therefore use against scale, said the top UN official in Pakistan.
The UN resident coordinator said that a very significant amount of cash grants was being doled out through the Benazir Income Support Program (BISP).
He said that the UN had an obligation to be transparent financially and accountable so that food aid did not diversify away from the needy people. Every UN agency and all NGOs have internal control and means of monitoring.
