Calling upon the international community to repeat its exemplary response of floods 2010, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Saturday said the display of generosity would help reinforce faith in universal brotherhood.
Speaking at a event held to brief diplomats and heads of international humanitarian organisations on the losses of floods in Sindh and some areas of Balochistan, Gilani said natural calamities and man-made disasters were not new to Pakistan which had seen devastation during the last two years and millions of people had been affected, adding that the world’s help each time made the bond of universal brotherhood stronger.
“Each disaster brings us closer as people and tests our resilience in the face of crisis. For relief agencies and experts like yourself, each calamity seems to make you stronger and wiser, leaving you with the experience and knowledge in preventing and managing future challenges should they arise. Our people and the relief agencies have risen on each occasion and such disasters have brought out the best in them,” Gilani said.
He added that the scale of the devastation this year was no less than that of the previous year and took a terrible toll in terms of human sufferings, livestock and infrastructure causing great economic loss in the form damages to standing crops over million of acres and thousands of the houses.
Meanwhile, Timo Pakkala, the UN humanitarian coordinator in Pakistan, said the UN received only $9 million after the formal launch of appeal by the Pakistani government. He said funding was inadequate and the UN would need more money in the coming days, especially during the Rabi season. He said the focus was food, health, shelter for over four million people.
