The United Nations (UN) quickly asked for $160 million to help Pakistan deal with the devastating floods that have killed more than 1,100 people and affected 33 million people.
In a video message for the launch of the appeal in Islamabad and Geneva, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, “Pakistan is awash in suffering.” He also said, “The people of Pakistan are facing a monsoon on steroids, with rain and flooding that will not stop.” Antonio Guterres said that the scale of needs caused by the climate catastrophe, which has forced millions of people to leave their homes, destroyed schools and hospitals, and destroyed people’s ways of making a living, requires the world’s collective and prioritised attention.
Guterres said that the $160 million he hoped to get from the appeal would help 5.2 million people get food, water, sanitation, emergency education, and health care. He asked that Pakistan’s request for help from the rest of the world be answered quickly. “Let’s all stand together and help the people of Pakistan when they need it,” he said.
Early estimates put the damage from the floods at more than $10 billion, and the government said that the rest of the world had a duty to help the country deal with the effects of man-made climate change. Heavy rain has brought flash floods down from the mountains in the north because of heavy rain. They have destroyed buildings, bridges, roads, and crops.
Huge amounts of water are flowing into the Indus river, which runs through the middle of Pakistan from the mountains in the north to the plains in the south. This is causing flooding all along the river’s path. Pakistan thinks that more than 33 million people, or more than 15% of its 220 million people, have been hurt by the floods.
