UNICEF'S PAKISTAN OPERATION IN JEOPARDY DUE TO FUNDING ISSUES

By Muin Abdul Majid

DUBAI, Aug 18 (Bernama) -- Unicef has sounded the alarm over serious funding
shortfalls that are jeopardising its humanitarian operation in flood-stricken
Pakistan.

The United Nations' agency said it was extremely concerned over the lack of
funds for its water and sanitation operation, with millions of children at risk
from water-borne diseases.

"In terms of numbers of people needing life-saving assistance, this
emergency is bigger than the (Asian) tsunami, Haiti (earthquake), and the last
Pakistan earthquake put together," Unicef representative in Pakistan, Martin
Mogwanja, said on the agency's website.

He said providing clean water and adequate sanitation was key to the
survival of millions of flood-affected people in Pakistan.

Unicef, he said, was currently providing enough clean water for 1.3 million
people daily, but millions more needed the same service.

The Pakistan Government estimated that 20 million people overall had been
hit by the flood crisis.

"We urgently need to scale up the distribution of water. If we're not able
to do so because of lack of funding, water-borne diseases such as cholera,
diarrhoea and dysentery will spread and begin killing affected populations,
especially children, already weak and vulnerable to disease and malnutrition,"
added Mogwanja.
-- BERNAMA


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