Het Wereldvoedselprogramma van de VN heeft meer middelen nodig om de slachtoffers te helpen. Het aantal mensen dat door de overstromingen in Pakistan wordt getroffen neemt nog steeds toe. Er zijn 1.600 doden gevallen, maar verwacht wordt dat dit aantal op zal lopen
De VN melden dat er sinds woensdag in het zuiden van Pakistan nog eens een miljoen mensen op de vlucht zijn geslagen voor het wassende water. Het water in de Indusrivier blijft stijgen. De rivier raast voort met 40 keer het normale volume aan inhoud.
In heel Pakistan zijn ondertussen ongeveer 17.2 miljoen mensen door de catastrofe getroffen. Acht miljoen mensen hebben noodhulp nodig, maar veel gebieden zijn nog steeds ontoegankelijk.
Vrees voor ziektes
De Wereldgezondheidsorganisatie zegt dat de uitbraak van ziektes toe kan nemen, vooral in de oostelijke provincie Punjab en de zuidoostelijke provincie Sindh.
“Mensen zoeken voornamelijk behandeling voor acute luchtweginfecties, diarree, huidinfecties en er zijn mogelijke gevallen van malaria,” aldus een woordvoerster van de WHO.
UNICEF, het kinderfonds van de VN, heeft inmiddels ruim een miljoen kinderen en vrouwen ingeënt tegen verschillende gezondheidsproblemen.
Inzameling Nederland
In Nederland is donderdag een inzamelingsactie op radio en televisie gehouden voor Pakistan. Dit leverde ongeveer 10 miljoen euro op. In totaal is er in Nederland nu ruim 16 miljoen euro ingezameld voor het noodlijdende land.
Volgens de Pakistaanse regering zijn er inmiddels 1.600 mensen omgekomen, maar men verwacht nog meer slachtoffers te vinden wanneer het waterpeil weer daalt.
Dit is een samenvatting van verklaringen van verschillende agentschappen van de VN over de ramp en de hulpverlening.
UN REPORTS MORE PAKISTANIS IN NEED OF HELP AS UNRELENTING FLOODS SPREAD
The surging Indus River in Pakistan continues to inundate more areas and swell the numbers of people in need of humanitarian assistance, the United Nations reported today, saying another 1 million people have been displaced by floods in the southern province of Sindh during the past two days alone.
“We are working day and night to bring relief to millions of women, men, and children, but the floods appear determined to outrun our efforts,” said Martin Mogwanja, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Pakistan. “We have been scaling up, but must scale up even further,” he added.
The Indus River is raging at 40 times its normal volume, with the largest surge of water now in the Thatta district of Sindh.
“People had been warned. But only after the river broke its banks and the water started to inundate their villages, they escaped,” said Andro Shilakadze, head of the UN Children’s Fund (http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/pakistan.html) in Sindh’s provincial capital, Karachi. “It was very sudden. People had to leave in a rush, many of them during the night, taking almost nothing with them. Many are still stranded, and are now being rescued by the national authorities.” (http://unportal.un.org.pk/sites/UNPakistan/Lists/Latest%20News/Attachments/135/OCHAPAK-PI_PR_20100827_Sindh_final_eng_mgsw.docx Word) Document)
Assistance to millions
The UN and its partners are providing assistance to millions of people in all flood-affected areas. In Sindh, emergency shelter has reached approximately 120,000 people, out of 1.1 million reached nationwide, while clean water is being provided on a daily basis to only 50,000 people.
“We are scaling up response to reach all those in need,” said Manuel Bessler, head of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (http://ochaonline.un.org/) in Pakistan. “But with 1 million more displaced people in Sindh over the past two days, and thousands more people being affected almost every day, needs quickly outplace our capacity, our supplies, and our resources.”
An estimated 17.2 million people have been affected across the country, from the Himalaya mountains in the north, to the Arabian Sea in the south. “The closer we get to our targets in terms of beneficiaries to be reached, the more these targets increase,” said Mr. Bessler.
The UN World Food Programme (http://www.wfp.org/) said it is facing a $90 million shortage in the funding it needs to continue providing assistance those affected, and urged donors who have already made pledges to expedite disbursement.
WFP’s portion of the $460 million Pakistan Initial Floods Emergency Response Plan launched earlier this month is $150 million.
The funds are needs quickly to ensure that the food pipeline for flood survivors does not break as the number of those in need rises, WFP spokesperson Emilia Casella told reporters in Geneva.
WFP is also responding to the needs of those with special nutritional needs, particularly children, some of whom require supplementary ready-to-eat foodstuff to prevent malnutrition, she said.
(See also: WFP: "Pakistan Crisis": http://www.wfp.org/crisis/pakistan)
Risks of disease
The UN World Health Organization (http://www.who.int/en) said there were increased risks of disease outbreaks, particularly waterborne diseases, especially in Sindh and Punjab. People were seeking treatment mainly for acute respiratory infections, diarrhoeal diseases, skin infections and suspected cases of malaria, said WHO’s spokesperson in Geneva, Fadela Chaid.
The UN Children’s Fund said more than 1 million children and women had received vaccinations against various health problems.
(VN: Aug 27, 2010)
Posts tonen met het label sindh. Alle posts tonen
Posts tonen met het label sindh. Alle posts tonen
zaterdag 28 augustus 2010
dinsdag 24 augustus 2010
Duizenden ontheemd door uitbreiding overstromingen in zuiden Pakistan
De gigantische overstromingen in Pakistan hebben zich uitgebreid over de zuidelijke provincie Sindh. Honderdduizenden mensen zijn uit hun overstroomde dorpen vertrokken.
Een woordvoerder van de VN heeft gezegd dat "hele steden zijn geëvacueerd". Wanneer de getroffen bevolking niet op tijd hulp krijgt, bestaat de kans op de uitbraak van ziektes.
Er worden evacuaties gemeld uit laaggelegen gebieden van Hyderabad. Grote delen van het district Jacobabad zijn het afgelopen weekeind ontruimd.
In het noorden van het land, dat het eerst werd getroffen, trekt het water ondertussen langzaam weg.
De overstromingen, die vorige maand begonnen na extreem zware moessonregens, hebben al het leven gekost aan 1.200 mensen. Veel landbouwgrond is verwoest en tal van wegen en bruggen zijn weggespoeld.
De VN heeft dinsdag om minstens veertig zware helikopters extra gevraagd voor het vervoer van hulpgoederen naar mensen die getroffen zijn, omdat ongeveer achthonderdduizend Pakistanen door het water van de buitenwereld afgesneden zijn.
Volgens de Pakistaanse regering zijn 15,4 miljoen mensen getroffen door het natuurgeweld. Minstens 6 miljoen mensen hebben gebrek aan voedsel, onderdak, schoon water en gezondheidszorg.
De Pakistaanse president Asif Ali Zardari heeft gezegd dat zijn land minstens drie jaar nodig zal hebben om te herstellen van de ramp.
De VN heeft een verklaring uitgegeven over de rampzalige situatie.
THOUSANDS DISPLACED AS MASSIVE FLOODS IN PAKISTAN SPREAD TO THE SOUTH – UN
The massive floods in Pakistan have spread to the southern province of Sindh, where hundreds of thousands of people are on the move after evacuating their inundated villages, a United Nations official said today, as humanitarian agencies continued to deliver relief supplies to millions of those affected.
“The situation in Sindh is of high concern. The water now is in Sindh and entire cities have been evacuated,” said Maurizio Giuliani, spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (http://ochaonline.un.org/), in an interview with UN Radio. (See video below).
“We have hundreds of thousands of people on the move [and] if we are not able to reach all those in need fast enough, there may be a spread of waterborne diseases and, of course, food shortages and lack of shelter will not contribute to improving the situation of those in need,” he added.
Evacuations have been reported from low-lying areas of Hyderabad as the second wave of flooding moved southwards, according to OCHA. Large parts of Jacobabad district were also evacuated during the weekend, Mr. Giuliani said.
“We’ll only be able to know in the coming days how many people have been affected [in Sindh],” Mr. Giuliani added.
The floods, which began late last month in the wake of particularly heavy monsoon rains, have so far claimed 1,200 lives and destroyed homes, farmland and major infrastructure in large parts of the country. According to Government estimates, 15.4 million people are affected, with at least 6 million of them in need of food, shelter, clean water and health care.
Helicopters
The UN World Food Programme (<"http://www.wfp.org/%22%3EWFP) estimates that it requires at least 40 more heavy-lift helicopters to boost its efforts to deliver relief to large numbers of people who remain in inaccessible areas as a result of roads and bridges being washed away by the floods. The agency brought in three of an expected five additional helicopters into the country yesterday (http://www.wfp.org/stories/wfp-steps-airlifts-reach-stranded-flood-victims).
With more than 800,000 people estimated cut off from road access – helicopters are increasingly vital assets in the race to reach the hungry and desperate. WFP estimates it still needs at least 40 additional heavy lift helicopters working at full capacity to get food supplies to those who need it (http://www.wfp.org/news/news-release/least-40-helicopters-needed-reach-communities-stranded-pakistan-floods).
“We need more of these life-savers,” said WFP Pakistan Country Director Wolfgang Herbinger. “Helicopters are the only way to deliver supplies into many areas which is why we’re already using every aircraft currently available to us,” he added. WFP has to date reached about 1.3 million people with a one-month emergency rations of food.
Diseases rise
Meanwhile, the UN World Health Organization (http://www.who.int/en/) reported that the number of cases of diseases was on the rise. The agency said that so far, more than 200,000 of acute diarrhoea, at least 260,000 cases of skin diseases and more than 200,000 cases of acute respiratory diseases have been reported in flood-affected provinces.
Telecommunication
In a related development, the head of the UN Telecommunications Union (http://www.itu.int/en/pages/default.aspx), Hamadoun Touré, today sent out an appeal for contributions to assist those affected by the floods in Pakistan.
Mr. Touré said ITU’s emergency telecommunications team is working with the Government of Pakistan to rehabilitate the telecommunication infrastructure, which has been disabled by the floods.
“The whole world is in deep shock as this tragedy continues to unfold,” said Mr. Touré, the ITU Secretary-General. “ITU stands in utmost solidarity with the people of Pakistan in their hour of need and I join UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in urging our stakeholders to respond generously to meet the urgent demand for relief and rehabilitation efforts.”
(VN: Aug 23, 2010)
Een woordvoerder van de VN heeft gezegd dat "hele steden zijn geëvacueerd". Wanneer de getroffen bevolking niet op tijd hulp krijgt, bestaat de kans op de uitbraak van ziektes.
Er worden evacuaties gemeld uit laaggelegen gebieden van Hyderabad. Grote delen van het district Jacobabad zijn het afgelopen weekeind ontruimd.
In het noorden van het land, dat het eerst werd getroffen, trekt het water ondertussen langzaam weg.
De overstromingen, die vorige maand begonnen na extreem zware moessonregens, hebben al het leven gekost aan 1.200 mensen. Veel landbouwgrond is verwoest en tal van wegen en bruggen zijn weggespoeld.
De VN heeft dinsdag om minstens veertig zware helikopters extra gevraagd voor het vervoer van hulpgoederen naar mensen die getroffen zijn, omdat ongeveer achthonderdduizend Pakistanen door het water van de buitenwereld afgesneden zijn.
Volgens de Pakistaanse regering zijn 15,4 miljoen mensen getroffen door het natuurgeweld. Minstens 6 miljoen mensen hebben gebrek aan voedsel, onderdak, schoon water en gezondheidszorg.
De Pakistaanse president Asif Ali Zardari heeft gezegd dat zijn land minstens drie jaar nodig zal hebben om te herstellen van de ramp.
De VN heeft een verklaring uitgegeven over de rampzalige situatie.
THOUSANDS DISPLACED AS MASSIVE FLOODS IN PAKISTAN SPREAD TO THE SOUTH – UN
The massive floods in Pakistan have spread to the southern province of Sindh, where hundreds of thousands of people are on the move after evacuating their inundated villages, a United Nations official said today, as humanitarian agencies continued to deliver relief supplies to millions of those affected.
“The situation in Sindh is of high concern. The water now is in Sindh and entire cities have been evacuated,” said Maurizio Giuliani, spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (http://ochaonline.un.org/), in an interview with UN Radio. (See video below).
“We have hundreds of thousands of people on the move [and] if we are not able to reach all those in need fast enough, there may be a spread of waterborne diseases and, of course, food shortages and lack of shelter will not contribute to improving the situation of those in need,” he added.
Evacuations have been reported from low-lying areas of Hyderabad as the second wave of flooding moved southwards, according to OCHA. Large parts of Jacobabad district were also evacuated during the weekend, Mr. Giuliani said.
“We’ll only be able to know in the coming days how many people have been affected [in Sindh],” Mr. Giuliani added.
The floods, which began late last month in the wake of particularly heavy monsoon rains, have so far claimed 1,200 lives and destroyed homes, farmland and major infrastructure in large parts of the country. According to Government estimates, 15.4 million people are affected, with at least 6 million of them in need of food, shelter, clean water and health care.
Helicopters
The UN World Food Programme (<"http://www.wfp.org/%22%3EWFP) estimates that it requires at least 40 more heavy-lift helicopters to boost its efforts to deliver relief to large numbers of people who remain in inaccessible areas as a result of roads and bridges being washed away by the floods. The agency brought in three of an expected five additional helicopters into the country yesterday (http://www.wfp.org/stories/wfp-steps-airlifts-reach-stranded-flood-victims).
With more than 800,000 people estimated cut off from road access – helicopters are increasingly vital assets in the race to reach the hungry and desperate. WFP estimates it still needs at least 40 additional heavy lift helicopters working at full capacity to get food supplies to those who need it (http://www.wfp.org/news/news-release/least-40-helicopters-needed-reach-communities-stranded-pakistan-floods).
“We need more of these life-savers,” said WFP Pakistan Country Director Wolfgang Herbinger. “Helicopters are the only way to deliver supplies into many areas which is why we’re already using every aircraft currently available to us,” he added. WFP has to date reached about 1.3 million people with a one-month emergency rations of food.
Diseases rise
Meanwhile, the UN World Health Organization (http://www.who.int/en/) reported that the number of cases of diseases was on the rise. The agency said that so far, more than 200,000 of acute diarrhoea, at least 260,000 cases of skin diseases and more than 200,000 cases of acute respiratory diseases have been reported in flood-affected provinces.
Telecommunication
In a related development, the head of the UN Telecommunications Union (http://www.itu.int/en/pages/default.aspx), Hamadoun Touré, today sent out an appeal for contributions to assist those affected by the floods in Pakistan.
Mr. Touré said ITU’s emergency telecommunications team is working with the Government of Pakistan to rehabilitate the telecommunication infrastructure, which has been disabled by the floods.
“The whole world is in deep shock as this tragedy continues to unfold,” said Mr. Touré, the ITU Secretary-General. “ITU stands in utmost solidarity with the people of Pakistan in their hour of need and I join UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in urging our stakeholders to respond generously to meet the urgent demand for relief and rehabilitation efforts.”
(VN: Aug 23, 2010)
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