UN issues desperate appeal to help Pakistanis

UNITED NATIONS: The U.N. humanitarian chief issued a desperate appeal Thursday for hundreds of millions of dollars to help 2.4 million Pakistanis who have fled the war against Taliban militants, warning that the U.N. can only sustain its current aid efforts for one month. Last Friday, the United Nations revised an earlier appeal and urged donors to contribute $543 million to help the displaced Pakistanis through the end of December. U.N. humanitarian chief John Holmes said so far only $118 million have come in just 21 percent of the amount and ``not remotely sufficient.'' He noted that the total includes $17 million from the U.N.'s emergency fund. "We need to scale up this effort very significantly, in line with the scale and the speed of the displacement,'' Holmes said. “We cannot sustain the effort we are making at the moment for more than a month without some new and significant resources being contributed by the donors.'' He said the most immediate needs are funds for food, shelter, cooking utensils, water and sanitation facilities and health services. Holmes spoke to reporters after meeting with representatives from between 80 and 90 countries to appeal for help. He was joined by Pakistan's U.N. ambassador. The United Nations hopes that donors will contribute 60-70percent of the $543 million ``within a few weeks,'' Holmes said. More than 1.9 million Pakistanis have fled the recent conflict centered on the northwestern Swat Valley in recent weeks, joining more than 500,000 others who have left their homes since last summer, Holmes said. While about 90 percent of the 2.4 million people who have been displaced are living with family members or in rented accommodation, he said 220,000 are now in 26 camps south of the battle zone 12 of which the U.N. opened in the last few weeks. Holmes said the U.N. is concerned that the number of Pakistanis fleeing the fighting is increasing and could rise further if fighting worsens in Waziristan.