Mitchell - Britain will stand by Pakistan as crisis continues

17 September 2010

The crisis in Pakistan is still continuing, International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell warned today, ahead of a UN donor conference this Sunday to boost support for the country.

More than six weeks after the floods first started, UK International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell warned that water is still spreading south, submerging new towns, and forcing millions of people from their homes, many living without shelter, clean water, or food. Stagnating flood waters may take months to recede.

Mr Mitchell today announced how further UK aid will be allocated, including:

• Funding towards five civilian helicopters for two months, which will double the World Food Programme/United Nations Humanitarian Air Service capacity, and allow 200 metric tonnes of food and other vital items to be distributed to hard to access areas;
• Emergency health care for some 720,000 people in Punjab and Sindh, via International Medical CORPS, providing 50 mobile health clinics, health workers, and medicine.
• Safe drinking water and hygiene kits for 98,000 people, mosquito nets and emergency shelter for 30,000 families in Punjab, via local relief organisation the Rural Support Programmes Network.
• One month food package for nearly one million people;
• Health-care, shelter, safe drinking water for some 350,000 people in hard to access Balochistan and FATA;
• Toilets and hygiene kits hundreds of thousands of people across south Pakistan.

Today's announcement comes to about £17 million (more than 2.2 billion rupees), the last allocation from the £64 million (approx 8.5 billion rupees) already committed by the UK Government to help people in Pakistan affected by the floods.

UK International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell said:

"It is not easy to believe that new towns are still being inundated by flood water more than six weeks after the floods in Pakistan first started; over the last week thousands more people have been forced to leave their homes, many losing all their possessions and livelihoods.

"This is not the time to become numb or complacent. There is an acute need for more help in southern Pakistan, with many towns still under four feet of water, and new towns still being flooded: these waters may not drain away for months, putting people at risk of disease and starvation, unless they get urgent help.

"The UK is doing everything it can to help Pakistan, which is why I've today confirmed more health-care, food, shelter, safe drinking water, and sanitation to help people who’ve lost everything to the floods."

The announcement comes ahead of the UK Development Secretary’s attendance at the United Nations General Assembly Pakistan Floods meeting in New York on Sunday 19 September, and just before the revised UN Pakistan Floods Emergency Response Plan is due to be published.

This comes on top of UK aid already provided, including twelve planes packed full of vital aid (five planes provided by the Royal Air Force); emergency shelter, safe drinking water, and toilets for millions of people; emergency field camp in the worst affected area near Sukkur; help for half a million malnourished children and pregnant/breastfeeding women; bridges shipped from the UK, and much more.

The monsoon floods in Pakistan, which began more than six weeks ago, have affected a reported 21 million people, and millions of people forced to leave their homes.

The UK was one of the first countries to respond to this crisis. The UK Government has now contributed £64 million, while the UK public has donated a further £54 million out of their own pockets to the Disasters Emergency Committee.

A summary of the UK Government's contributions to date can be viewed here: www.dfid.gov.uk/Media-Room/News-Stories/2010/Floods-in-Pakistan/

People can track where and how UK aid is helping the survivors of floods in Pakistan here: www.dfid.gov.uk/pakistanfloodsmonitor2010