After a fundraising plea barely garnered a third of its intended response, the UN said on Thursday that emergency food help for Pakistan’s flood-devastated towns will run out in January.
Over the course of the summer, the nation saw unheard-of monsoon rains that submerged a third of the nation, destroyed two million houses, and left more than 1,700 people dead.
At a news conference in Islamabad, UN Resident Coordinator for Pakistan Julien Harneis said, “It is of great concern to us to guarantee food security in the following days and weeks for the people affected by rainfall.”
The UN claimed its agencies and other NGOs had only received $262 million from international donors despite having made an appeal for more than $816 million.
“It is quite concerning that we are not receiving that funding here whereas other emergency responses throughout the world receive a far larger percentage of response,” Harris continued.
According to Chris Kaye, the chief of the UN mission there, the World Food Programme will run out of money for Pakistan on January 15.
Without the necessary backing, he continued, “We have a significant and honestly, I think, very serious issue ahead of us as we move towards 2023.”
During the winter, Kaye said, the four million individuals who currently require life-saving food assistance will increase to 5.1 million.
The floods have caused eight to nine million people to fall below the poverty threshold.
Numerous previously poor individuals lost their livelihoods as a result of the monsoon washing away large areas of crops.
While the majority of the floodwater has gone, some homes are still underwater, forcing residents to live on raised highways or in makeshift camps. According to the UN, some persons have been forced into underage labor, child marriage, or trafficking.
Pakistan ranks prominently among the countries most at risk from climate-related extreme weather, although producing less than 1% of the world’s greenhouse emissions.
