Pakistan's Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva Ambassador Masood Khan, addressing an Information Meeting convened by the UN, said if strong and timely interventions were not made, twice as many people could die of cold, hunger and injury as by the quake itself. He appealed to the international community to commit dollars two billion for next two to three months to meet urgent requirements for tents, food, medicines, water and sanitation.
"All we have is two to three weeks. We have to move fast. Worse weather is going to hit us with snow and falling temperatures. It is a race against time," Khan said.
Supporting the call for more resources against UN flash appeal, Ambassador Masood Khan apprised the meeting that Pakistan was hosting an international conference on November 19 during which President Musharraf will present a rehabilitation reconstruction plan.
UN Assistant Secretary Relief Co-ordination and Director of the Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Ms Yvette Stevens chaired and addressed the meeting. Large number of diplomats attended it from the Permanent Missions and representatives of the UN and international agencies. Ambassador Khan said Pakistan was a proud nation and was using all its resources to meet this challenge.
"More than 73,000 troops of Pakistan army are deployed. Round the clock sorties are providing relief and evacuating people from danger zones", he said. However, pointed that, there were other urgent requirements of 241,000 tents and 3.6 million blankets. Referring to the National Action Plan, Ambassador Khan said priorities for the government were rescue, evacuation and medical support, shelter, food and water, and clothing and bedding.
He appealed to the international community to provide air ambulances and mobile operation theatres. He requested donors to keep their field hospitals deployed till March 31.
The Ambassador made a special appeal for two medical rehabilitation/ prosthetic centres in Azad Kashmir and NWFP to help people with amputated limbs.
Assistant Relief Co-ordinator Yvette Stevens said the UN so far had only 15 per cent of the funds it needed desperately to meet immediate emergency requirements.
Ms Stevens told the meeting so far the UN had been drawing on its operational resources and had emptied its warehouses. She appealed to the world community to commit more funds - dollars 49.2 million - immediately for the next two to three weeks and replenish UN's disaster relief reserves.
"International community's presence is rapidly being stepped up in Mansehra, Muzaffarabad, Bagh, Balakot, and Batagram," she said.