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  • Nov 8th, 2005
  • Comments Off on ICRC to increase aid for quake victims
Swiss-run International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) President Jakob Kellenberger has pledged to increase aid supplies to 200,000 people in earthquake-stricken areas of Pakistan.

Kellenberger, who returned from a three-day fact-finding mission to Pakistan, said the organisation has spent 47.4 million dollars in Pakistan this year and would increase the aid budget during next year. He added that it was essential to make full use of the coming weeks.

He said the earthquake victims needed urgent help before the onset of winter in the region, Swissinfo reports. He added that snow would make aid operations in remote areas more difficult. "The priority is to provide assistance to the people so they can stay in their homes," he said.

He said the ICRC has so far delivered 4,000 metric tons of emergency aid, medication, food, water and shelter to 50,000 people in Azad Kashmir. It is also planning to set up a field hospital in the city of Muzaffarabad.

The aid organisation, which has about 200 aid workers in the disaster region, said that it would increase the number of helicopters to transport supplies. He added that Pakistan has become the second-largest aid operation for the ICRC.

Kellenberger hoped that the ICRC would play a more active role helping victims of natural disasters alongside the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

Copyright Associated Press of Pakistan, 2005


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