"It is one of the greatest tests of global solidarity," the UN boss added, pointing out that Pakistan was facing a "slow-motion tsunami." Ban welcomed the fact that half of the UN 460-million-dollar emergency appeal for Pakistan had been funded.
Three weeks of unprecedented floods have claimed 1,500 lives and affected 20 million people. Around 4.6 million people are still without shelter following the wave of destruction wreaked by the worst flooding in Pakistan's history, the UN said.
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi told UN that 'terrorists' must not be allowed to exploit his country's flooding disaster. "The massive upheaval caused by the floods and the economic losses suffered by the millions of Pakistanis must be addressed urgently," he pleaded. "We cannot allow this catastrophe to become an opportunity for the terrorists."
He said the disaster, which has claimed nearly 1500 lives and affected 20 million people, "hit us hard at a time, and in areas, where we are in the midst of fighting a war against extremists and terrorists." Qureshi said that if the international community failed to assist his government, "it could undermine the hard won gains made by the government in our difficult and painful war against terrorism."
"Our material losses exceed 43 billion dollars," he noted. Qureshi warned that what he described as a "natural calamity of unprecedented proportions" was expected to worsen as "the second and third waves of floods inundate more lands and uproot more people."
And he said Pakistani authorities have decided to set up an independent national entity to mobilise maximum domestic resources and to ensure their effective and transparent use." "We trust that we shall be provided with the much needed support to augment our national relief and rescue efforts," he added. He spoke at a special session of the UN General Assembly called to boost financial aid to Islamabad.
Meanwhile, the United States announced a new pledge of $60 million to help Pakistan deal with the massive flooding that has crippled the country. "With a new pledge that I am making today of $60 million today, the United States will be contributing more than $150 million toward emergency flood relief," US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told the UN General Assembly.
About $92 million of that total is in direct support of the UN relief plan, she added. She said the funds were being used to provide critical supplies and support operations of the National Disaster Management Authority and other organisations responding to the crisis. The United States, Clinton added, was also providing technical assistance and mobilising military and civilian resources to deliver supplies and rescue flood victims.