Brussels, 14/07/2011 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has decided to increase by €6 million its emergency humanitarian support for the people of Pakistan affected by the floods of August 2010, the worst in 80 years, and the ongoing conflict.
Funding, which will come from the ECHO budget (European Commission's Humanitarian Aid Office), will be used for food assistance and fighting malnutrition in areas which were severely affected by the floods, and where self-sufficiency is still very low.
“The number of people who are unable to afford food and the rates of malnutrition have reached alarming levels in some parts of Pakistan where the struggle for survival continues for the flood and conflict-stricken communities”, Kristalina Georgieva, European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, states in a press release.
Funding will be administered by the Commission's partners in the field, namely through the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Pakistan Emergency Food Security Alliance (which includes the Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development, ACTED), Action against Hunger, CARE, the International Rescue Committee, Oxfam, Save the Children and UNICEF.
Early this year, €70 million in humanitarian aid had been made available by the Commission to assist vulnerable people in Pakistan. In 2010, the sum of €150 million was allocated to Pakistan for the provision of shelters, food aid, access to drinking water, healthcare and sanitation. Some 23.6 million people have been helped by the funding. (A.N./transl.jl)