DONORS PLEDGE $580 MILLION MORE FOR PAKISTAN

DONORS PLEDGE $580 MILLION MORE FOR PAKISTAN

GENEVA/ NEW YORK, 27 October (OCHA) -- More than 400 participants from 92 Member States and other members of the international humanitarian community came together in Geneva yesterday for a ministerial-level donor conference on assistance to communities affected by the South Asia earthquake.

After the meeting, Jan Egeland, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, who convened the meeting in cooperation with the Government of Pakistan, announced that nearly $580 million in new pledges had been made.  Thirty-two countries promised $329 million in new pledges, while the Islamic Development Bank promised some $250 million, bringing the total of new pledges for assistance to Pakistan to nearly $580 million.

Sixty countries have now pledged nearly $1.3 billion in assistance to Pakistan in the wake of the devastating earthquake, which struck South Asia on 8 October.  Among the new pledges, the United Nations had recorded $15.9 million as being specifically directed toward its Flash Appeal for emergency relief.

Welcoming the donors’ commitment to providing assistance to the survivors, Mr. Egeland said, “The good news is that we have very good pledges, but the bad news for us is that too little is committed to the UN’s Flash Appeal.”  The United Nations has warned that it cannot wait for weeks for contributions to be made firm because by then, snow will have begun to fall in the most affected areas of Pakistan, making it impossible to reach many communities. 

The United Nations Flash Appeal, initially launched on 11 October for $312 million, was revised upward yesterday to nearly $550 million, as the scope and size of the tragedy in Pakistan has become dramatically clearer.

During yesterday’s meeting, Belgium, China, Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Greece, Lithuania, Slovakia, and Turkey made new pledges specifically to be channelled through the United Nations.  They joined Australia, Canada, Chile, Denmark, European Commission, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Slovenia, Sweden, United Kingdom and the United States as funders of the United Nations Flash Appeal.  Ireland and Switzerland both increased their initial pledges to the Appeal during the meeting.

Some of the $580 million in new pledges may yet be channelled through the United Nations.  The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is now trying to ascertain how much of the new money may be counted against the Appeal.  OCHA also notes that current information on Appeal funding does not reflect some substantial in kind contributions that have yet to be assigned a dollar amount and be counted against requirements.

For further information, please call:  Stephanie Bunker, OCHA New York, tel.:  +1 917 367 5126, mobile:  +1 917 892 1679; Kristen Knutson, OCHA New York, tel.:  +1 917 367 9262; Elizabeth Byrs, OCHA Geneva, tel.:  +41 22 917 2653, mobile:  +41 79 473 4570.

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For information media • not an official record