Humanitarian organizations in Pakistan are working round the clock to deliver life-saving assistance to at least 6 million people in need, but far more funding is required to do this in a timely manner. Martin Mogwanja, Humanitarian Coordinator for Pakistan, said that relief supplies must reach women, men and children as soon as possible, to avoid further deaths caused by waterborne diseases and food shortages.
In progress at UNHQ
Noon Briefings
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that more than 14 million people — almost 1 in every 10 Pakistanis — have so far been affected by the flooding in that country. The monsoon season could last for at least another month, worsening the flooding that has been seen so far, including in parts of the country not so far affected. The Office also estimates that at least 6 million people are in desperate need of emergency aid.
The United Nations and Pakistan just launched an emergency response plan for $459.7 million over the coming weeks, to meet the urgent humanitarian needs of millions of people affected by the floods in Pakistan. John Holmes, the Emergency Relief Coordinator, said that the death toll has so far been relatively low compared to other major natural disasters, but the numbers affected are extraordinarily high.
The Secretary-General has just begun a meeting with the four members of the Panel of Inquiry on the flotilla incident of 31 May 2010. The Panel will hold its own first meeting this afternoon.
The Secretary-General took part today in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony, becoming the first UN Secretary-General to do so. He said: “Together, we are on a journey from ground zero to global zero — a world free of weapons of mass destruction.” That is the only sane path, he said, to a safer world. For as long as nuclear weapons exist, we will live under a nuclear shadow.
The Secretary-General spent what he described as “a profoundly moving day” in Nagasaki. He toured the Atomic Bomb Museum and met with a number of survivors. He said his visit had strengthened his conviction that nuclear weapons must be outlawed, and he urged all nations to support his five-point action plan for nuclear disarmament and to agree to negotiate a nuclear weapons convention at the earliest possible date.
In Tokyo, the Secretary-General spoke to students this morning, one day before he is to visit Nagasaki, and said that he hoped the younger generation of Japanese will become leaders for disarmament. He told students at Waseda University in Tokyo that they should tell the stories of the survivors of nuclear bombs, the hibakusha, since their testimony is the most graphic argument against the nuclear threat.
The UN Interim Force in Lebanon, UNIFIL, confirms that there has been an exchange of fire between the Lebanese army and the Israeli army along the Blue Line, in the general area of El Adeisse. UNIFIL has been focused on restoring calm in the area through intensive contacts with both the parties. To that end, the Acting Force Commander, Brigadier General Santi Bonfanti, decided to personally fly by helicopter to El Adeisse.
The Secretary-General announced this morning that he has set up a Panel of Inquiry on the flotilla incident of 31 May. He called the launch of the Panel “an unprecedented development”. He thanked the leaders of Israel and Turkey, with whom he engaged in last minute consultations over the weekend, for their spirit of compromise and forward looking cooperation.
The Office of the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process (UNSCO) condemned the attack on Ashkelon earlier today, in which a rocket struck a residential area. Indiscriminate rocket fire against civilians is completely unacceptable and constitutes a terrorist attack.
UNSCO has called on the de facto authorities in Gaza to ensure that these kinds of actions do not occur.