World must wake up to scale of disaster: UNICEF

MUZAFFARABAD—The world must wake up to the scale of the earthquake disaster in the mountains of Pakistan and do more to help or many more lives will be lost in the coming winter, the head of the UN Children’s Agency said on Sunday. Aid donors have provided $120 million for a massive relief effort for survivors of the Oct. 8 quake that killed more than 55,000 people and seriously injured about 78,000. But that is far short of the $550 million the United Nations has asked for.
“It’s very important for the world to understand how impacted this area really is, how huge this tragedy is, and how many people are still threatened because of the oncoming winter,” the executive director of UNICEF, Ann Veneman, said. Veneman was addressing a news conference here. She visited the hard-hit town of Balakot and a school where 84 girls were killed in Muzaffarabad.
The earthquake had had a disproportionate impact on children, she said, and many were without the shelter, food and medical care necessary to get them through a harsh Himalayan winter. “There is a tremendous need for continued resources. Winter is coming on. We could see very difficult times ahead in terms of the snow that will come, particularly the higher up communities,” she said.
“We need urgent large-scale support to control disease, malnutrition and to improve water supply and sanitation,” she said. “Much more is needed”. Veneman said more resources were also vital to keep relief helicopters in the air.
Many remote communities have been cut off after the earthquake triggered landslides which swept away mountain roads. Veneman said she had seen injured people being brought down to field clinics by helicopter on Sunday. “We’re now three weeks and one day after this incident and people are still being found who are in dire need of medical care,” she said. There had not been enough helicopters to reach remote areas and get people out, she said, noting helicopters were also vital to get food into cut-off communities.
A five-member delegation of the United Nation Development Programme (UNDP) headed by Assistant Secretary General Dr. Hafeez Pasha called on the Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz at the Prime Minister’s secretariat late Sunday and discussed matters relating to relief and rehabilitation in the quake hit zones.
The Prime Minister welcomed the initiatives taken by UN and its various agencies, like UNDP, UNICEF, UNHCR, and WHO etc, for rescue relief and rehabilitation of the quake hit areas.
He specifically lauded the personal initiatives and efforts on behalf of the Ghanaian Secy Gen of the UN, Kofi Anan and his arrangement of the Geneva Conference to help the quake victims.
The Prime Minister informed the delegation about the meeting of international donors which would be held on 19th Nov to decide about relief and rehabilitation program. The initial estimates required would be charted out for the donors.
Mr. Pasha, representing UNDP, lauded the speedy and prompt efforts made by the Pakistani government to handle the aftermath of the crisis, covering some of the most inaccessible areas in the process.
The Prime Minister termed the process of reconstruction and rehabilitation the most challenging of jobs, which he hoped people would be able to overcome with same zeal and fervor they had displayed in rescue and relief operations.
He stressed a need for tremendous compassion and sense of commitment to participate in an effective procedure of rehabilitation process.
The UNDP delegation included Mr. Jan Vandermoortle, UN Humanitarian coordinator and resident coordinator in Pakistan Mr. Haoliang Xu , country director, UNDP.—Agencies