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International aid extended to Pakistani flood victims. Governments and organizations are
offering their help to up to 2.5 million people affected by the most devastating floods to
hit the country since 1929. More than 1,100 lives have been lost, with thousands in need
of food, clean drinking water, shelter, and sanitation facilities. On Monday, August 2,
Britain pledged a donation of nearly US$8 million through the United Nations Children’s
Fund (UNICEF). This is in addition to the US$39 million being donated by the European
Commission and the US$4.5 million from Australia, which is being channeled through the United
Nations-managed Pakistan Emergency Response Fund and the International Red Cross/Crescent
as well as other humanitarian agencies. The US pledged an initial US$10 million donation
and is deploying helicopters, boats, bridges, and other supplies to the flood-hit nation,
while China is delivering US$1.5 million in humanitarian aid.
Many charitable agencies have also initiated emergency aid operations. They include UK-based
Oxfam, which, in collaboration with its local partners, is providing water and sanitation
facilities as well as three months of livelihood services to 30,000 households in the 13 most
affected districts. ActionAid International is meanwhile working to assist the most vulnerable
persons in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province. UK-based disaster relief charity ShelterBox has already
distributed over 400 kits containing tents that can house up to ten people, with 1,900
more ready for distribution. The Pakistan Red Crescent and International Committee of
the Red Cross (ICRC) has also thus far distributed food parcels for over 20,000 flood victims,
and is expected to continue providing necessities for another several thousand households.
Our sincere thanks all nations, organizations, and persons bringing comfort to the people
of Pakistan. May Allah bless the flood-stricken persons with a smooth road to contented daily
lives as humanity’s kinder care for one another and the planet fosters a stabilized
ecosphere�