International aid for Pakistan floods at risk due to lack of funds

ISLAMABAD, Nov. 10 (Xinhua): International aid agencies yesterday warned that over nine million people, who have been affected by severe flooding in Pakistan's southern Sindh province, are at risk of disease and widespread malnutrition. A group of international aid agencies including Oxfam, Save the Children, Care and ACTED said they are urgently calling on the donor community to step up its response, saying that relief efforts reaching over five million people are under threat due to lack of funds, Over nine million people have been affected by the floods that hit Pakistan in August. More than two months into the disaster, over 1.58 million houses in Sindh and 26,000 in Balochistan have been damaged. The lack of funding for the Pakistan flood relief programs will have serious consequences if money isn't found soon to help those in need, Oxfam would be forced to cut back on its efforts after December, meaning the 3.9 million people it had planned to reach would go without help. Save the Children has so far raised only 35 percent of their global appeal for the Sindh floods. Care faces a shortfall of 91 percent and is struggling to continue its relief program at a time when the risk of an outbreak of disease and widespread malnutrition is escalating.