Ex-Pres. Bush pleads for more Pakistan quake aid
Reuters: By Michelle Nichols - October 6, 2006
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - More than $90 million in pledges made to Pakistan after a devastating earthquake a year ago has yet to be delivered and is urgently needed, former U.S. President George Bush said on Friday.
Bush, a special envoy of U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan for the South Asia earthquake, said about two thirds of the $255 million budgeted for an early recovery plan had been received. But the rest of the money promised by various donor nations has not yet been paid.
"I want to highlight the fact that we're still missing $94 million, which is critical for bridging the gap from relief to recovery," Bush told a news conference at U.N. headquarters ahead of the October 8 first anniversary of the disaster.
The earthquake killed more than 73,000 people in Pakistan and 1,500 in Indian Kashmir and left more than 3 million people destitute.
Bush, whose job as a special envoy ends in January, said areas still underfunded are water and sanitation, housing, and support to vulnerable people.
"In terms of getting the pledges turned into something meaningful, we have made a start by contacting the different donor countries," he said. "I'm not satisfied that they have responded totally the way we would like."
Bush said he was concerned about donor fatigue, because so many humanitarian efforts around the world need funding, like the ongoing recovery from the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that killed about 230,000 people.
A month after the quake, international donors pledged $6.5 billion for Pakistan to help it through the relief, recovery and reconstruction phases of the crisis.
Reconstruction costs had been put at $3.6 billion originally, but that figure greatly underestimated the number of new houses needed.
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf said on Thursday the amount now required was $4.4 billion, leaving Pakistan $800 million short.
3 comments:
Dear Prof Abbas,
Why is that even an academic's site such as yours chooses not to mention the Human Rights Watch report that came out last month? The report details, for the first time, given the lack of access to Azad Kashmir for most outsiders, decades of Army abuse, emasculation of the civilian government, torture of Kashmiris from the other side of the border who do not toe the Army line etc. You all are quick to point out abuses by the Indian army across the border (rightly so as a democratic nation should have no room for torture and repression) but that alacrity and introspection is absent when it comes to the Pakistani army role in Kashmir.
Yes - I am Indian
Dear Sir,
You didn't look at the archives. It was indeed posted with detailed summary as well as a link to the original report.
Please go to archives on the right side menu and it was posted on September 23, 2006.
Kindly confirm when you locate that.
Best,
Hassan
Thanks - I did find it. I apologize for having posted my comments without having checked.
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