8 Million children in Pakistan face food shortage

This file photo shows a boy sitting on the ground crying as he waits for an evening food handout at a center for flood victims near Nowshera in Pakistan's northwest Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province on August 23, 2010.

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/155686.html


Eight million Pakistani children are suffering from food shortage in Pakistan and 3.5 million others do forced hard labor, a provincial official says.

Adviser to Sindh Chief Minister on Information Shamila Farooqi told reporters that the recent devastating floods had affected about seven million Pakistanis, a Press TV correspondent reported on Thursday.

“There are more than 10,000 street children under the age of 15 in Karachi while over 4,500 children are in prisons, out of which cases of 66 percent children are in pending at courts,” Farooqi added.

She further pointed out that flood-affected children are facing problems in getting medical treatment and education because many of the schools in interior Sindh were damaged or affected by the floods.

According to Farooqi, about 23 million Pakistani children are deprived of even basic education.

“Child Rights Bureau is the need of the hour to protect child rights and provide health, education and other facilities to them, particularly those affected by the floods,” she concluded.

'Food security,' Pakistan's main concern

The flooding, considered the worst in Pakistan's history, has left a fifth of the
country under water


Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/140901.html


Pakistan's Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani has expressed concerns over food security due to the long lasting damage to the nation's agriculture.

He said floods have ravaged Pakistan's economy, and called the social impact of the disaster "serious."

"The floods have inflicted damage to the economy which may, by some estimates, reach USD 43 billion, while affecting 30 percent of all agricultural land," Reuters quoted Gilani as saying during a Cabinet briefing on Wednesday.

Agriculture is the core of Pakistan's economy and a major source of employment in the impoverished country.

"This economic loss will translate into massive job losses affecting incomes of thousands of families, which may have serious social implications,” the prime minister noted.

The international aid agency, Oxfam, has warned that Pakistan will face severe problems unless reconstruction begins immediately.

Torrential monsoon rains have triggered massive floods that have moved steadily from north to south of Pakistan over the past month.

The flooding, considered the worst in the country's history has claimed the lives of at least 1,600 people and displaced more than 17 million others, one out of every nine Pakistanis.

It has also affected the lives of 20 million others and left a fifth of the country under water.

The United Nations has warned that millions of children risk contracting deadly diseases while in contact with contaminated water.

World Bank boosts Pakistan aid to $1bn

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/140941.html


As funding for flood-devastated Pakistan has almost stalled, the World Bank has boosted its support to one billion dollars from 900 million dollars.

The World Bank said in a statement on Wednesday that it has made the funding available to finance immediate recovery needs and longer-term reconstruction.

World Bank President Robert Zoellick also said the flood-hit Pakistan needs the world's support to meet urgent humanitarian needs.

Meanwhile, Manuel Bessler, head of the UN coordination agency, said the funding had been almost stalled since the beginning of last week.

The Pakistani government announced that the country had suffered losses of about 43 billion dollars because of the floods.

Heavy monsoon rains triggered the natural disaster, affecting 30 percent of agricultural land and more than 10 percent of the population.

According to the United Nations, more than 18 million people have so far been affected.

United Nations Children's Fund Executive Director Anthony Lake said the disaster has affected nearly 8.6 million children.

Pakistan's government has confirmed 1,645 people dead and 2,479 injured but officials warn that millions are at risk of fatal diseases and food shortages.

'Pakistan needs 3 years to recover'

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari


Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/139848.html


Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari says it would take years to rehabilitate the country after the devastating floods.

"Your guess is as good as mine, but three years is a minimum," Zardari told reporters Monday when asked how long it would take Pakistan to go through relief, reconstruction and rehabilitation after the floods.

He warned that his impoverished and volatile country is facing drastic problems.

“I don't think Pakistan will ever fully recover but we will move on," Zardari said, adding that the government was working to protect people from potential future flooding.

More than 1,600 people have lost their lives and 20 million have been affected by nearly a month of flooding which has engulfed a fifth of the country. Disaster is far from over as the country braces itself for a fresh wave of floods in the country's south.

Floodwaters have surged deeper into areas of Sindh province in southern Pakistan. More rains have been forecast for different parts of the flood-stricken country.

A Press TV correspondent reported from Islamabad that the situation in Pakistan's flood-hit areas is turning from bad to worse, particularly in the southern part of Punjab which is the biggest province of Pakistan and the food-basket of the country.

He said that 85 percent of the country's cotton crop depends on the southern belt of Punjab province which has been completely destroyed.
It is becoming very difficult for the Pakistani government to deal with such a situation, the Press TV correspondent said.

Meanwhile, the response to UN appeal for $460 million for rescue and relief operation in Pakistan rose dramatically to over $800 million by Friday.