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Pakistan aid total reaches $800m

2010-08-22 360 Dailymotion


More than $800 million has been donated or pledged to help flood victims, Pakistan's foreign minister has said.


Shah Mehmood Qureshi expressed gratitude for the $815.58 million in international assistance to ease the suffering from one of the worst disasters in Pakistan's history.


The worst floods in decades have destroyed villages, bridges and roads made more than 4 million homeless and raised concerns that militants will exploit the misery and chaos.


Rising waters in southern Sindh province are still threatening to wreak havoc, but officials expect the floodwaters will recede nationwide in the next few days as the last river torrents empty into the Arabian Sea.


Half a million people are living in about 5,000 schools in flood-hit areas of Pakistan where poor hygiene and sanitation, along with cramped quarters and the stifling heat, provide fertile ground for potentially fatal diseases such as cholera.


The International Monetary Fund said it will review Pakistan's budget and economic prospects in light of the disaster in talks with government officials on Monday.


The meetings in Washington will focus on a $10 billion IMF programme agreed in 2008, and the budget and macroeconomic prospects will be reviewed because of the magnitude of the flood disaster.