UN to donate $10 million more in aid to flood-affected Pakistan

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he had never seen anything like the flood disaster in Pakistan, and urged foreign donors to speed up assistance to the affected people.

"I will never forget the destruction and suffering I have witnessed today. In the past I have witnessed many natural disasters around the world, but nothing like this,” Mr Ban is quoted as saying on Sunday at a press conference with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari.

In his remarks delivered during a visit to Pakistan, Mr Ban said the UN was allocating a further $10 million from its Central Emergency Response Fund, making $27 million allocated since the crisis began. He said the organization would aim to provide help for 14 million people affected by the floods and deliver clean water to 6 million people.

The floods that began more than two weeks ago in Pakistan's mountainous northwest hit about one-quarter of the country, especially its agricultural heartland. While the death toll of 1,500 is relatively small, the scale of the flooding and number of people whose lives have been disrupted is staggering. Number of the flood-affected people is now 20 million.