US pledges $25 million more for Pak flood relief

The United States has announced $25 million aid for flood relief work in Pakistan, taking the total humanitarian fund to the inundation ravaged nation to $35 million.

"The need for response to this disaster is urgent, and even as we triple our financial commitment, we remain flexible so we can meet new needs as they arise," said United States Agency for International Development administrator Rajiv Shah.

"We remain committed to working in support of the government of Pakistan to identify gaps in assistance where USAID can be of assistance," he said.

The assistance includes a $15 million contribution to the United Nation's World Food Programme and $10 million to expand existing emergency and aid programmes that address needs identified by the government of Pakistan.

At a special news conference held at the Foggy Bottom headquarters of the State Department, Dan Feldman, the deputy special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, said the US is also actively working to mobilise other nations to join in this effort.

"We have already started receiving a number of significant contributions from the European Commission, from the United Kingdom, from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Japan, many others, which we're just at the beginning of the process in coordinating," Feldman told reporters.

The State Department is also engaging the local Pakistani community in this regard including the private sector, the Pakistani-American business community and other Pakistani-American organisations throughout the US.

"As one example, the Association of Physicians of Pakistani Descent of North America, APPNA, has received $5 million in pledges," he added. The Coca-Cola corporation for Pakistan and Afghanistan has announced a $500,000 donation.

"We're going to be there for a long time. You will see our response to this crisis is a robust one. At some point, the relief phase will end, and we will get into a longer-term reconstruction effort," said Mark Ward, acting director, Office of Foreign Direct Assistance, USAID.