EU doubles Pakistan flood aid to €150m

The European Commission has decided to more than double its Pakistan flood aid to €150 million ($205 million), the European Union's humanitarian aid chief said Friday.

The EU's executive arm has already provided €70 million in aid and will now distribute another €80 million to its partner organisations, European humanitarian aid commissioner Kristalina Georgieva told a news conference.

"Our own staff in Pakistan confirms that more financial resources will translate into more lives saved and more people helped," she said.
"For that reason we have decided in the commission to more than double our humanitarian support to Pakistan."

Combined with contributions from national governments, the European Union's support for Pakistan now totals €400 million, she said.

Torrential rain began falling in northern Pakistan in July and the floods have since moved slowly south, wiping out villages and farmland and affecting an area roughly the size of England.

The United Nations has issued a record two-billion-dollar appeal for funds to cope with the disaster, which UN agencies say affected 21 million people and left 12 million in need of emergency food aid.

The new European aid will be directed primarily to the south of the country, Georgieva said.

"The floods in Pakistan continue to present an enormous challenge," she said.

A more "comprehensive package" will be presented at the Friends of Democratic Pakistan meeting in Brussels on October 14-15 to be hosted by EU chief diplomat Catherine Ashton and attended by Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, she said.

"The European Union is aware of the massive scale of the rebuilding tasks," Georgieva said.

"We are preparing a wide-ranging package to assist the Pakistani people in their efforts, including trade arrangements and development funding."