The international aid response to the Pakistan floods has so far been much less generous than to other recent natural disasters.
Reasons include the relatively low death toll of 1,500, the slow onset of the flooding compared with more immediate and dramatic earthquakes or tsunamis, and a global ‘donor fatigue’ or at least a Pakistan fatigue.
Triggered by monsoon rains, the floods have torn through the country from its mountainous northwest. In southern Pakistan, the River Indus is now more than 15 miles (25 kilometres) wide at some points.
UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said humanitarian organisations in Pakistan are working around the clock to deliver lifesaving assistance to at least 6 million people in need, but that far more funding is required.