UN: Monsoon leaves many in need of food and drinking water

UN: Monsoon leaves many in need of food and drinking water

A UN spokesperson here on Thursday said the UN humanitarian office has reported many are left in need of food and drinking water following the recent monsoon in Pakistan, Xinhua reported.

"More funds are required to meet the critical needs in the areas affected by floods," said Martin Nesirky, UN Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon's spokesperson, at the daily briefing.

Citing the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)'s findings, he said that 1.3 million people in Pakistan are in urgent need of food and safe drinking water.

"The World Food Program (WFP) requires 25 million U.S. dollars to continue and to extend food distributions to 700,000 people for two months," he added.

Heavy rain and flooding in the Balochistan, Punjab and Sindh provinces last month has so far killed 400 people and injured 3, 000 others.

The UN Central Emergency Relief Fund (CERF) has allocated 9.9 million dollars for water, food, shelter and healthcare to the 1.3 million in need within these provinces, said Nesirky.