Help Pakistan! is a group dedicated to getting needed humanitarian support to flood ravaged Pakistan, and disseminating information pertaining to the floods to the dailykos community at large. Our goal is getting donations to those people who need it most.
If you have a negative comment pertaining to Pakistan, its people, its culture, or its relationship with the United States, please refrain from making it here. If you would like to be a part of our group, please click the picture at the very bottom of this diary. We would love more volunteers to help us with the burden of getting a diary up every day. Thanks you, dailykos community for your time
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on the Pakistani floods
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Drowned Pakistan: Video of Flood Zone devastation
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Pakistan Flood Victims in Dire Need of Humanitarian Aid
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Pakistan Floods Hit Up To 12 Million People
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Reuters: UN Envoy says Pakistan Flood Death Toll Still Unknown
UNITED NATIONS, Aug 20 (Reuters) - The actual number of people killed by the massive flooding in Pakistan remains unknown because large areas of the country are inaccessible, Islamabad's U.N. envoy said on Friday.
The official death toll is around 1,500 but the true number of people killed in the disaster may turn out to be higher, Ambassador Abdullah Hussain Haroon told the U.N. General Assembly at the end of a two-day conference on aid for Pakistan.
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ABC News: UN Says Floods Could be Worse than 2004 Tsunami
The United Nations said the massive floods in Pakistan had affected 13.8 million people and eclipsed the scale of the devastating 2004 tsunami, as anger mounted among survivors.
The Pakistani government and UN officials have appealed for more urgent relief efforts to cope with the worst floods in more than 80 years, with President Asif Ali Zardari due to return home after a heavily criticised European tour.
The entire north-western Swat valley, where Pakistan fought a major campaign to flush out Taliban insurgents last year, was cut off at the weekend as were parts of the country's breadbasket in Punjab and Sindh.
"This disaster is worse than the tsunami, the 2005 Pakistan earthquake and the Haiti earthquake," Maurizio Giuliano, a spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said.
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AOL News: UN Links Pakistan Floods to Climate Change
"Climate change with all its severity and unpredictability has become a reality for 170 million Pakistanis," Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Pakistan's foreign minister, told the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday. "The present situation in Pakistan reconfirms our extreme vulnerability to the adverse impacts of climate change."
Noting that climate change also "complicates the reconstruction and rehabilitation scenario in Pakistan," Qureshi added that "nature has made a graphic endorsement to strengthen the case for a fair and equitable outcome" in now stalled climate change negotiations.
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BBC News: More Aid Pledged For Flood Hit Pakistan
The European Union promised an extra $39m following higher commitments from Australia and Japan, while the Islamic Development Bank pledged $11.2m.
The UN has said it has now raised nearly half of the $460m (£295m) it needs for initial relief efforts.
Meanwhile new flood warnings have been issued in some areas of Pakistan.
Pakistani authorities say as many as 20 million people are affected by the floods. The UN says six million desperately need emergency aid but most still have not received it. Tens of thousands of villages remain under water.
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As you all can see, this flooding is a humanitarian and natural crisis of the highest order. I know we all have donation fatigue, but as long as there is a humanitarian crisis, there will be a need for donations. These are REAL lives at stake. REAL HUMAN BEINGS who have needs, and who need to be cared for. I understand that it is a half a world away, and it doesn't directly affect your life, but PLEASE if you have ANYTHING to donate, do so NOW. These people are hurting. They are in need.
These people are not asking for a handout. They are asking for justice. They are asking for their world to be restored back to the way it was. They are asking for help. If you can, please give. Donation links below:
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Here's How YOU Can Help:
Shelterbox:
DONATE
Doctors without Borders (MSF):
DONATE
The Red Cross/Red Crescent:
DONATE
Islamicrelief
DONATE
OXFAM:
DONATE
UNICEF:
DONATE
Toll free: 1-800-FOR-KIDS (1-800-367-5437)
Text: "Text FLOODS to 864233 (UNICEF) to donate $10"
Greg (Three Cups of Tea, Stones Into Schools) Mortnenson's non-profit (CAI) recommends supporting a local (Pakistani) group to which donations will likely have a large, immediate, and lasting impact.
Healing Development Foundation
http://www.hdf.com
(800)705 1310
DONATE
From the US State dept.
How You Can Help:
Text "FLOOD" to 27722. Your $10 will go to the State Department Fund for Pakistan Relief that Secretary Clinton announced August 19, and is part of a new effort to bring attention to the need for aid.
Text "SWAT" to 50555 ; $10 goes to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees fund for flood victims
Previously recommended relief diaries about the floods in Pakistan (with the Help Pakistan tag):
Aug 20: Pakistan Floods - Reporting/Working From The Inside
Aug 20: Pakistan Relief: Just watch the video
Aug 19: A slow moving Tsunami ....
Aug 19: Anti-Muslim Bigotry: Not just for wingnuts anymore
Aug 18: Pakistan Floods... Please Help
Aug 18: Chaos is the new Normal {Earthship Wednesday}
Aug 18: EcoAdvocates: A green model in the Gulf
Aug 17: Please Help Pakistan... Please ... Update: New Flood Warnings
Aug 16: pakistan III: the human face of climate change: ecojustice
Aug 16: Pakistan still needs help; lots of it. Floods displace 20+ Million
Aug 14: Pakistan: 6 Million Without Water (How to Help)
Aug 9: Media ignores "Worst Humanitarian Disaster In Recent History"
Jul 31: Pakistan needs help. Floods kill 800+, displace 1 Million
We are looking at what may be the worst humanitarian crisis the world has seen in a century.
Laughing Planet has started a Google group to address the crisis in Pakistan. Anyone who would like to get involved or get alerts when a new HELP PAKISTAN diary is posted, please join.
( CLICK THE PIC
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