The international community has so far committed close to $229.5 million in support and another $142 million in additional pledges for responses to Pakistan’s devastating flooding disaster.

Flood survivors jostle for position as relief goods are thrown at a camp in Muzaffargarh near Multan, Pakistan on Tuesday, Aug. 17, 2010.The World Bank said Tuesday it will redirect $900 million of its existing loans to Pakistan to help in flood recovery, as the U.N. warned that many of the 20 million people affected by the disaster have yet to receive any emergency aid.

But those pledge amounts alone are insufficient to cover even the initial three-month relief needs outlined by the United Nations, noted an official for the global relief and development agency Church World Service.

“[D]isasters can’t be measured by just the number of dead,” said Donna Derr, CWS’s director of Humanitarian Assistance.

“Effective humanitarian response must be measured against the all the people affected, just struggling to survive,” she added.

According to the United Nations, 20 million people have been affected by the recent flooding, which first hit three weeks ago after extremely heavy monsoon rains.

Furthermore, many of those affected have yet to receive emergency aid.
“There are so many people who are in grave difficulty,” reported Anila Gill, national executive secretary of Caritas Pakistan.

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