Canada will provide an additional 7.5 million Canadian dollars (USD7.2 million) in flood aid to Pakistan, Canadian Minister of International Cooperation Beverley Oda said.
The additional funding aims to boost logistics and air transport capacity for the overall humanitarian response in Pakistan. The funding will also help CANADEM, a Canadian nonprofit agency seeking to advance international peace and security, to deploy Canadian humanitarian experts in flood-hit areas to help boost the capacity of United Nations agencies on the ground.
The amount brings Canada’s total contribution to Pakistani flood relief efforts to 40.5 million Canadian dollars.
Meanwhile, according to UNICEF, the risk of epidemics in affected Pakistani regions has eased as floods recede in many areas.
“So far, as far as I know, we have not had any serious outbreaks,” UNICEF official Bill Fellows was quoted by Reuters as saying. “But the risk factors are there and if we really don’t come together and stay really vigilant, we could have very serious problems. Hopefully that won’t happen.”
