Call over Pakistan reconstruction

Reconstruction work in flood-ravaged Pakistan must begin immediately, Oxfam said
12 April 2012

Relief efforts to help millions of people caught up in Pakistan's flood crisis are being stepped up amid calls for immediate reconstruction work to begin.

Oxfam has warned of devastating long-term consequences if billions of pounds were not diverted towards rebuilding schools, hospitals, roads and bridged in badly hit areas.

The aid organisation said that Pakistan did not have the "luxury" of waiting for the emergency phase to be over before concentrating on reconstruction.

British efforts in the region are being increased as public money continues to pour in, charities have said.

The British Red Cross said that one month into the crisis, the organisation had managed to reached more than than 400,000 people with desperately needed aid as a result of donations.

Sir Nicholas Young, chief executive of the British Red Cross, said: "The delivery of aid to those in need is increasing all the time. The Red Cross Red Crescent movement alone has reached hundreds of thousands of people with desperately needed help - including food, water, shelter and medical care - and those numbers are going up by the thousand each and every day."

Government relief operations are likewise continuing.

On Saturday, the Royal Air Force announced it was flying in aid for more than 3,000 families left stranded by the devastating floods in Pakistan.

The British Government has now committed £64 million to help people in Pakistan affected by the floods.

It comes as Oxfam urged that the international community and the Pakistan authorities begin to focus on rebuilding the country.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Sign up you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy notice .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in