UK contributed over Rs 28.5 billion to help flood survivors: HC

The British government has contributed more than rupees 18.5 billion to help millions of people affected by the floods in Pakistan besides 10 billion rupees from British public that has been changing lives of people of the affected areas.
British High Commissioner to Pakistan, Adam Thomson giving details of UK help for the flood affected people here at UK High Commission on Friday said, "The British public really opened their hearts to the Pakistan people, donating nearly 10 billion rupees out of their own pockets, on top of the 18.5 billion rupees contributed by the UK government." This brings total contribution from the UK to well over 28 billion rupees, plus millions more from smaller British charities and local fund-raising activities. He said, "This reinforces the warm and unbreakable bond between the people of UK and Pakistan."
The Head of DFID-Pakistan George Turkington giving details on this occasion said, "Pakistan floods are one of the biggest disasters ever recorded; and this is the UK Government's largest ever response to a natural disaster." He said, "We have helped millions of people, initially by providing emergency shelter and food, and later by helping people rebuild their lives and become self-sufficient again by constructing flood resistant brick homes, replacing bridges and schools, and providing seeds, farm animals, jobs, and tools."
The UK Government is one of the first and most significant to respond to last year's floods and the total contribution include shelter to more than one million people, including 13,400 flood resistance brick houses, each big enough to house a family of up to eight people; wheat and vegetable seeds, fertiliser, animal feed, and veterinary services to approximately 895,000 people.
This contribution also includes getting 200,000 children back to education by repairing schools, as well as accelerating a project to build new schools in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, benefiting another 9,000 boys and girls, helping some 744,000 people in rural areas to earn a living by providing jobs and skills training. The UK also provided health care for around 2.62 million people; 5,000 families with kitchen gardens to increase the availability of vegetables and fruit; clean water to around 2.4 million people; toilets and sanitation to some 1.2 million people.
The British government also provided emergency food for one month for more than 630,000 people. The UK also provided nutritional support for nearly half a million malnourished young children and pregnant women, and nine nutrition stabilisation centres to provide treatment to malnourished children. The British government also provided Rs 1.4 billion rupees for the projects of new bridges and schools to replace those destroyed by the floods. During the relief operation, 12 planes (five Royal Air Force and seven civilian) were flown packed with full of emergency aid.
The UK was at the forefront of the international response, and consistently put pressure on other countries to play their part. In September 2010, as the crisis continued, the UK International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell went to the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on the Pakistan Floods in New York, where he doubled the UK's support and lobbied other nations to donate more.
The UK's International Development Committee has recently commended the UK response as `swift and generous' and said that it is `proud of UK leadership'. It also commended `the British public for their generosity in responding to the humanitarian crisis in Pakistan despite the UK's own economic difficulties'. The British High Commissioner said the UK is committed to being better prepared to deal with future disasters, and build up the resilience of local communities.
The 2010 floods in Pakistan were the worst the world has ever recorded, killing nearly two thousand people, destroying some 10,000 schools and two million homes, forcing 14 million people to flee from their homes, and wiping out thousands of bridges, roads and electricity pylons. More than two million hectares of crops (an area the size of Wales) were lost, as well as one million farm animals and six million poultry.
Ahead of the 2011 monsoon, the UK is helping to set-up and equips via the Red Cross, 12 Disaster Management Cells across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, and Sindh. These Cells provide a hub for logistics and a base for staff to work, and will house emergency items such as tents and blankets for 35,000 people each, to enable a quick response in any future disasters. The DFID has built in disaster risk reduction to all its programmes, such as disease early warning systems to avoid mass outbreaks.