19 Sep 2011

UN flood appeal for Pakistan launched

3:52 pm on 19 September 2011

The United Nations has launched an appeal for $US365 million to help an estimated six million people in Pakistan affected by the latest monsoon flooding there.

The UN said the money would be used to help people in the southern provinces of Sindh and Balochistan over the next six months.

The BBC reports Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani is currently touring two towns in the flooded areas.

His government's response to the crisis has been heavily criticised. The perception is that, for a second year running, the government has failed hundreds of thousands of flood victims.

The floods have so far killed 248 people and damaged or destroyed some 665,000 homes since last month.

About 2000 people were killed and millions were displaced in monsoon flooding in 2010. Sindh was one of the worst affected regions.