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| October 18, 2005 | Tuesday | Ramzan 13, 1426 |
EU ministers to review quake assistance
BRUSSELS (Belgium), Oct 17: European Union foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg on Tuesday will review the bloc’s post-quake rescue and relief operations in Pakistan but officials said no new aid was likely to be announced.
“We have started looking beyond relief assistance to reconstruction and rehabilitation,” an EU official told Dawn. But while EU governments did not lack the political will to come to Pakistan’s aid, there was a clear shortage of funds for assistance operations, the official said.
The EU has so far announced 13.6 million euros in emergency humanitarian aid for Pakistan, with additional amounts being given by Britain, Germany and Sweden. Rescue teams have also been sent to Pakistan from several EU states.
Officials in Brussels said the EU was examining “all possibilities” to see how much money was available for medium-term reconstruction aid given the extensive damage caused by the earthquake.
Discussions are also under way with Islamabad and other donors, including the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.
However, prospects for a generous EU contribution to reconstruction are not believed to be bright given the demands on the EU’s budget from the Asian tsunami-hit nations, Central American countries facing hurricanes and landslides and aid commitments to Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine.
With access to fresh funds expected to be limited, the EU is likely to redirect its current Pakistan assistance programme to cover reconstruction requirements in the north of the country.
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