UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan is among 12 countries which will receive additional emergency funds as part of a United Nations programme to assist people in neglected crises, the office of UN Humanitarian Affairs announced on Tuesday.

“Millions of people around the world are in dire need but we don’t always see or hear of their plight,” the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Valerie Amos said. This money will save lives by ensuring that humanitarian organisations can continue to support the most vulnerable men, women and children caught in the midst of devastating disasters and conflicts.

This latest allocation brings the total amount provided by the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to an unprecedented $172 million in a single year, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a press release.

The funds will support vital humanitarian aid in Pakistan ($10 million), Bangladesh ($2 million), Chad ($8 million), Colombia ($3.5 million), the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea ($6 million), Haiti ($1.5 million), Madagascar ($3 million), Mauritania ($4 million), Myanmar ($3 million), Niger ($8 million), the Philippines ($3 million) and Somalia ($20 million).