By Anwar Iqbal

WASHINGTON, Sept 13: Now is the time to save lives in Pakistan as receding waters could cause an outbreak of diseases and failed crops could create a famine-like situation, a US private donor warned on Monday.

“Save lives before they are lost,” said Bob Corcoran, President and Chairman of the General Electric, who donated one million dollars to the World Food Programme at the Pakistan Embassy for Pakistan’s flood victims.

Dan Feldman, the US deputy special representative on Afghanistan and Pakistan, told the gathering that the United States was working with the UN to raise an emergency appeal to support Pakistan.

“The UN has initially given its $460 million appeal. That will be augmented on Sept 19,” Mr Feldman said, ahead of a meeting on Sunday at the United Nations on the floods.

Observers in Washington, however, noted that donors had met only about two-thirds of the initial appeal, launched on August 11.

Ambassador Husain Haqqani said that since flood was a “slowly folding disaster”, it also delayed the world’s response but now the international community was coming forward.
Mr Haqqani regretted that the media focused on the political impact of the floods even before reporting the situation and that’s why some people were slow to recognise the enormity of the disaster.

“The United States has been by far the largest donor and “wants to retain this position,” said Mr Feldman.

The US, which has made the fight against extremism in Pakistan a top priority, hopes this gesture, will help curb anti-American sentiment in this important nation.

“The United States has been the first, with the most so far, among governments and we expect the US commitment as a government to go up. But one thing where the US has not yet reached its full potential is private giving,” Mr Haqqani said.

“A lot of people in Middle America are not interested in the politics of another country as much,” he said.

Richard Leach, President and CEO of the World Food Programme, told the briefing that WFP planned to reach 6 million victims this month.