Victims of Pakistan flood disaster to get extra £70m from Britain
He told the Liberal Democrat conference the UK will be “dramatically increasing” the amount of money going to Pakistan beyond the 60m already provided.
The money will provide temporary school facilities, help farmers replace livestock and crops and provide more support for the emergency efforts in southern Pakistan
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdMr Clegg said he feared the “worse is still to come” after visiting the flood-stricken country.
“I’ve never seen anything like it. I found it deeply, deeply, personally, a very shocking experience because the scale is just really difficult to comprehend,” he said.
Answering questions at the conference in Liverpool, Mr Clegg said: “This is a terrible catastrophe which is getting worse, not least because of the deathly grip of waterborne diseases.”
He added: “We will be dramatically increasing the amount of Government aid that we are giving, even on top of what we have already provided, on top of the 60m we have already provided, for three things.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide Ad“Firstly, to provide temporary education facilities for children in camps and elsewhere. Secondly, to help farmers replenish livestock and have the ability to replant where they can replant and thirdly, to provide even further significant support in the emergency effort in the south where the crisis is most acute.”
International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell is in New York for a donors’ meeting today and Mr Clegg., who has been heavily involved in the aid effort, will fly out tomorrow.
The UK will give a further 70m to the aid effort, taking the total money committed to 134m the Department for International Development said.
The extra funding comes in response to the United Nations’ revised appeal to provide relief and recovery support for the next 12 months.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdSome 60m will be spent on getting hundreds of thousands of children back to school, supporting farmers and helping up to two million people rebuild communities.
The rest will be spent in south Pakistan in an attempt to prevent a public health emergency in the region.