September 20, 2010 10:08 AM

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UN holds high-level meeting on Pakistani floods

A high-level meeting on Pakistan's flood crisis held at the United Nations yielded only a few new contributions to a 2 billion dollar humanitarian appeal. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon hosted the meeting on Sunday ahead of the U.N.'s annual gathering this week.The session was intended to signal the international community's solidarity with the 20 million Pakistanis whose lives have been devastated by weeks of flooding caused by monsoon rains. It comes on the heels of Friday's largest U.N. humanitarian appeal ever, asking for more than 2 billion dollars for the next 12 months to assist flood victims. Those funds are designated for nearly 500 projects covering essential sectors such as housing, food, water, sanitation, hygiene and agriculture.U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told participants that this is one of the most complex natural disasters the United Nations has ever faced. He said the flooding has affected an estimated 20 million people and 20 percent of Pakistan's land. Eight to twelve million people need urgent humanitarian assistance.

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