ISLAMABAD, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- In the wake of recent devastating floods in Pakistan, the response from the international community has been very forthcoming, the Pakistani Foreign Ministry said on Friday.
"The initial flash appeal of Aug. 30 was for 160.3 million U.S. dollars and within a couple of weeks a large portion of that had been pledged," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Asim Iftikhar Ahmad said during a weekly media briefing.
Subsequently, a revised flash appeal of 816 million U.S. dollars was launched on Oct. 4, Ahmad said, adding that so far, pledges of over 205 million U.S. dollars have been made, out of which 90 million U.S. dollars have already been committed or actualized.
"It relates to the urgent humanitarian needs. Now the overall damage that has been caused by the floods is expected to run into tens of billions of dollars, and the assistance required for that will be part of a separate international conference focusing on sustainable rehabilitation and reconstruction," the spokesperson said.
The catastrophic monsoon rain and floods since mid-June have killed more than 1,700 people and affected over 33 million people in Pakistan.
