More Money Pledged for Quake Areas

Governments and other donors told the United Nations on Wednesday that they were pledging an additional $580 million for Pakistani earthquake victims, but U.N. officials said it was unclear how much would be earmarked for immediate relief efforts.

The U.N. had requested $550 million in immediate aid on the eve of a donors conference here, but officials said some of the new money might go to other humanitarian organizations or future reconstruction projects.

So far, $111 million has been earmarked for the U.N. appeal, top U.N. relief coordinator Jan Egeland told reporters after the conference.

“The good news is that we have very good pledges, but the bad news for us is that too little is committed to the U.N.’s flash appeal,” he said.

Egeland harshly criticized donors who are giving money for reconstruction, saying many of the survivors may not live long enough to benefit unless they get food and shelter soon.

“It is not right to sit with the money for reconstruction for one year from now if it is a question of whether people will still be alive,” he said.

The flash appeal is for U.N. agencies and a number of charities, including Save the Children and Catholic Relief Services. It does not cover separate appeals by agencies such as the Red Cross, even though some of these are working with U.N. agencies in the field.

Nearly half the new pledges -- $250 million -- came from the Islamic Development Bank, the financial arm of the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference, said Toby Lanzer, Egeland’s aide. He said he believed the money was for reconstruction.

The United States increased its aid package to $156 million from $106 million, including airlifts by the U.S. military. But it stopped short of committing the new funds to the U.N.-led relief effort, saying the money could go to other aid groups.

Egeland, who heads the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, stressed the need to concentrate on the immediate effort to save lives.

The Oct. 8 magnitude 7.6 quake, which is believed to have killed nearly 80,000 people, left more than 3 million homeless.

Temperatures are already dipping below freezing in some areas, and the weather is expected to worsen in coming weeks, cutting off remote valleys where about 800,000 people are believed to lack shelter.