“An emergency session of the United Nations has been told Pakistan is facing potential political and economic instability in the wake of catastrophic flooding. The stark warning came from Pakistan’s foreign minister but was echoed by US officials including the secretary of state, Hillary Clinton. Ms Clinton announced a boost of US aid funding, but the Americans also criticised Pakistan’s regional allies, including China, for not doing their part. Weeks after the disaster first hit, the UN convened with a graphic video showing the extent of the inundation. UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon says the rains that continue to swamp Pakistan are a ‘slow-motion tsunami’. The special session was called because of concerns that the flow of international aid is not matching the scale of the catastrophe, one that Mr Ban says is affecting more people than Pakistan’s 2005 earthquake, the Indian Ocean tsunami, and the Haiti earthquake combined. ’At least 160,000 square kilometres of land is underwater, an area larger than more than half of the countries of the world’, he said. Lifting a US promise of $90 million in aid to $150 million, Ms Clinton warned against international donor fatigue after what she called an unrelenting stream of disasters this year”
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“Pakistan facing a ‘slow-motion tsunami’ “
