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01 December 2005
PAKISTAN: INTRO: Hollywood star Angelina Jolie says Pakistan quake aid pledges must...01 December 2005
PAKISTAN: INTRO: Hollywood star Angelina Jolie says Pakistan quake aid pledges must be met fast to avert another disaster.
Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie said on Friday (November 25) promises of help for Pakistan's earthquake survivors must be kept, and carried out quickly, or many people could freeze to death as a bitter Himalayan winter grips the region. Aid donors have promised Pakistan about 6 billion U.S. dollars in help but most of that is for medium- and long-term reconstruction. Jolie, on her third visit to Pakistan, said quake survivors needed help now. "There has been so much wonderful support but it is important to stress that the support obviously needs to continue to come and the pledges that were made need to materialize soon because from what I'm understanding there're so many wonderful pledges of money that could come in next few years but this winter is in the next few weeks and so many people are in danger of possibly freezing to death," she told a news conference in the capital, Islamabad, which she attended with U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres. Jolie, a goodwill ambassador for the U.N. refugee agency, on Thursday (November 24) visited a remote valley laid waste by the Oct. 8 earthquake that killed more than 73,000 people, most of them in the mountains of northern Pakistan. "There's this thing - donor fatigue - or people get exhausted. They say: 'well, how much more? Everybody is in need; what do we do?'she said, adding: "But I think this is an interesting situation because it seems that there's not just one disaster that happened and it's building itself back and the people are pulling themselves together. There's another disaster that could happen very soon." Hundreds of thousands of quake survivors are still in need of emergency food and shelters, seven weeks after the disaster. Aid officials warn of sickness sweeping through a cold and poorly nourished population, causing a second wave of death unless people get the help they need before the snow comes. The United Nations said on Friday it had received 216 million U.S. dollars for short-term emergency relief, or 39 percent of the amount it had appealed for, and said it urgently needed the rest before winter. A U.N. relief official said the race to provide suitable shelter in time was not lost yet, but the "consequences of failure, resulting from the lack of relief funds", could result in the deaths of thousands of vulnerable quake survivors. UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres assured the Pakistani government of his agency's full fledged support. "We have limited resources and capacities, but one thing I can guarantee you, all our resources and capacities are at your disposal," he said. Oscar-winning Jolie has travelled widely for the Nobel-winning U.N. agency, which protects people fleeing wars and persecution, including Sierra Leone, Cambodia, Kosovo, Russia and Sudan's Darfur region. She arrived in Pakistan on Thursday with actor Brad Pitt, with whom she has been romantically linked. Pitt did not attend the news conference. Asked about her impressions on her trip to the disaster zone, Jolie said the scale of the devastation was colossal. "Nobody sitting at home has any idea what this really looks like. And this...it's unbelievable. We were flying in a helicopter for twenty minutes, just flying and one house after another, just as if... just broken; there's nothing, nothing standing," Jolie said, groping for words. She said she had been struck while speaking to a little boy, the same age as her son, who was so grateful because his sister had lived. She said after speaking to the survivors for a while you realise that they are still in shock, "still very traumatised." On her previous trips to Pakistan Jolie has visited Afghan refugees living in tent settlements along the border. She and High Commissioner for Refugees Guterres both said the world was obliged to help Pakistan now, after all the help it had given to millions of Afghan refugees for decades. Guterres, who has also spoken of the need to avert a second tragedy among quake survivors over the winter, said Jolie lent a strong, committed, intelligent and courageous voice to the refugee cause. She was also a symbol of the values behind the protection of refugees, in particular tolerance, he said.
PAKISTAN: INTRO: Hollywood star Angelina Jolie says Pakistan quake aid pledges must...01 December 2005
PAKISTAN: INTRO: Hollywood star Angelina Jolie says Pakistan quake aid pledges must be met fast to avert another disaster.
Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie said on Friday (November 25) promises of help for Pakistan's earthquake survivors must be kept, and carried out quickly, or many people could freeze to death as a bitter Himalayan winter grips the region. Aid donors have promised Pakistan about 6 billion U.S. dollars in help but most of that is for medium- and long-term reconstruction. Jolie, on her third visit to Pakistan, said quake survivors needed help now. "There has been so much wonderful support but it is important to stress that the support obviously needs to continue to come and the pledges that were made need to materialize soon because from what I'm understanding there're so many wonderful pledges of money that could come in next few years but this winter is in the next few weeks and so many people are in danger of possibly freezing to death," she told a news conference in the capital, Islamabad, which she attended with U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres. Jolie, a goodwill ambassador for the U.N. refugee agency, on Thursday (November 24) visited a remote valley laid waste by the Oct. 8 earthquake that killed more than 73,000 people, most of them in the mountains of northern Pakistan. "There's this thing - donor fatigue - or people get exhausted. They say: 'well, how much more? Everybody is in need; what do we do?'she said, adding: "But I think this is an interesting situation because it seems that there's not just one disaster that happened and it's building itself back and the people are pulling themselves together. There's another disaster that could happen very soon." Hundreds of thousands of quake survivors are still in need of emergency food and shelters, seven weeks after the disaster. Aid officials warn of sickness sweeping through a cold and poorly nourished population, causing a second wave of death unless people get the help they need before the snow comes. The United Nations said on Friday it had received 216 million U.S. dollars for short-term emergency relief, or 39 percent of the amount it had appealed for, and said it urgently needed the rest before winter. A U.N. relief official said the race to provide suitable shelter in time was not lost yet, but the "consequences of failure, resulting from the lack of relief funds", could result in the deaths of thousands of vulnerable quake survivors. UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres assured the Pakistani government of his agency's full fledged support. "We have limited resources and capacities, but one thing I can guarantee you, all our resources and capacities are at your disposal," he said. Oscar-winning Jolie has travelled widely for the Nobel-winning U.N. agency, which protects people fleeing wars and persecution, including Sierra Leone, Cambodia, Kosovo, Russia and Sudan's Darfur region. She arrived in Pakistan on Thursday with actor Brad Pitt, with whom she has been romantically linked. Pitt did not attend the news conference. Asked about her impressions on her trip to the disaster zone, Jolie said the scale of the devastation was colossal. "Nobody sitting at home has any idea what this really looks like. And this...it's unbelievable. We were flying in a helicopter for twenty minutes, just flying and one house after another, just as if... just broken; there's nothing, nothing standing," Jolie said, groping for words. She said she had been struck while speaking to a little boy, the same age as her son, who was so grateful because his sister had lived. She said after speaking to the survivors for a while you realise that they are still in shock, "still very traumatised." On her previous trips to Pakistan Jolie has visited Afghan refugees living in tent settlements along the border. She and High Commissioner for Refugees Guterres both said the world was obliged to help Pakistan now, after all the help it had given to millions of Afghan refugees for decades. Guterres, who has also spoken of the need to avert a second tragedy among quake survivors over the winter, said Jolie lent a strong, committed, intelligent and courageous voice to the refugee cause. She was also a symbol of the values behind the protection of refugees, in particular tolerance, he said.
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