CBC launches Pakistan flood relief website

The world has never seen such a disaster. It's much beyond anybody's imagination.
Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General, United Nations

Which disaster is Ban Ki-moon describing—the 2004 tsunami? The earthquake in Haiti? The quakes in Kashmir?

Believe it or not, the scale of the flooding in Pakistan is worse than all three combined…and world aid has so far been slow in coming. CBC has launched a Pakistan relief site atb where Canadians everywhere can learn more about the devastation and donate to relief efforts in the region.

Monsoons have flooded one-fifth of Pakistan, displacing thousands of families and leaving millions homeless. In fact, the number of people suffering from the massive floods in Pakistan now exceeds 20 million — more than the combined total of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the 2005 Kashmir earthquake and the 2010 Haiti earthquake. Almost four million of these are children. Some people are completely cut off by rising water.Many don’t have food or clean water and are facing infectious disease. No major relief efforts have yet begun to reach the hardest hit regions.

Funds are needed to get supplies and volunteers to where they are most needed. Donations will pay for food aid, safe drinking water, medicines, vaccinations, emergency equipment, ambulance rental, fuel, food, water and logistics to get these supplies through the difficult terrain.

It’s been three weeks of devastating floods in Pakistan. CBC has created a site to inform Canadians about the extent and impact of the disaster, and let them know how to donate to relief efforts.

Until September 12, the Canadian federal government will match donations dollar for dollar. To donate, visit http://www.cbc.ca/pakistanrelief. For more information, visit the CIDA Pakistan Floods Relief website or the Humanitarian Coalition.