A senior United Nations aid official has warned that the death toll from the South Asian earthquake could double unless the world's wealthier countries support appeals for aid.
Some EU countries have not handed over a penny
Oxfam"The disaster is looming large. We have thousands and thousands of very vulnerable people," UN chief aid coordinator Rashid Khalikov said hours before 65 nations were due to meet at the United Nations in Geneva to talk about how to help.
"This disaster may have the number of people who died after the disaster bigger than those killed by the earthquake," he said outside his tent office in the destroyed Pakistani Kashmir capital of Muzzafarabad.
With the known death toll at more than 53,000, relief workers had until the end of December to get hundreds of thousands of people under shelter, treat countless injured who were still untended and provide food to last the harsh winter, he said.
"What these communities will have by December 1 is what they will have to live with," he said amid a chorus of complaints that the world was not acting fast enough to tackle a relief operation more difficult than that after the Indian Ocean tsunmai.
A Kashmiri man carries his grandchild who was injured by the
"It's not much time. We basically have four weeks to deliver," he said, complaining that the UN appeal for emergency relief had raised only about one-third of the $312 million it sought.
The United Nations itself announced today the doubling of its emergency aid request to $549.6 million
"What we need from donors is that the time between pledge and disbursement should be one hour," Khalikov said.
Aid agency Oxfam was the latest to criticise rich countries for not coming up with more money faster, saying some members of the European Union - which has given money and promises more - had not handed over a penny.
"The logistical nightmare in Pakistan is bad enough without having to worry about funding shortfalls as well," Oxfam Policy Director Phil Bloomer said.
"Governments meeting in Geneva today must put their hands in their pockets and pay their fair share," he said. "The public will be shocked that so many rich governments have given so little."
According to Oxfam, seven rich countries had so far given nothing to the UN appeal. These were Belgium, France, Austria, Finland, Greece, Portugal and Spain.