Pakistan on Saturday appealed to the international community for an “immense humanitarian response” to unprecedented flooding that has left more than 1,200 people dead, ABC News reports.
Driving the news: The request comes as the toll from floods that started in mid-June continued to climb, with 57 more deaths reported, 25 of them children, per Reuters.
“The scale of devastation is massive and requires an immense humanitarian response for 33 million people,” Pakistan federal planning minister Ahsan Iqbal said Saturday in a news conference cited by Reuters.
“For this, I appeal to my fellow Pakistanis, Pakistan expatriates, and the international community to help Pakistan in this hour of need,” he added.
On Saturday, Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority reported 57 more deaths in flood-affected areas, bringing the total death toll since monsoon rains began to 1,265, including 441 children, according to ABC News.
Scientists and international officials have blamed the unusual monsoon rains and flooding on climate change, including U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who called on the world to stop “sleepwalking” through the deadly crisis earlier this week.
“Let’s stop sleepwalking towards the destruction of our planet by climate change,” Guterres tweeted. “Today, it is Pakistan. Tomorrow, it could be your country.”
Guterres is expected to visit Pakistan on Sept. 9 to tour flood-hit areas and meet with officials.
Pakistan is a vulnerable country to climate change-enhanced disasters, rating among the top 10 most vulnerable nations to long-term climate risks by the Global Climate Risk Index.
The country contributes less than 1% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions yet is experiencing some of its most severe impacts.
