UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon has expressed shock and urged the international community to speed up the delivery of aid after visiting flood-affected areas of Pakistan.
Mr Ban was visibly shaken by what he saw in some of the worst-hit areas of Pakistan’s Punjab province, saying he had never seen a disaster on the same scale before.
He flew over flood-affected areas and saw people living on narrow pieces of ground with their possessions and livelihoods washed away.
“A heart-wrenching day for me and for my delegation. I will never forget the destruction and sufferings I have witnessed today,” he said.
“In the past I have visited scenes of many natural disasters around the world, but nothing like this. The scale of this disaster is so large and there are so many people in so many places in so much need.”
President Asif Ali Zardari said some of the estimated 20 million people affected by the floods may need help for up to two years.
And he said the Pakistani military and aid officials cannot reach everyone in need.
“The magnitude of the problem; the world has never seen such a disaster. It’s much beyond anybody’s imagination,” he said.
“This is a long-term affair; this is a two-year campaign. We have to consider that and keep that in mind.
“For two years we’ve got to give them crops, fertilisers; we’ve got to give them seed; we’ve got to look after them, feed them, for two years, to bring them back to where they were. And they will still not be where they were.”
More than 1,600 people have been killed in Pakistan’s worst natural disaster.
But amid much public discussion about the effectiveness of the government’s handling of the flood disaster, prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani stressed the challenge it posed.
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Mr Ban will report back to the UN General Assembly later this week.
The UN has appealed for almost $500 million in aid for Pakistan, but that is just for the next 90 days.
