MONTREAL — Canada announced Tuesday it was providing two million dollars worth of emergency aid for thousands of victims of Pakistan's worst floods in 80 years.
The aid is being provided through the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and "will help meet the immediate humanitarian needs of over 150,000 families who have been severely affected by the monsoon floods," Minister of International Cooperation Beverley Oda said.
"Canada is gravely concerned for the people in northwest Pakistan who are facing this crisis," she said.
Of the two million dollars, 750,000 will go to the International Committee of the Red Cross for distribution of shelter materials and water, sanitation and health services, while the remainder goes to the World Food Programme (WFP) to provide much-needed food assistance.
Relentless monsoon rains have caused a humanitarian disaster in Pakistan, with 3.2 million people affected and up to 1,500 killed.
The United Nations said around 980,000 people had lost their homes or been temporarily displaced, and that clean drinking water and sanitation were urgently needed to stop disease from spreading.
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