UN tells world to speed up response for flood-hit Pakistan

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The United Nations wants the world to speed up its response to help 33 million people in flood-hit Pakistan. Deluges likely worsened by climate change battered the country for months, killing at least 1,700 people and wiping out infrastructure. The U.N. said Wednesday that just 20% of a $816 million fundraising target has been met since its launch last week. Its biggest concerns are health, nutrition, drinking water, shelter and food security for those who lost their homes, crops and livestock in the floods. The U.N. increased its flash appeal fivefold from $160 million to $816 million to reflect the magnitude of the disaster. Pakistan’s climate change minister says the flooding has become the world’s biggest climate catastrophe.