Balochistan faces food emergency for 500,000 people: UN

United Nations, Jul 27 (UNI/XINHUA) Pakistan’s Balochistan province, battered by a harsh winter, a locust invasion, COVID-19, and drought-like conditions, faces a food emergency for about 500,000 people, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.
“Another 100,000 people need immediate life-saving assistance due to severe drought-like conditions,” the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said.
“The dry spell and reduced water availability have destroyed crops and threaten livestock survival.”
Meteorologists forecast drought-like conditions through the end of the year for southwestern Balochistan, bordering Iran and Afghanistan.
Assessments are underway as provincial disaster management authorities, the United Nations and food security sector partners support livelihood projects in some of the affected districts, OCHA said.
The Humanitarian Response Plan for Pakistan hopes to help 4.3 million people out of 11 million people in need, the office said, but that 332 million U.S. dollar plan is just 18 percent funded.