Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie visits a camp for people
displaced by heavy floods, in Mohib Banda near Peshawar,
Pakistan. (AP Photo/Mohammad Sajjad)
American movie star Angelina Jolie met flood victims in
northwestern Pakistan and appealed to the international
community to provide aid needed to help the country recover
from its worst natural disaster.
The flow of aid money has stalled in recent days, and
officials expressed hope the two-day visit by Jolie - who
serves as a "goodwill ambassador" for the UN's refugee agency
- will convince foreign countries and individuals to open
their wallets.
The 35-year-old actress said she met with many people whose
lives have been devastated by the floods, including mothers
who lost their children and an elderly Pakistani couple who
feared they would never be able to rebuild the home they
lost.
"I am very moved by them and I hope that I am able to, today
and tomorrow, be able to do something to help bring attention
to the situation for all of the people in need in Pakistan,"
Jolie told reporters after visiting a refugee camp in the
Jalozai area.
She toured the area wearing a long black robe and a black
headscarf adorned with a thin red stripe - the kind of
conservative clothing worn by many Muslim women in Pakistan.
The floods began in the northwest at the end of July after
extremely heavy monsoon rains and slowly surged south along
the Indus River, swallowing up hundreds of villages and towns
and killing more than 1,700 people. Another 17 million have
been affected by the floods, and many will need emergency
assistance to survive.
The United Nations issued an appeal for $460 million in
emergency funds on Aug. 11, but only $294 million, or 64
percent, has been received so far, and donations have more or
less dried up in recent days.
Ajay Chhibber, a U.N. assistant secretary general, said he
hopes Jolie's visit will have "a very big impact" on the
inflow of aid money and will keep people focused on the
crisis.
"We need more ... well-known figures who can keep the
spotlight and focus because people tend to forget
internationally," said Chhibber, who is also the UN
development agency's regional director for Asia. He spoke to
reporters during a visit to Islamabad.
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