A Swedish government aid agency Thursday pledged 35 million kronor (4.8 million dollars) to assist people displaced by fighting in northern Pakistan. The funds were mainly aimed at providing water, sanitation, clothes and shelter for the refugees displaced by the ongoing fighting between the government and Taliban forces, the Swedish International Development Co-operation Agency (Sida) said.
"Before the conflict escalated there were already some 500,000 internal refugees in the north-west of the country. The situation was already critical at that time," Per Byman, head of Sida's humanitarian team, said in a statement. "Pakistan has one of the worst and potentially most dangerous humanitarian situations in the world. We need to give strong priority to a country that is often overshadowed by events in Afghanistan," Byman added.
The Swedish funds were to be channelled via the UN refugee agency UNHCR, the UN children's fund UNICEF and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM). The Swedish announcement came shortly after a donors conference opened in Islamabad where Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani called for international funds.
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