Donate to UNESCO to help it help Pakistan Recover from the Floods

I quote extensively from the New York Times article today on the flood in Pakistan:

The destruction could set Pakistan back many years, if not decades, further weaken its feeble civilian administration and add to the burdens on its military.......

The flooding, which began with the arrival of the annual monsoons late last month, has by now affected about one-fifth of the country — nearly 62,000 square miles — or an area larger than England, according to the United Nations.

At the worst points, the inundation extends for scores of miles beyond the banks of the overflowing Indus River and its tributaries, said Cmdr. Iqbal Zahid, a Pakistani Navy battalion commander in charge of rescue operations in Sindh Province.

“You have to highlight that the infrastructure all the way from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa to Sindh is ruined,” Commander Zahid said, referring to Pakistan’s northernmost and southernmost provinces. “It will take years to rebuild.”

Nearly 20 million people have been significantly affected, about the population of New York State, the United Nations said. The number in urgent need is now about eight million and expected to rise. More than half of them are without shelter.

UNESCO has a very limited budget, but with more money it could respond to:

• help Pakistan's school system help Pakistan's kids deal with the trauma caused by the floods;
• help Pakistan to plan to rebuild the schools it has lost;
• help Pakistan protect its World Heritage sites and cultural heritage from the damage of the floods;
• help Pakistan improve its hydrology and prepare to prevent such damaging floods in the future;
• help Pakistan improve its disaster warning systems.

UNESCO has established a website to allow you to make donations to assist it in these efforts.