another plea

The article below was published today on the BBC News web site. If you have not yet donated to the earthquake relief, I urge you to do so. And tell your friends and family the same. If your resources are tight, you can still do your part---call your congresspeople, your MPs, your whatever, and demand that they step up. I know, everyone already feels tapped out after the tsunami and then hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and now Wilma. I read of this giving "fatigue". But unless people in Pakistan get help soon, the current official death count of 59,000 is only going to increase. And needlessly so. mylifeinspain and Big Jim thank you.    We took this photo from our rescue helicopter looking down into the Kaghan Valley. The landslide-riddled road is the only road. More helicopters are STILL needed for the relief efforts. Rich world 'failing' on quake aid Many of the world's richest countries have so far failed to support a UN appeal for victims of the South Asian quake, a top UK-based charity has said. The charity, Oxfam, said less than 30% of $312m (£175m) sought by UN aid agencies has been pledged. It said the US, Japan, Germany and Italy had given less than their "fair share" and others nothing at all. The criticism comes as donor nations meet in Geneva on Wednesday to try to increase funding for the quake appeal. The UN had earlier warned that a serious lack of funding and practical difficulties, such as blocked roads, were creating what it described as a death trap for some 800,000 survivors. The UN says up to 20% of those affected by the earthquake have still received no help. Pakistan estimates the 8 October earthquake killed more than 53,000 people, most of them in the portion of Kashmir it administers. Some 1,400 people died in Indian-controlled Kashmir, officials say. 'Pay fair share' "The logistical nightmare in Pakistan is bad enough without having to worry about funding shortfalls as well," Oxfam's Policy Director Phil Bloomer said in a statement. HOW TO DONATE Unicef UNHCR Disasters Emergency Committee (UK) World Food Programme Kashmir International Relief Fund Red Cross/ Red Crescent "Governments meeting in Geneva... must put their hands in their pockets and pay their fair share. The public will be shocked that so many rich government have given so little," he said. Oxfam said that the US, Japan, Germany and Italy have given much less then they could have done according to the size of their economies. It also said seven rich nations - Belgium, France, Austria, Finland, Greece, Portugal and Spain - had so far donated nothing at all. Oxfam warned that the gap between an emergency appeal being announced and funds actually being received could mean the difference between life and death for may thousands of survivors. Only about 20% of the money requested in the appeal has actually been given, UN relief agencies estimate. Oxfam also said current UN plans for a special Global Emergency Fund was seriously underfunded. The new $1bn (£561m) fund was approved by world leaders in September. It is supposed to act as a centralised UN pot of money, which can be handed out in emergencies. But so far that too had failed to attract a fifth of the funding it needed, Oxfam said.