Pakistan vows flood aid won't be diverted

Pakistan's government moved to reassure donors that aid would not be misused yesterday, setting up a commission to oversee relief for millions of people made homeless by monsoon rains.

International aid officials admit the country's "image deficit" - its reputation for corruption and allegations of continuing ties to Islamic militants - is hampering fundraising efforts, along with donor fatigue and domestic austerity measures.

Yousuf Raza Gilani, the prime minister, said the National Oversight Disaster Management Council would be staffed by individuals of "impeccable integrity" charged with making sure donations were not diverted.

"Our government is fully committed to ensuring transparency and accountability. No-one should contemplate depriving the suffering millions from what is due to them," he said.

However, opponents said it was unclear what difference the council would make.

Andrew Mitchell, the British development secretary, announced last night that the UK government would double aid to disaster-hit Pakistan, providing an extra 33 million on top of the 31.3m already pledged. He told an emergency session of the UN General Assembly in New York it was "unacceptable" that the international community had not done more.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said donors have given half the $460m (295m) the UN appealed for to provide food, shelter and clean water over the next three months. But he said the full amount is needed now - and much more will be needed to rebuild Pakistan.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced that the United States, already the biggest donor, would contribute an additional $60m (38m), bringing its total to more than $150m in response to Pakistan's "worst natural disaster in its history".

Health workers fear outbreaks of cholera and other diseases will bring a second wave of death, doubling a toll that already stands at about 1,600 lives lost.

Millions of children are at risk from diarrhoea and more than 400 people have been bitten by snakes as humans and animals compete for high ground. Much of the country remains submerged and there are warnings of fresh flooding as water continues to surge south along the River Indus.

Some 4.6 million people are surviving without shelter even as fresh rains fell yesterday, adding urgency to the fundraising appeals.

According to Oxfam, donors committed $742m and pledged a further $920m within the first ten days after the Haitian quake. For Pakistan, the figures were $45m and $91m.

Imran Khan, the former Pakistan cricketer who now heads a political party, has set up his own flood fund to counter indifference. "Unfortunately the government suffers from a trust deficit," he said last night.