ISLAMABAD - The United Nations has termed the prevailing crisis in Pakistan as one of the most under-funded crises, saying that the aid for IDPs was lagging behind with only 43 per cent out of the total required assistance collected so far, for rehabilitation of displaced persons in operation affected areas. According to the United Nations Mid-Year Review of Humanitarian Appeals released in Geneva the other day, humanitarian appeals have received the best funding of all times by mid-2009, the best ever in terms of percentage and dollars in the first half of the year. The official statement issued by UN says that humanitarian funding for Pakistan, which is currently facing the fourth largest displacement crisis in the world, is still lagging behind other appeals, with just 43 per cent of the required $542 million provided so far. The largest donor of aid against the appeal for Pakistan remains the US, which has provided nearly half of the funds. Japan, UK, Central Emergency Response Fund and Australia stand among the top five. On the other hand, as according to the UNs statement, the top recipients of aid are Sudan, occupied Palestinian territory, Democratic Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe, and Pakistan. The most under-funded crises, in terms of percentage of the aid received, are Kenya, Cote dIvoire, Iraq, Pakistan and Uganda. While I am pleased that the most essential humanitarian needs such as food are better funded for Pakistan, I am stymied by the lack of funding for other urgent assistance, said Wolfgang Herbinger, Acting United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for Pakistan. In particular, now that people are returning to their homes, they will need assistance for some months to come, including for early recovery efforts, for which the funding is simply shockingly low. I do not think the international community has given the depth and extent of this humanitarian crisis the attention that it deserves, he added. In addition, the Mid-Year Review says, globally, the outlook for the remainder of the year is dim. The global recession continues to put pressure on crisis-stricken people in poor countries; the jobs, already rare, are lost, remittances from relatives abroad decline, food and fuel prices remain high, farming inputs become harder to access, making food production less secure. Moreover, the economists project that the world economy will contract by 1.7 per cent in 2009 before expanding again in 2010. The World Bank estimates that before the end of the year the crisis will push an additional 90 million people into poverty, bringing the number of poor in the world to over 1 billion.