DutchNews.nl - Pakistan flood fund raiser raises ?16m
Pakistan flood fund raiser raises 16m
Friday 27 August 2010
Thursday night's tv and radio fund raiser for victims of the floods in Pakistan raised 16.1m, the joint charity group SHO said on Friday.
The SHO said it is 'very pleased' wth the result, which included 2m from the Dutch government.
Earlier this year, a similar appeal for victims of the earthquake in Haiti raised 83m, of which half came from the government.
The Pakistan appeal was kicked off by singer Marco Borsato.
SHO chairman Jan van Doggenaar said the public view of Pakistan counted against the appeal. 'Pakistan's image is absolutely not positive: corruption and extremism,' the Telegraaf quoted him as saying prior to the broadcast.
The Giro 555 bank account will remain open for donations for some time.
© DutchNews.nl
Dutch raise 16.1 million euros for aid to Pakistan | Radio Netherlands Worldwide
A national fundraising action in the Netherlands for aid to flood victims in Pakistan has yielded 16.1 mllion euros, according to the joint aid groups (SHO) which had organised the event. Late on Thursday evening SHO said they were "very satisfied" with the result.
The Dutch government donated 2 million euros to the aid fund, having earlier given 6.6 million to the UN World Food Programme, Unicef and the International Red Cross. Most of the 16.1 million euros was brought together by individuals, while companies appeared reluctant to spend on donations.
The yield is considerably smaller than that of a similar action to help the earthquake victims in Haiti earlier this year, which collected 83 million euros. In an attempt to explain the difference, SHO said that "Pakistan's image is definitely not positive: people think of corruption and extemism".
SHO will channel the money directly to local offices in Pakistan of established humanitarian organisations like the Red Cross, Unicef, Oxfam and Terre des Hommes.
The fundraising day ended with a Pakistan-themed TV evening on most public and private channels in the Netherlands. Throughout a show on public TV viewers could call in to a phone panel manned by Dutch celebrities to pledge their money.
© Radio Netherlands Worldwide
Dutch donate more than 16 million euro to help flood victims in Pakistan
AMSTERDAM (BNO NEWS) The Netherlands and its citizens have donated more than 16 million euros (.3 million) during a national campaign to help the flood victims in Pakistan, the Samenwerkende Hulporganisaties (Cooperating Aid Organizations) said on late Thursday.
The campaign, organized by the Cooperating Aid Organizations, began on August 12 and led to a national radio and television campaign to collect money. The campaign, however, was dominated by a general negative feeling of Dutch citizens towards Pakistan.
We call on everyone in the Netherlands to give money for the victims of this unprecedented disaster, said Farah Karimi, chairman of the Cooperating Aid Organizations during the launch of the campaign on August 12. I hope that people wont be stopped by the negative reports about Pakistan: our aid is going straight to the victims. We cant abandon them.
The Cooperating Aid Organizations had earlier decided to not launch a national campaign because the disaster, which has left more than 2,000 people killed, did not receive extensive media coverage in the Netherlands. Additionally, many Dutch citizens have a negative opinion about the country because of widespread extremism.
On Thursday evening, national television channels and radio channels held a joint campaign to raise money for the Cooperating Aid Organizations. In all, including the money raised prior to the national television and radio campaign, a total of 16 million euros (.3 million) was collected.
We are extremely happy with this nice amount, said Jan van Doggenaar, action chairman for the Cooperating Aid Organizations. We thank everyone who gave money or in another way contributed to this good result.
Van Doggenaar said it was fantastic that broadcasters were able to organize the national campaign so quickly. The organizations of the Cooperating Aid Organizations will spend the money with care, so we can help the population of Pakistan. We will inform everyone about this next year.
The national campaign on television on Thursday was opened by Dutch singer Marco Borsato, who urged people to donate money. The floods in Pakistan have severely impacted millions of people. Homes have been destroyed, crops have been destroyed. There is urgent need for food, clean water, medicines and shelter, Borsato said.
Every euro we collect today will save lives, he added.
Callers who wanted to donate to Pakistan were greeted by a team of volunteers, including a number of Dutch celebrities.
But the negative feeling towards Pakistan kept people from donating, and Thursdays result was significantly lower than the amount of money raised during the last national television and radio campaign earlier this year. Then, more than 83 million euro (5.3 million) was donated to help the victims of the devastating earthquake in Haiti.
The image of Pakistan is far from positive: corruption and extremism, Van Doggenaar said before the national television and radio campaign began.
The bank account for Dutch citizens to donate money on will remain open for at least another week.
(Copyright 2010 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info:
sales@bnonews.com.)