The United Nations will almost double its emergency aid request for quake-stricken Pakistan to $549.6 million on Wednesday as a global humanitarian body said thousands of survivors faced death from exposure. The leading U.N. disaster-response agency, OCHA, will make its plea for more cash as representatives from 65 countries gather in Geneva for an emergency donors conference to take stock of rescue efforts following the Oct. 8 quake. OCHA will unveil the U.N. plea for $549.6 million, compared to an earlier request for $312 million, at a news conference on Wednesday, according to a diplomatic source quoted by Reuters. Separately, the Geneva-based International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies doubled its own aid appeal to $117 million, saying thousands of earthquake survivors faced death unless they received winterized tents and blankets. "It is clear this is a major humanitarian disaster that requires the international community to scale up its already significant and timely response, said Federation president Juan Manuel Suarez del Toro. The quake killed at least 54,400 people and left up to three million people homeless, official estimates say. Jan Egeland, U.N. under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, will unveil the new request at the conference, attended by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and officials from the United States, Britain, France and Japan.
