IRELAND IS TO send €10 million in humanitarian aid to climate-related flood ravaged communities in Pakistan.

It is six months after the devastating deluge and millions are still affected by the devastation caused.

The impact of the natural disaster includes more than 2.5 million people who do not have access to safe drinking water.

While there are seven million children and women at risk of starving and six million women and girls in flood-affected areas said to be at risk of gender-based violence.

Officials in Pakistan said that thousands have died which was caused by a heavier seasonal rains in August.

The fear for humanitarians is that the death toll could be even higher than earlier projections as hundreds of villages in the mountainous north have been cut off after flood-swollen rivers washed away roads and bridges.

The annual monsoon is essential for irrigating crops and replenishing lakes and dams across the Indian subcontinent, but it can also bring destruction.

This year’s flooding has affected more than 33 million people — one in seven Pakistanis — said the National Disaster Management Authority.

The Irish donation will go directly to four aid agencies in the region that have been in partnership with the Irish Government in the past.

The UN Refugee Agency, the UN Children’s Fund and the International Rescue Committee and the Pakistani Red Crescent are the beneficiaries of the aid.

Micheál Martin Announcing the funding, the Tánaiste said that Ireland would continue to assist the Pakistani people.

“The devastating floods last year continue to devastate the lives of millions. We cannot ignore the role that climate change played in the creation of this disaster.

“It is a clear example of how the most vulnerable and those who contribute least to climate change are bearing the brunt of its impact,” he said.

The aid, delivered yesterday on Pakistan Day, comes as Ireland plans to open an Embassy in Islamabad.