A nationwide fund raising campaign in the United Arab Emirates UAE Red Crescent under the slogan “Your Help” has so far raised more than 20 million dollars of aid for Pakistan flood victims over its first four days. The fund raising campaign will carry on until August 30, 2010.

It said a live TV fund raising campaign was being run on several Emirati television channels. Pakistan has a close ties with the oil-rich Emirates, where hundreds of thousands of Pakistanis live and work, mostly laborers.

For nearly a month, torrential monsoon rain has triggered massive floods in Pakistan steadily moving from north to south, affecting a fifth of the country — an area roughly the size of England — and 17 million people.

A senior US official said last week that countries worldwide have pledged a total of more than 700 million dollars toward flood relief in Pakistan.