It is well below freezing in the Himalayas.

The coming winter is emerging as a new adversary for the 3.3 million homeless Pakistani survivors of the October 8 earthquake.

This is a worrying development that drove the United Nations to call a ministerial-level donors' conference in Geneva on Wednesday to raise funds for those in need.

Concern is mounting that as winter arrives in a few weeks, the even more harsh conditions could take their toll on the vulnerable communities.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's appeal to prevent a second shockwave of deaths among quake survivors should strike a sympathetic chord in the international community.

He has described the next few days and weeks as a life-saving phase, asking the world to give a helping hand in the race against time.

News of the severity of the October 8 tragedy has screamed from newspapers and televisions, demanding our attention.

Sufficient relief will help stop "a winter without pity," in Annan's words, from causing a much worse tragedy in areas already devastated by the earthquake.

The Geneva conference was a timely appeal because the emergency cash that should help survivors through the winter snows fell far short of UN goals.

Only US$111 million was earmarked for an emergency push to feed and house millions of survivors exposed to the coming Himalayan winter - just 20 per cent of the UN's "flash appeal" funding target.

Too many pledges have not resulted in concrete action. Some countries in Europe are so tight-fisted that they have not given a single cent towards the UN appeal.

Thousands of injured, dehydrated and undernourished survivors huddling in fields in makeshift shelters or in the open air in temperatures below zero are likely to die unless they can be reached before the harsh mountain winter sets in.

The funding shortage raises the spectre of millions of homeless Pakistanis facing hypothermia and disease as snow blocks relief delivery routes.

Two and a half weeks after the earthquake struck, many mountain communities in the most remote areas are still out of reach.

Even worse, relief efforts have been hampered by massive logistical problems, continued aftershocks and landslides.

UN emergency relief co-ordinator Jan Egeland explained to the world the shocking situation the quake survivors are in. Some UN agencies cannot operate because they have already run out of cash. Many of the wounded were forced to submit to emergency amputations due to delayed evacuations while hundreds of thousands more faced hunger and exposure.

More lives will be lost if the required aid does not reach the needy soon.

Timely and sufficient support - more funding, logistics and manpower - will give a new hope to the people and the region.

Salman Shah, financial adviser to Pakistan's prime minister, urged international organizations to accelerate their efforts, in part to prevent extremist organizations from building support among the needy and neglected.

The United Nations notched up US$550 million in new aid pledges from governments at Wednesday's emergency conference.

If all the funds were available, the money would make a difference to the well-being of the millions now left without food or shelter in the freezing Himalayas.

It is hoped the donors will not write bad cheques this time. Millions of lives count on their generosity.

The question Jan Egeland raised for the international community to answer on Wednesday should be ringing in our ears: "Are we going to have tens of thousands of people staying in the rubble and in the snow until it is too late?"

That is a nightmare the rest of the world cannot allow to become a reality.

(China Daily 10/28/2005 page4)