Pakistan thanked the world Friday for opening its wallets and said more than 20 million flood victims now know that nations and people around the globe are standing with them during the worst disaster the country has ever faced.

Pakistan's U.N. Ambassador Abdullah Haroon said the initial outpouring from some 70 countries was ‘indeed heartening' and ‘a good beginning,' reports the AP news service.

As of yesterday, 70 percent of the $460 million initially sought by the UN and its humanitarian partners to provide food, shelter and clean water for to up to 8 million flood victims over the next three months has either been contributed or pledged so far, while another $600 million has been provided or promised outside of that appeal, said John Holmes, who also serves as Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs.

So far UN agencies have reached almost 2 million Pakistanis with emergency food supplies and an estimated 2.5 million with clean drinking water. Medical treatment has been provided to about 3 million people, while more than 115,000 tents and 77,000 tarpaulins have also been distributed.

(DONATE to the UN relief effort at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs at http://ochaonline.un.org)