"The United Nations has upgraded its flash appeal to 549 million dollars," Masood Khan, Pakistan's ambassador to the UN in Geneva, told AFP hours ahead of a crucial donors conference in the Swiss city.

The previous target was 312 million dollars for emergency aid in the six months after the quake, which killed more than 53,000 people in Pakistan and left 3.3 million homeless.

"The enormity of the devastation caused by the massive earthquake in Pakistan will test if even this enhanced appeal would be adequate," Khan said.

Before the start of the Geneva conference, a Pakistani delegation led by the country's Senate chairman, Muhammad Soomro, will meet with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and relief chief Jan Egeland.

Khan said the purpose of the conference was to give a comprehensive picture to the international community about the extent of destruction of life and property in Pakistan caused by the 7.6 magnitude earthquake.

The quake devastated an area of more than 28,000 square kilometressquare miles), depriving more than 1.1 million people of their jobs and reducing thousands of schools and hospitals to rubble, he added.

"Some of these facts are known, but the full extent of this tragedy has yet to sink in," Khan said.

"We need to sensitize the international community about the continuing and urgent need for humanitarian intervention to save lives, to provide shelter, and to stem the spread of disease."

He said survivors of the earthquake have less than three weeks to get full shelter before the harsh winter with heavy snow and freezing temperatures sets in.

"This short window has to be used effectively before roads close and remote villages get stranded," Khan said.

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