Massive efforts needed for Pakistan flood rehabilitation Saus UN chief
By Muhammad JuniadPublished On 09 Jan 2023
GENEVA: United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres Monday appealed to the world to help Pakistan deal with the disaster caused by cataclysmic floods, saying “massive investments” are needed for the country's rehabilitation which is expected to cost more than $16 billion.
"We must match the heroic response of the people of Pakistan with our own efforts and massive investments to strengthen their communities for the future," he said at the opening of a major conference in Geneva.
Guterres said that Pakistan had been "doubly victimised" by both climate chaos and a global financial system that denied middle-income countries financing and debt relief and stressed the need for creative solutions.
The international conference is aimed at marshalling support to rebuild Pakistan after historic floods.
At the moot, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also launched the ‘Resilient Recovery, Rehabilitation, and Reconstruction Framework’ (4RF).
The framework outlines a vision for rehabilitation and reconstruction of the flood-affected areas as well as will emphasise the need for global support and long-term partnership to implement it.
Flood-hit Pakistan
Pakistan and the United Nations are holding the conference to mobilise international support to help the country recover more effectively from the devastation caused by recent floods.
Record monsoon rains and melting glaciers last September displaced some 8 million people and killed at least 1,700 in a catastrophe blamed on climate change.
Most of the waters have now receded but the reconstruction work, estimated at around $16.3 billion, to rebuild millions of homes and thousands of kilometres of roads and railway is just beginning and millions more people may slide into poverty.
Islamabad, whose delegation is led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, will present the recovery "framework" at the moot where United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and French President Emmanuel Macron are also due to speak.
Guterres, who visited Pakistan in September, has previously described the destruction in the country as "climate carnage".
"This is a pivotal moment for the global community to stand with Pakistan and to commit to a resilient and inclusive recovery from these devastating floods," said Knut Ostby, United Nations' Development Programme's Pakistan Representative.
Additional funding is crucial to Pakistan amid growing concerns about its ability to pay for imports such as energy and food and to meet sovereign debt obligations abroad.
However, it is far from clear where the reconstruction money will come from, especially given difficulties raising funds for the emergency humanitarian phase of the response which is around half funded, according to UN data.
At the COP27 meeting in Egypt in November, Pakistan was at the forefront of efforts that led to the establishment of a "loss and damage" fund to cover climate-related destruction for countries that have contributed less to global warming than wealthy ones.
However, it is not yet known if Pakistan, with a $350 billion economy, will be eligible to tap into that future funding.
Organisers say around 250 people are expected at the event including high-level government officials, private donors and international financial institutions.
Pakistan's ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Khalil Hashmi, said Islamabad was willing to pay for about half of the bill but hoped for support from donors for the rest. "We will be mobilising international support through various means," he said. "We look forward to working with our partners."
