Monitoring Desk
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Monday that considering ‘the gigantic task of resilient recovery, reconstruction, and rehabilitation of 33 million flood-affected communities’, they were looking towards the global support to generate $8 billion for addressing the impending challenges.
Addressing a joint press conference with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the prime minister expressed confidence that they would generate close to about $8 billion domestically and looked towards the international community to contribute with an equal amount to support these measures.
In today’s “Resilient Pakistan” conference, he said that they had worked out a comprehensive framework for Pakistan’s resilient recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts with a robust financial mechanism in consultations with friendly countries and global partners.
Explaining the large-scale devastation caused by the flash floods, the prime minister said it had crippled Pakistan’s economy, and they, with meagre resources, could not cope with such a massive challenge.
PM Shehbaz said that he had never witnessed such large-scale destruction in his lifetime. About 33 million people were displaced and two million houses were completely or impartially destroyed. He added that the country’s economy suffered to the tune of $30 billion.
Global community support for flood-affected Pakistan
He thanked the UN, World Bank, UNDP, and other financial institutions and friendly countries for their assistance and support to the flood victims.
The prime minister informed the participants that the Government of Pakistan had already spent $400 million to support about 2.7 million households, whereas another amount of $575 million was paid in cash and kind, which was provided by friends and countries across the world.
He said they were now going for rehabilitation and reconstruction of infrastructure and to put back 33 million people affected by recent floods on their feet which was an unprecedented task.
He said that Islamic Development Bank (IDB) had pledged $4.2 billion, which was the largest contribution for the flood victims.
The prime minister further assured that every penny contributed for the purpose would be spent transparently, and they would be accountable for the amount as he had resolved for conducting of a third party’s validation of these global contributions.
He also thanked the UNSG for inspiring millions of people across the globe to support Pakistan in these challenging times and offered gratitude to all friendly countries, the Presidents of Turkiye, France, the financial institutions, partners, and representatives for showing solidarity with Pakistan during the conference.
To a question, the prime minister said that Pakistan faced numerous economic issues even before the floods.
Challenges for Pakistan after flood catastrophe
Due to severe tensions in Eastern Europe, rising food inflation and skyrocketing oil prices worsened Pakistan’s imported inflation, impacting the lives of the common person in the country, he added.
The prime minister said when floods hit Pakistan, everything was destroyed. He added that the standing flood waters still inundated huge chunks of the land in different provinces.
Reiterating his government’s resolve, PM Shehbaz said that they were committed to complying with the terms and conditions of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) program.
He regretted that the previous government violated an agreement with the IMF.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, while speaking on the occasion, emphasized that it was a time for the international community to reciprocate with generosity, shown by the people of Pakistan by generously hosting millions of Afghan refugees for decades.
Recollecting his past experiences, Guterres said Pakistan had witnessed difficult moments as it was severely affected by natural calamities like earthquakes and floods.
He appreciated the people of Pakistan for their generosity, resilience against the scourge of terrorism, and supporting millions of Afghan refugees.
The UN Chief further hoped that the world community would support Pakistan in reconstructing and rebuilding efforts as the country ‘has been a victim of man-made destruction. He added that the loss and damage fund would help support developing countries like Pakistan.
“We stand beside Pakistan,” he said, urging the international community to invest in the resilience of the people of Pakistan and express their enormous generosity.
He said it would be a huge success if they came close to generating $8 billion from the international community.
The UNSG further called upon global concrete action to save the common future of humanity. He said that they were on the road to climatic destruction and warned that the future would be on the verge of collapse if collective efforts were not made.
He termed the soaring global temperatures a real challenge due to the rising emission of greenhouse gases.
The secretary general, expressing his dismay, said that he was deeply frustrated over the world leaders’ response to the enormous challenge.
