Islamabad, 10 January 2023 (GNP): As Pakistan has experienced the worst flood-hit and climate change phenomenon across the country, flooding brings manifold losses to agriculture, infrastructure and the economy of Pakistan.
Unfortunately, the heavy monsoon rainfall was unprecedented in Pakistan and pushed Pakistan into a new crisis of recovery and rehabilitation process with the feeble and weak economy of the country.
They do not have such resources to meet the crisis and fulfill their responsibilities at all. Floods destroyed the agriculture sector, where people could earn their bread and butter comfortably. Agriculture contributes nearly 24 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Pakistan and half of the population depends on the agriculture sector. Also, floods demolished agricultural land, which could be changed into infertility.
Flood water eliminated the infrastructure of housing, roads, and irrigation systems completely. Floods reveal the secrets of government performance and policies. Everything is good, and everything is right in Pakistan. The construction of dams and water reservoirs can store the flood water and save millions of dollars in economic losses and crises of flood destruction. Our neighboring country, China, they are building dams and water reservoirs to overcome the flood destruction crisis and energy problem in the country.
Moreover, floods affected 33 million people, 1500 people died, and the livestock and crops were damaged by approximately 30 billion dollars due to heavy monsoon rainfall and flood water. A weak economy like Pakistan can not endure the loss of infrastructure, households and roads and it occurs due to a lack of planning and policies. Millions of people are homeless and installed camps alongside the roads and waiting for assistance from the government and international community to rehabilitate them.
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Moreover, Pakistan does not have funds to rehabilitate its people on an immediate basis and they are building a stance on the flood water crisis due to climate change and attracting the international community and the United Nations to help people in Pakistan.
Pakistan invited United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to visit the flood-affected areas in Sindh and meet with flood victims’ families. Antonio requested that the international community should help the people of Pakistan and need 160 million dollars for recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction process in flood-hit areas.
Additionally, the United Nations Climate Change called a meeting which was on Climate change, reached a historical conclusion and decided to launch loss and damage funds for victims countries around the world. Egypt hosted a conference which was COP-27, in November 2022. They agreed on joint ventures and used technological advancement to hinder the climate change phenomenon in the world.
Furthermore, Pakistan arranged a conference on Climate Resilience Pakistan in Geneva with the United Nations to collect funds for flood relief in Pakistan. A conference was hosted by the United Nations and Pakistan to allure the world for flood relief assistance in Pakistan.
The conference was held on 9 January in Geneva, and Pakistan collected funds from the international community and organizations for the rehabilitation process in flood-affected areas of Pakistan.
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Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif attended the conference and said that Pakistan had to recover, rehabilitate and reconstruct about 33 million flood-affected people in Pakistan and it could not excel Pakistan. However, they were waiting for the international community and stakeholders to provide funds in flood-hit areas to meet the crisis.
PM Shahbaz and Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addressed a joint conference and the Prime Minister of Pakistan showed confidence in collecting 8 billion dollars globally and Pakistan would be able to collect 8 billion dollars domestically and the total target figure is 16 billion dollars to evacuate the flood-affected people completely.
He said that the conference on Climate Resilience Pakistan would be held with the help of friendly countries and global partners and they had formulated a framework to work out a concise and comprehensive plan to annihilate the flood crisis and victims of flood areas in Pakistan.
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Shahbaz assured that the flood would have brought destruction on a large scale and damaged the weak economy of Pakistan and it could not be resolved with meager resources.
The Prime Minister of Pakistan claimed that he did not witness such destruction in his lifetime. There were nearly 33 million people displacement and 2 million houses were destroyed completely and impartiality. The Pakistani economy suffered a 30 billion dollar loss.
The Pakistani government said that they spent 400 million dollars on 2.7 million households and another amount of 575 million dollars was being spent on the people with the help of friends and international countries.
The Prime Minister believes that they will try to rehabilitate and reconstruct their people and reorganize people on their feet in short-term periods.
Shahbaz Sharif thanks all who participated in this conference and joined hands in fundraising contributions for flood-hit areas and lauds their support for Pakistan. The Islamic Development Bank funds approximately 4.2 billion dollars, which is the largest contribution for Pakistan.
The Eastern Europe tension air to inflation, food security, and energy problems all over the world, he adds. Floodwater destroyed everything of people, and 70 percent of the land was under water due to heavy monsoon rainfall floodwater. They did not have sufficient land to drain the flood water, and water from the flood is still there.
He committed to complying with the terms and conditions of IMF programs and claimed that the outgoing government violated the agreement.
He assured that all the funds would be spent on people transparently and a third-party audit would have to be held to check and balance expenses in the flood-affected areas in Pakistan.
In the press conference, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres showed high concern about flood destruction and acknowledged the world to support of Pakistan for this cause.
He lauded the support of Pakistani people for the Afghanistan refugees in Pakistan and terrorism. He urged the international community to provide funds for flood-hit areas and support. Antonio Guterres said that the collection of 8 billion dollars would be a huge success in terms of fundraising internationally.
Antonio assured that they would stand by Pakistan and drew the attention of the global community to formulate a uniform plan for climate change. The Secretary-General claimed that climate change destruction could be resolved with joint ventures and efforts.
Lastly, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif thanks the United Nations and the international community for fundraising contributions and support.
