Pakistan Secured Pledges of $10.57B For Flood Relief Fund From Genova Conference

Pakistan’s government and United Nations arranged a conference in Genova for raising funds for flood relief following the devastating aftereffects of flood in Pakistan as things are getting financially out-of-hand.  Pakistan was able to get over $10 billion in pledges from international financial institutions, donor agencies, and development partners for the rehabilitation, recovery, and reconstruction of the flood-affected areas at an international conference.

Maryam Aurangzeb said in a series of tweets said that the International community and development partners are demonstrating exemplary compassion for flood victims at the International Conference on Climate Resilient Pakistan and the Islamic development bank group has pledged $4.2 billion over three years.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, flanked by Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, relayed the call for supporting the needs of 33 million people displaced by the country’s worst flood disaster. Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar said at the closing of the conference in Geneva:

“The message from the world is clear: the world will stand by those who go through any natural calamities and will not leave them alone,” 

The major pledges made at the conference, included $4.2 billion from the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), $2 billion from the World Bank, $1.5 billion from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), $1 billion from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and $1 billion from Saudi Arabia.

Some 40 countries’ officials as well as private donors and international financial institutions attended the meeting in what is seen as a major test for who pays for climate disasters as Islamabad seeks help covering around half of a total recovery bill of $16.3 billion. The conference called for securing global support and forging long-term partnerships to help the country cope with the challenges of the devastating floods of 2022.

The UN chief called for sweeping reforms in the international financial system to allow for low-income countries vulnerable to climate calamities to receive adequate funding from richer nations. He said the international financial system was skewed to benefit wealthy countries and should be reformed to ensure a more equitable distribution of resources.

French President Emmanuel Macron said Paris was ready to support Pakistan in its talks with financial institutions.

“France will continue to provide expertise and some financial support to the country. Macron said in a video address to the conference. The prime minister said with the support of the United Nations, the WB Group, the ADB, and the EU, Pakistan had prepared a Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA), which “estimates flood damages to exceed $14.9 billion, economic losses over $15.2 billion and reconstruction needs over $16.3 billion”.

Pakistani prime minister Shehbaz Sharif said floods disrupted the education of 2.6 million, including one million girls. “We are racing against time,” he said, stressing that relief work needed to continue as some areas of Sindh needed drainage of water.

He mentioned that the broad contours set up in the 4RF plan reflected priority for recovery and reconstruction, with a minimum requirement of $16.3 billion. He said resilience was required to recover from colossal damages and ensure a sustainable future for the livelihood.

“Pakistan needs a new coalition of the willing to save lives,” he said, urging solidarity and long-term support for the people of Pakistan to renew their hope.

Mariyam added that World Bank Vice President for South Asia Martin Raiser announced $2 billion. The first plenary of the day-long Geneva conference culminated in a generous outpouring of int l community, EU pledged $93 million, Germany $88 million, China $100 million, IDB $4.2 billion, WB $2 billion, Japan $77 million, ADB $1.5 billion. USAID $100 million, France $345 million, total $8.57 billion. The brotherly country Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has pledged $1 billion to assist Pakistan in the daunting task of resilient recovery and rehabilitation [of] millions, she said.

Marriyum said that in the second plenary phase of the Geneva moot, development partners are exploring collaborative ways to build back better. Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank has pledged $1 billion to build back better climate-resilient infrastructure& adaptation.

The Minister, Ahsan Iqbal pointed out that the 2022 floods were of a scale never seen before as more than 8.4 to 9.1 million people were pushed into poverty, additional 7.6 million people were facing food insecurity, 17 million women and children were at greater risk of preventable disease, 4.3 million people were at danger of job loss/ disruption, and 640,000 women and girls at are at risk of gender-based violation and child marriage.

Furthermore, he added that the long-term resilient climate infrastructure development plan, he said is over $30 billion which involves a national flood protection program, building new infrastructure, or re-engineering the existing infrastructure to cope with the shocks of climate-induced disasters.

“We have worked out a number of projects to build resilient infrastructure in various fields including housing, health, education, gender inclusion, private sector, irrigation and flood protection works, rail network, road network, energy, redesigning agriculture to smart agriculture,” 

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