Geneva (Web Desk/Agencies): The opening session of the International Conference on Climate Resilient Pakistan, co-hosted by Pakistan and the United Nations (UN), began in Geneva on Monday.
The moot called for securing global support and forging long-term partnerships to help the country cope with the challenges of devastating floods of 2022.
The conference brought together governments, leaders from the public and private sectors and civil society to support the people and the government of Pakistan to deal with the enormous challenge of post-flood reconstruction and rehabilitation.
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.
Addressing the inaugural session, PM Shehbaz mentioned Pakistan’s Resilient Recovery, Rehabilitation, and Reconstruction Framework (4RF), which laid out a multispectral strategy for rehabilitation and reconstruction in a climate-resilient and inclusive manner.
The prime minister said with the support of the United Nations, the World Bank Group, the Asian Development Bank, and the European Union, Pakistan had prepared a Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA), which estimates flood damages to exceed US$14.9 billion, economic losses over US$15.2 billion and reconstruction needs over US$16.3 billion.
PM Shehbaz expressed profound gratitude to Secretary-General Guterres for co-chairing the conference and for his continued support for the people of Pakistan suffering in the aftermath of the floods.
He recalled visiting along with Guterres the flood-affected areas of Sindh and Balochistan in September and said that the people of Pakistan would never forget this gesture of the UN Secretary-General.
The prime minister stressed that the question was not only about how to survive, but how to maintain dignity and honour by moving forward with a sense of purpose and achievement.
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.
The premier 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 to the people of Pakistan to renew their hope.
Addressing the session, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said floods affected millions of people in Pakistan with immense losses to agricultural land and infrastructure.
He recalled meeting the men, women and children at the makeshift camps in the flood-hit areas of Pakistan and said it was heartbreaking to witness their sufferings in the wake of climate-induced disaster.
“The UN is at the frontline of addressing the catastrophe in Pakistan and stressed improvement in infrastructure,” he said. “The UN will be there to help in critical and colossal losses.”
The UN chief said that the climate crisis needed massive support and mentioned that the people in South Asia were 15 times more likely to die with the impact of such natural disasters.
FM Bilawal said Pakistan looked forward to international support and assistance as a major climate disaster affected one in seven of the country’s population.
He highlighted that a large area of Pakistan was inundated with water and emphasized that the international community needed to come together and join the comprehensive plan presented by Pakistan on post-flood reconstruction.
French President Emanuel Macron in a video-link address offered full support from the government and people of France to Pakistan in their hour of difficulty.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkiye stood by the people of Pakistan in overcoming its flood damages. He mentioned that the country sent 15 planes and two ships carrying humanitarian aid supplies for the flood-struck people of Pakistan.
He stressed intense efforts and more collaboration to address the climate crisis, adding that
Turkiye continued to be in contact with the Pakistani authorities.
In his video statement, Prime Minister of Norway Jonas Gahr Støre said the the catastrophe had caused a matchless damage to Pakistan.
He said as the needs of the flood-hit people remained enormous, the international community should take collective actions to address the challenge of the climate change and support its victims.
He said Norway would continue to joining the international community for the cause.
President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen calling the conference a timely initiative said 2022 was a difficult year for the world owing to the pandemic as well as the worst flood hitting Pakistan, putting pressure on the vulnerable people.
She said the scale of the flood-caused devastation was enormous as millions of people remained underwater for months and the children faced a shortage of food.
She said the conference was meant to adopt an ambitious plan to help Pakistan put on the path to recovery.
Federal Councillor for Foreign Affairs of Switzerland Ignazio Cassis said the international community should support Pakistan in that hour of need.
He said climate change was a global risk which necessitated global actions.
Mr Ignazio Cassis thanked Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for holding the moot and recalled the Swiss support to Pakistan soon after the floods including sending a team for relief and reconstruction.
As per estimates, the devastating floods in 2022 left one-third of the country submerged, about 15,000 dead or injured and 8 million displaced. Over 2 million homes, 13,000 kilometres of highways, 439 bridges and more than 4 million acres of agricultural land were destroyed or damaged. An estimated nine million more people could be forced into poverty as a direct consequence of these floods.
Later, addressing a joint press stakeout with United Nations (UN) Secretary General Antonio Guterres, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Monday said that considering ‘the gigantic task of resilient recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction of 33 million flood affected people’, they were looking towards the global support to generate $8 billion to meet the impending challenges.
The prime minister expressed the confidence that they would be able to generate close to about $8 billion domestically and also looking towards the international community to contribute with an equal amount to support these measures.
He said in today’s “Resilient Pakistan” conference, they, in consultations with the friendly countries and global partners, had worked out a comprehensive framework over Pakistan’s resilient recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts with a robust financial mechanism.
Elaborating the large-scale devastation caused by the floods, the prime minister said it had crippled Pakistan’s economy and they with meagre resources could not cope with such a gigantic challenge.
The prime minister said that he had never witnessed such a destruction in his lifetime. About 33 million people were displaced, with 2 million houses were completely or impartially destroyed.
The country’s economy suffered to the tune of $30 billon.
The prime minister thanked the UN, UNDP, World Bank and other financial institutions and friendly countries for their support and assistance to the flood victims.
The prime minister informed that the government of Pakistan had already spent $400 million to provide support to about 2.7 million households whereas another amount of $575 million was spent in cash and kind which was contributed by the friends and countries across the globe.
He said they were now going for reconstruction and rehabilitation of infrastructure and to put back 33 million people affected by floods on their feet which was an unprecedented contemporary task.
The prime minister said that Islamic Development Bank had pleaded $4.2 billion which was the largest contribution.
He further assured that every penny contributed for the purpose would be spent in a transparent manner and they would be accounted for the amount as he had resolved for holding of a third party’s validation of these contributions.
The prime minister also thanked the UNSG for inspiring millions of people across the globe to support Pakistan in these hard times, and offered gratitude to all friendly countries, Presidents of France and Turkiye, the financial institutions, partners and representatives for expressing solidarity with Pakistan during the conference.
To a query, the prime minister said that even before floods, Pakistan faced numerous economic issues.
Due to serious tensions in the Eastern Europe, rising food inflation and sky rocketing of the oil prices worsened Pakistan’s imported inflation, impacting lives of the common man in the country, he added.
He said when floods hit Pakistan, everything was destroyed. Huge chunks of the lands in different provinces were still inundated by the standing flood waters.
Reiterating his government’s resolve, the prime minister said that they were committed to comply with the terms and conditions of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme.
He regretted that an agreement with the IMF was violated by the previous government.
Speaking on the occasion, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres stressed that it was a time for the international community to reciprocate with generosity shown by the people of Pakistan by very generously hosting millions of Afghan refugees for decades.
Recollecting his past experiences, he said Pakistan had witnessed difficult moments as it was badly affected by natural catastrophe like earthquakes and floods.
He lauded the people of Pakistan for their generosity, their resilience against scourge of terrorism and supporting millions of Afghan refugees.
Guterres further hoped that the global community would support Pakistan in rebuilding and reconstructing efforts as the country ‘has been a victim of man-made destruction’, adding that loss and damage fund would help support the developing countries like Pakistan.
“We stand with Pakistan,” he said, urging the international community to invest in the resilience of the people of Pakistan and express the enormous generosity.
He said if they came close to generating $8 billion by the international community, ‘it would be a huge success’.
The UNSG further called upon the global concrete action to save the common future of humanity, adding 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 as a real challenge due to rising emission of greenhouse gases.
The secretary general expressing his dismay said that he was deeply frustrated over the world leaders’ response to the huge challenge.
