Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Khalil Hashmi has appealed to the international community to help Islamabad in rehabilitating the flood-affected people.
He was addressing a press briefing ahead of the International Conference on Climate Resilient Pakistan being held in Geneva on Monday.
The ambassador said that the Government is taking urgent measures to rehabilitate flood-affected people. He said this conference will signify a partnership approach to a huge challenge and that the needs have been precisely identified in terms of priority areas including Housing, Agriculture and Livelihood.
The Ambassador said that out of 33 million flood-hit people in Pakistan, 8 million are still displaced who need immediate recovery through cooperation of international partners.
Addressing the briefing virtually head of the UN Division in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Additional Secretary Syed Haider Shah says the International Conference on Climate Resilient Pakistan will help us in forging long-term partnerships with friends and development partners.
He said the moot will help strengthen the 4RF (Resilient, Recovery, Rehabilitation, and Reconstruction Framework) launched by the government of Pakistan for flood-affected population.
The Secretary said that the 4RF document outlines a prioritized and sequential plan, defined at the Federal and provincial levels, and includes the financial mechanism and institutional arrangements for its execution in an open, transparent and collaborative manner.
He said at the Conference, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will outline Pakistan’s vision for rehabilitating the affected population and reconstructing the damaged infrastructure in a resilient manner, with the support of development partners, and the country’s transition towards a more dynamic and sustainable economic development model. He said the perspectives of Pakistan’s four provinces will be articulated by their representatives.
Syed Haider Shah said the Prime Minister and UN General Secretary will jointly address a press stakeout at the conclusion of the conference highlighting the long-term agenda for climate resilient region.
Speaking on the occasion, the UNDP Resident Representative in Pakistan Knut Ostby said that this conference is crucial in supporting Islamabad in mobilizing resilient recovery resources from the recent devastating floods. Talking about the short and long-term needs, he said that 33 million population of Pakistan was affected while 1700 people were killed by the floods. He said due to stranded water in some parts of the country, people are not able to get basic help from the authorities. He said due to floods, people lost their livelihood which urgently needs to be restored.
Talking about the immediately required steps from the international partners including Asian Development Bank and European Union he called for understanding Post Disaster Need Assessment based on global methodologies. He urged the global community to stand with Pakistan in the rehabilitation and reconstruction of flood-hit people.
Source: Radio Pakistan