The US dollar 10bn aid pledges made by the participants of Geneva moot for Pakistan to help the latter in the post-floods situation is a welcome augury. However, one thing must be kept in mind that these are only pledges and the real difference would  be made when these pledges are materialized and the aid arrives in Pakistan.

One would definitely laud this goodwill gesture by the world community for our flood-affected people and areas.

Right now the entire world is facing economic meltdown and amid this condition, the announcement of such a commitment to help Pakistan out of the post-floods crisis is something which shows the world’s concern for our people.

In a way, it is also the world leaders deposing confidence in the current coalition government’s policies regarding reconstruction of the country.

The moot is also of special significant as it was jointly organized by the two longtime allies Pakistan and US together with the United Nations as it shows the US commitment regarding enhancing friendship with Pakistan and extending it to fields other than war on terror in the region.

 In fact, it is the commitment of the heads of world states and governments which attended the Geneva moot  which turned the Geneva Resilient Pakistan Conference into a success and now it all depends on the help reaching Pakistan so that the construction and repair and rehabilitation of the flood raved areas is done with immediate effects.

The moot has also brought into limelight the Pak-US ties which are back on track and are expanding to new horizons under the current coalition government due to special efforts of the Pakistan’s youngest Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.

The United States has not only pledged additional help for Pak flood affected people but has also  assured its support for  our homeland in a bid  to revive its economy.

The US State Department spokesperson Ned Price told a subsequent media briefing that US will support Pakistan in materliasing economic reforms and the support will be unconditional.

It also advised Pakistan Govt to go ahead with the economic reforms which Pakistan has promised to the IMF.

On the other hand,  the UN Secretary-General António Guterres talked about the biblical floods due to climate change effects in Pakistan and told the world leaders that it is their responsibility to help Pakistan repair and reconstruct the damaged infrastructure,

One hopes that the help start arriving at the country at the earliest as we need immediate relief.

The world know that our country was devastated by unprecedented monsoon rains and subsequent floods from July to September when one third of the country was underwater, wreaking havoc with the lives and infrastructure countrywide, resulting in damage of over two million homes besides causing the deaths of  1,700 people across the country.

Though the entire country was badly affected by the summer floods but the Sindh province was the most affected as can be witnessed in the form of huge damages to the housing, schools, dams, roads, health, and agriculture sectors , livestock and other sources of livelihoods.

According to UN report, more than 33 million people of Pakistan are suffering since July and August when the floods ravaged the country with the Sindh and Balochistan, provinces the most affected areas by the world’s biggest climate disaster. The report further said that over eight million people were rendered homeless by the summer floods while more than 1,700 people also lost their precious lives. The number of houses damaged by floods is said to be 2.2 million while 13 per cent of these damaged infrastructure were health facilities. Standing crops to the tune of 4.4 million acres of crops were damaged while over 8,000 kilometers of highways, roads and railway tracks and 440 bridges were also destroyed by the devastating floods.

Meanwhile, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar has said lauded the world’s commitments and said that the total help pledges is “more than $9bn” which she termed as good omen.

She thanked the world for standing by Pakistan in this hour of distress.

To be very specific, it was a “generous outpouring” from the world leaders representing the international community and it is good augury which shows that Pakistan is not alone in the face of calamitous floods and natural disasters.

The world countries which pledged help including the European Union $93 million, Germany $88m, Japan $77m, our time-test friend China $100m, France $345m.. Besides, the Islamic Development Bank pledged $4.2 billion, World Bank $2bn, USAID $100m, and last but not the least the Asian Development Bank $1.5bn.

The generous help shows that the world has acknowledged that rebuilding Pakistan in a resilient way would require $16bn but added that “far more” would be required in the long run.

In a welcome move, the World Bank has Okayed $1.692 billion in financing for rehabilitation of flood affected people of Sindh province, where more than one-third of the province was under water during the summer floods that were unprecedented in nature.

The financial assistance will go to five projects to support people living in flood-affected areas of Sindh.

The five rehabilitation projects to be funded under this financial assistance include three regarding extending support to rehabilitation, repair and construction of damaged houses, and the recovering of the land for crop production for vulnerable  farmers whose land and standing crops have been washed out by the summer floods. And the other two mega projects focus on extending health services to mothers and children in the flood affected areas of the province.

Published in The Daily National Courier, January, 13 2023

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