U.N. and Pakistani officials are appealing for global solidarity to rehabilitate and rebuild flood-ravaged Pakistan in advance of the International Conference on Climate Resilient Pakistan next week in Geneva.
The conference will be opened Monday by co-hosts Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Delegates from some 40 countries, including several heads of state, representatives of financial institutions and international development organizations will attend.
The conference aims to marshal international support for the people and government of Pakistan to build back in a resilient manner after last year’s devastating floods.
Pakistan’s record-breaking monsoon rainfall between June and August caused catastrophic flooding, affecting more than 33 million people. Upwards of 1,700 people died, over 2 million were rendered homeless, crops were wiped out, and vital infrastructure was destroyed and damaged.
U.N. Development Program resident representative in Pakistan Knut Ostby said the climate disaster was caused by accelerating climate change across the world. He said Pakistan’s flood crisis is a global problem and must be addressed as such.
“What is unique about this conference is that it is mobilizing support for the immediate response to the disaster,” Ostbysaid. “There are many conferences who do this. … But it also comes at a time where the world is realizing that this is a global issue. It has to be tackled in global solidarity.”
Quoting Pakistan’s climate minister, Ostby said what happens in Pakistan does not stay in Pakistan. He said the world must take a unified approach to determine a solution.
Syed Haider Shah is head of the U.N. division in Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Speaking from the capital Islamabad, he said the cost of reconstruction is estimated at $16.3 billion. Half of that money, he said, will come from Pakistan’s domestic and development budget and the other half from international support.
He noted Pakistan’s four strategic recovery objectives include governance and capacity building, inclusive reconstruction, gender issues and livelihoods.
“All those objectives have different amounts envisioned for their reconstruction,” Shah said. “And it takes over a period of time. It is not a one-year project. It is a three-year estimation of how to go about it.”
Conference organizers say helping the country transition from the rescue-and-relief phase toward the monumental task of recovery, rehabilitation, and reconstruction will take years.
They say they hope the conference will help Pakistan forge a long-term partnership with governments and development partners as it begins this arduous task.
