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Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

Pakistan Appeals for Flood Aid Ahead of Donors Conference


Tue 03 Jan 2023 | 09:03 PM
By Ahmad El-Assasy

Ahead of a significant meeting the next week, Pakistan's foreign minister on Tuesday made a heartfelt plea to the international community to generously contribute funding for the nation's flood victims.

The United Nations and Pakistan are co-hosting a meeting on Monday in Geneva to raise money for those affected by the severe flooding that occurred last summer and that experts believe was partially caused by climate change. 33 million Pakistanis were affected and 1,739 individuals died in the calamity. A third of the country's area was submerged at one time.

Tuesday, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, the foreign minister, sought to attract attention to the situation of homeless survivors, many of whom are currently compelled to live outside in the bitter winter weather. His goal, he said, is for the world not to forget the victims of the floods.

The U.N. recently issued a warning that the $816 million in emergency relief it requested last October for food, medication, and other supplies for the survivors will run out after January 15 due to the lack of contributions made so far for Pakistan's flood victims.

In broadcast remarks from Badin, one of the worst-affected flood zones in the southern Sindh province, Bhutto-Zardari said: "There was no wrongdoing of innocent Pakistanis, but they paid a high price due of climate-induced floods."

He claimed that although Pakistan has played a very small part in global warming, the country was nevertheless susceptible to the effects of the environment. Pakistan, according to experts, emits less than 1% of the heat-trapping carbon dioxide.

Prior to the mid-June arrival of the significant monsoon rains, Pakistan's cash-strapped nation was experiencing a severe financial crisis. According to analysts, the floods may have cost up to $40 billion in damages, and Pakistan would not be able to reconstruct its infrastructure or households without international assistance.