The United Nations Tuesday appealed to the international community for $160 million in emergency aid to provide relief to hundreds of thousands of flood victims in Pakistan. Speaking through a video link during the 2022 Pakistan Floods Response Plan (FRP) event, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said infrastructure in the affected areas of Pakistan was destroyed by the floods and the country was in dire need of help from the international community to help those affected. He said Pakistan was in need of $160 million in aid for the flood victims, adding that greenhouse gases were causing an increase in global warming. “Let us all step up in solidarity and support the people of Pakistan in their hour of need,” he said. “Let’s stop sleepwalking towards the destruction of our planet by climate change.” During the ceremony, Minister of Foreign Affairs Bilawal Bhutto Zardari also appealed for emergency assistance to Pakistan. He said due to climate change, heat waves had broken all records in Pakistan and now the country was facing a heavy rainfall and flooding.
Bilawal said more than 30 million people in 72 districts of the country were currently affected by the catastrophe, while the systems of communication and crops had been destroyed and the economy had taken a significant hit. “Providing food, a roof and rehabilitation to the victims is a big challenge,” Bilawal said, adding that the Benazir Income Support Programme had also been helping the affected families. Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal will also speak at the event as he is the chairperson of the “Relief Coordination Committee” constituted by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
“The FRP has been prepared in close coordination with the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). Chairman NDMA Lt. Gen. Akhtar Nawaz will also brief the session,” said the FO in an earlier statement. UN High Commissioner for Refugees, UN Resident Coordinator in Islamabad, and Assistant Secretary General of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) will also speak at the event. “The launch event will be attended by all UN Member States as well as various UN agencies and humanitarian organizations working in the area of disaster relief. The FRP will acknowledge the government’s overall humanitarian response to the recent floods caused by unprecedented rains in Pakistan,” the FO added. Initially, authorities in Pakistan were slow to react but the latest reports from the troubled regions indicate the damage caused by current floods is far greater than the super floods of 2010.
