SHARM EL-SHEIKH: Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday urged the international community to help Pakistan in the rehabilitation of the affected people by the unpreceded floods, caused by climate change.
Addressing a joint press conference, UNSG Antonio Guterres said Pakistan deserves massive support directly from the international community for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of flood-affected areas.
The UN secretary-general said the loss and damage suffered by Pakistan deserve to be considered as a reality and recognized through financial mechanisms, hoping the climate implementation conference will be able to decide it, Radio Pakistan reported.
He stressed that Pakistan should have access to effective debt relief and concessional funding to carry out the huge task of reconstruction and rehabilitation.
He appealed to the international financial institutions and the G-20 countries to create conditions for mechanisms of debt relief for middle-income countries impacted by natural disasters to allow resources to be invested in resilience and in recovery and reconstruction.
The UNSG said Pakistan being a middle-income country has not benefited from debt relief at the level that should be necessary for the country. He said he has been making proposals for debt swaps for countries like Pakistan so that investments could be made in rehabilitation and recovery and reconstruction from a natural disaster.
Expressing full solidarity, he said the UN will be side by side with Pakistan.
He said the UN is proud to be associated with Pakistan for the international donor conference in which we will try to obtain massive support from the international community for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the areas impacted by the tragic events.
He said the climate implementation summit also needs to define a clear roadmap to deal with the issue of climate change. This should include the creation of an institutional framework and financing in order to address the problems of loss and damage. He hoped that Pakistan will be able to benefit from these developments.
In his remarks, PM Shahbaz Sharif also stressed collective efforts to deal with the challenge of climate change.
Referring to the devastation caused by the floods, the prime minister said millions of people in Pakistan are going into winter without shelter or livelihood which is their fundamental right. He said women and children are still looking to us to protect their needs.
Alluding to the problems posed by floods such as stagnant water and waterborne diseases, he said Pakistan is grateful to the UN agencies and development partners for supporting us in this unprecedented crisis but this climate carnage is very huge.
Shahbaz Sharif mentioned that our journey to recovery will be held back by increasing public debt, rising international energy prices and no real access to adaptation funds.
He said the government has allocated urgent cash transfers worth $316 million to the vulnerable families providing $113 to each affected family. Appreciating the UN flash appeals, the prime minister said, “There is still a long way to go in sheltering and feeding millions of people.”
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