Flood-hit Pakistan needs massive world assistance: Guterres

ISLAMABAD: UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres Friday appealed to the international community to boost assistance to Pakistan as it needed massive financial support for rescue and relief efforts in the wake of widespread devastation caused by the recent floods.

Addressing a joint news conference here along with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Guterres said Pakistan was not making any significant contribution to industrial emissions, but it was bearing the brunt of climate change.

“Countries which make most of the emissions should do justice by providing massive support to the people of Pakistan to meet this calamity,” he observed. The UN secretary general urged the global community to mobilise everything possible to support the people of Pakistan, as they had lost their houses, jobs, and crops.

Expressing solidarity with the people of Pakistan, he said everyone needed to be mobilised to come out of the crisis. The prime minister and Guterres visited the National Flood Relief and Coordination Centre (NFRCC) where they were briefed about the flood situation.

The UN secretary-general, besides urging support for flood relief assistance, also emphasised debt support for Pakistan to help it overcome numerous challenges, including economic instability.

Guterres, who had earlier launched a global appeal to raise $160 million for flood-affected people of Pakistan, said joint efforts were required to help the country overcome the consequences of climate change.

“Today, it is Pakistan and tomorrow it could be any other country. Mobilising resources for Pakistan is a matter of justice,” he maintained. The UN Secretary-General said Pakistan was facing an “unprecedented natural disaster” and lauded the government, army and NGOs for working together in a remarkable way.

Guterres said he would continue to raise his voice for the Pakistani government and people who were grappling with a difficult situation amid floods. He said that Pakistan is in his heart as he has worked with the country for 17 years while the nation extended enormous generosity to Afghan refugees for decades.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed gratitude to the UN Secretary-General for his extremely kind and generous gesture of visiting Pakistan to get first-hand information and express solidarity with the people. “We are very grateful for the solidarity demonstrated by you as 33 million people suffer dire conditions in the wake of heavy floods,” he said.

The prime minister said the federal and provincial governments and all stakeholders including the armed forces were working together to provide relief to thirty three million affected people. He said Pakistan’s rescue and relief efforts were in full gear and the people had been moved to safe places, adding that food and shelter were being provided to them but the challenge was huge.

Shehbaz Sharif said Pakistan’s floods were a glaring manifestation of climate change and it was high time to take notice of the situation. “We will soon be entering the reconstruction and rehabilitation phase. Pakistan is doing its best with its meagre resources but the country will require sufficient support to repair the damaged infrastructure,” he observed.

Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal said damage assessment studies in the flooded areas would be completed soon. NFRCC Coordinator Major General Zafar Iqbal briefed the UN Secretary General about the flood situation and the ongoing rescue and relief efforts.

Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb Friday expressed the hope that the visit of Antonio Guterres will help further mobilise international support for the flood victims.

In a tweet, she said the UN secretary general during his Pakistan visit will be briefed on the havoc wreaked by the floods. The minister said he will also visit the flood affected areas. “These devastating floods are a direct result of climate stress. We hope the UNSG’s visit will help highlight to the world how Pakistan is one of the top 10-vulnerable countries globally despite contributing less than 1 per cent of global emissions”.

The UN secretary general also met Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari at the Foreign office and discussed the flood situation across the country. The magnitude of destruction as well as the ongoing rescue, relief and rehabilitation efforts came under discussion.