Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Wednesday, December 21, 2022 implored the international community to offer aid to Pakistan in order to help 20 million flood victims survive the harsh winter, as the country struggles to cope with the humanitarian aftermath of inundations earlier in the year.
Sharif made the passionate appeal for help in gathering food, tents and other essential items for the millions of people that the deadly floods had displaced in the South Asian country.
The Prime Minister made this plea ahead of an international donors conference in Geneva on January 9, 2023.
During a visit to Kot Diji in the southern province of Sindh, an area greatly affected by the vast floods, Sharif said, “Even today, 20 million victims of the floods need urgent humanitarian assistance.”
Poverty stricken Pakistan was already facing a serious financial crisis before the heavy monsoon rains hit in mid-June.
The rains resulted in unprecedented floods that at one point submerged a third of the country’s territory.
Sharif said Pakistan was suffering from climate change-induced floods, despite having an insignificant share in global carbon emissions.
Sharif added that snow has started falling in some of the flood-hit areas in the northwest and southwestern Baluchistan province, adding more misery to the plight of flood survivors.
“People living in such areas are looking toward the sky for help. They are waiting for tents and aid,” he said.
U.N To Raise Funds To Support Flood Victims
The U.N. in Geneva will co-host the “International Conference on Climate Resilient Pakistan” to raise much-needed funds for the victims of last summer’s wide ranging floods that killed 1,739 people, destroyed 2.2 million homes and affected 33 million Pakistanis.
Sharif revealed that he plans to travel to Switzerland to lay out for the international community the affliction of the flood victims, tens of thousands of whom are still living in open areas.
Sharif stated that nine million children are among those flood survivors who were “desperately waiting for help.”
His government is trying to help flood victims with its limited resources, he intoned.
Sharif claimed Pakistan’s government is using all its resources to ensure that flood victims return to normal life by rebuilding destroyed homes and communities.
In recent weeks, many of the flood survivors have returned to their villages.
The floods also destroyed much of the country’s crops. Pakistan says the inundations caused up to $40 billion in havoc to its economy.
In an interview, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, urged the world to continue to support Pakistan to recover from the devastating floods.
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