UN launches USD 160mn response plan as floods wreak havoc in Pakistan

Islamabad [Pakistan], August 30 (ANI): The "2022 Pakistan Floods Response Plan (FRP)" was jointly launched on Tuesday by the Government of Pakistan and the United Nations, simultaneously in Islamabad and Geneva, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) said.
The FRP is being launched against the backdrop of devastating rains, floods and landslides that have impacted more than 33 million people in different parts of Pakistan, OCHA said in a statement.
Over 1,100 people, including over 350 children, have lost their lives, more than 1,600 people have been injured, over 2,87,000 houses have been fully and 662,000 partially destroyed, over 7,35,000 livestock have perished and 2 million acres of crops have been adversely impacted, besides severe damage to communications infrastructure.
The FRP focuses on the needs of 5.2 million people, with life-saving response activities amounting to USD 160.3 million covering food security, assistance for agriculture and livestock, shelter and non-food items, nutrition programmes, primary health services, protection, water and sanitation, women's health, and education support, as well as shelter for displaced people.
Delivering the keynote address, Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said, "The Government's efforts are being supported by the Pakistani nation with people, civil society and humanitarian organizations stepping forward in a big way to complement the relief work with our characteristic generosity and philanthropic spirit. The Prime Minister's Flood Relief Fund 2022 has also been established to facilitate people all over the country and overseas to contribute to the flood relief efforts."
He FM added that "this Appeal is expected to address only a part of the overall requirements and will, therefore, complement the broader effort." The FM underscored that the international community's "full support and solidarity with the people of Pakistan at this time would go a long way in alleviating their suffering and in helping to rebuild their lives and communities".
In his video message, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres shared that "the people of Pakistan face the unrelenting impact of heavy rains and flooding - worst in decades". UNSG added that "the Government of Pakistan's response has been swift. It has released national funds, including in the form of immediate cash relief. But the scale of needs is rising like the flood waters. It requires the world's collective and prioritized attention."
The Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal highlighted that "Pakistan being a negligible contributor to the overall carbon footprint, is still among the top ten countries that are vulnerable to climate change, and with extreme weather events which we have experienced from earlier this year like the heat waves, forest fires, multiple glacial lake-outburst-floods and now these disastrous monsoon floods."
The UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Julien Harneis said: "This super flood is driven by climate change - the causes are international and so the response calls for international solidarity."
He further added, "Across Pakistan, I have seen government workers, ordinary people, out in the rain and water, saving lives and giving the little they have to those who have lost everything. We in the international community, need to step up and stand with the people of Pakistan. This appeal is the absolute minimum we need from the international community for life-saving assistance and services. The people of Pakistan deserve our support."
The launch event was attended by the Diplomatic Corps both in Islamabad and Geneva, heads of UN agencies in Pakistan, representatives of international organizations, IFIs, civil society and media. (ANI)