UN and Government of Pakistan

Dr. Jassim Taqui

DG Al-Bab Institute for Strategic Studies

Islamabad, October 5, 2022: The revised ‘2022 Pakistan Floods Response Plan’ (FRP) was shared with UN member states and humanitarian organizations today in Geneva. The revised appeal urgently seeks the US $ 816 million to respond to the growing lifesaving needs of the people – a jump of US $ 656 million from the initial appeal of US $160 million. This increase is a reflection of the rising needs and the unprecedented scale of destruction caused by the current climate-induced disaster which has affected a population of 33 million, cost 1,600 lives, and threatens hundreds of thousands more as a second disaster looms within the first one. Over 2 million homes have been destroyed or damaged, forcing people to live under open skies exposed to threats of dengue, malaria, and the biting cold of the fast-approaching winter. More than 1,500 health and support facilities are badly damaged and unable to respond to the growing needs. 13,000 km of roads are badly damaged, making it extremely difficult – and, at times, impossible - to reach families in need.

 

The focus of this appeal is on the provision of urgent and lifesaving humanitarian assistance and protection to 9.5 million people until 31 May 2023, with a focus on the 34 most affected districts in Balochistan, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Punjab. This prioritization is based on the number of houses damaged and destroyed, available projections of water level changes, and the population of displaced people in the districts. It aims to enable a more cohesive response for people in areas that have been most severely affected and to foster a focused, multi-sectoral approach.

 

The Minister for Climate Change Senator Sherry Rehman headlined the unimaginable scale of loss and damage caused by unprecedented climate-induced floods in Pakistan. She highlighted that the scale of a catastrophe had gone beyond all previous climate disasters, affecting a population larger than the size of many countries. She referred to the continued inundation of large swathes of the country in pestilent water, pointing to the health risks such flooding posed. She added that Pakistan had sustained a complex and multi-sectoral exogenous shock to its economic body, and should not be expected to struggle alone on the frontlines of this climate apocalypse while contributing less than one percent to the total global carbon emissions. Calling for a ‘coalition of the willing to effectively respond to this calamity, she outlined specific and urgent requirements in the areas of health, food security, and rehabilitation. Considering that it was a race against time to support the people affected by the floods, she echoed UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres saying that it was not a question of solidarity but climate justice.

 

The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths in his remarks said, “People in Pakistan are bearing the brunt of the climate crisis, where catastrophic flooding has taken a devasting toll on the most vulnerable. We are now in a race against time ahead of the winter season and funding is now urgently needed so humanitarians can prepare to respond to rising health, hunger, and other debilitating needs.”