Pakistan has revealed that donors at the global summit in Geneva have promised to donate more than $9 billion to aid in its rebuilding following last year’s disastrous floods.
Pakistan hosted the summit in Geneva on Monday with the United Nations to seek international assistance to cover around half of a total $16.3bn recovery bill.
The one-day summit, which was attended by representatives from over 40 other nations as well as private donors and international financial institutions, was inaugurated by prime minister Shehbaz Sharif and the UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres.
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According to the UN, more than 33 million Pakistanis were affected by the enormous floods brought on by melting glaciers and record monsoon rains last year, which resulted in more than 1,700 fatalities and approximately nine million additional people falling into poverty.
In Sindh and Balochistan, the two worst-affected provinces, thousands of people are still living in open spaces, tents, and improvised homes, and there is still stagnant water in many places.
Hina Rabbani Khar, the Deputy Foreign Minister of Pakistan, stated that the final total exceeded the target for the international community.
“Taken as a whole, these commitments total more than $9 billion and from what we know so far, these are all additional commitments from what was already given in terms of humanitarian assistance, etc., from both bilateral and multilateral partners,” she said, adding that several delegations had also offered up in-kind support.
Story was adapted from Aljazeera.
