Pakistan has emphasized the need for continued support from the international community, in the construction and rehabilitation phase which will be announced formally by the Prime Minister on 24th of this month.
This was expressed by the Minister for Planning Development & Special Initiatives, Professor Ahsan Iqbal, while addressing to a roundtable on joint presentation and the key findings on the Post-Disaster Needs Assessment, organized by the World Bank and the United Kingdom on the sidelines of the WB/IMF annual meetings in the United States.
The Minister said that the international community has generously supported the relief and rescue operations in Pakistan and now the government seeks their further support in the reconstruction and rehabilitation for the flood-affected people. Professor Ahsan Iqbal highlighted the significance of a comprehensive post-damage and need assessment exercise which was completed in collaboration with the WB, the Asian Development Bank, European Union (EU) and the United Nations (UN).
While highlighting the key policy imperatives for resilient and recovery plan he said that several initiatives have been taken which includes building back better, participatory and inclusive recovery plan and implementation and to prioritize people values. It was also highlighted that the focus of the infrastructure will be climate resilience as the calamity is the biggest threat and Pakistan is the victim.
The minister informed participants that the devastating floods have adversely impacted about 33 million people and inundated 15% of the country, causing major hardships in the provinces of Sindh and Balochistan.
The roundtable was attended by the Minister for Planning Development & Special Initiatives, Finance Minister, Minister of Economic Affairs, Chief Economist, Secretary Planning Commission and other key officials.
Source: Radio Pakistan