Original title: Chinese officials call on the international community to continue to support Pakistan’s post-disaster reconstruction
Xinhua News Agency, Geneva, January 9 (Reporter Nie Xiaoyang) The Pakistani government and the United Nations co-hosted the “International Conference on Pakistan’s Post-Disaster Reconstruction and Climate Resilience” in Geneva, Switzerland on January 9. Luo Zhaohui, director of the China International Development Cooperation Agency, attended the meeting and called on the international community to continue to support Pakistan in achieving the goal of the post-disaster reconstruction framework of “reconstruction, recovery, recovery and resilience”.
Luo Zhaohui said that after the catastrophic floods in Pakistan last summer, the Chinese government and people immediately provided emergency relief supplies such as tents and food, and dispatched medical expert teams and disaster assessment expert teams to the disaster-stricken areas. The Chinese government is willing to provide another US$100 million in special aid through bilateral channels on the basis of the existing aid. At the same time, China is willing to train 1,000 technical personnel and officials for Pakistan in the field of disaster prevention and mitigation, and join the international partner support group for Pakistan’s post-disaster reconstruction.
Luo Zhaohui said that the cause of the floods in Pakistan was extreme weather. The international community, especially developed countries, has an obligation to help Pakistan and other developing countries cope with extreme climate disasters. In this regard, developed countries have not fulfilled their commitment to provide US$100 billion per year to developing countries, and have not proposed a roadmap for doubling adaptation funds. Global climate governance has a long way to go.
It is reported that representatives from 44 countries and international financial institutions attended the meeting on the 9th and pledged US$9 billion for the post-disaster reconstruction of Pakistan. Pakistani Prime Minister Shabaz and UN Secretary-General Guterres attended the meeting.
Guterres said at a press conference after the meeting that Pakistan is one of the hardest-hit areas of global climate change, and the meeting on the 9th is the first step in the long process of recovery and reconstruction in Pakistan. He emphasized that to curb global warming, it is far from enough to only pay lip service, and countries, especially developed countries, need to take concrete actions.
Since June 2022, many places in Pakistan have suffered from unprecedented severe floods, affecting 33 million people, of whom more than 1,700 died, and thousands of schools and hospitals were destroyed or damaged. According to the latest figures recently released by Pakistani officials, about 8 million people are still displaced due to the floods.