ISLAMABAD: As Pakistan faces worst floods devastation in its history, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) announced on Tuesday that it was working quickly to provide a significant relief and rehabilitation package to Pakistan following the devastating floods that hit the country.
ADB Director-General for Central and West Asia, Yevgeniy Zhukov said in a statement that short and medium-term projects will be launched to repair damaged infrastructure, including roads and irrigation infrastructure; and support the development and financial stability of the agriculture sector to boost food security.
“We are also processing counter-cyclical support to Pakistan to help the poor and vulnerable, especially women and children, the impacts of food prices and other external shocks,” Mr Zhukov said.
Mr Zhukov said: “The scale and impact of the floods is shocking. ADB stands with the people of Pakistan through these difficult times.”
Long-term, ADB will prioritize projects that support post-flood reconstruction and strengthen climate and disaster resilience, the ADB senior official said in his statement on twitter.
The new pledges are in addition to the $3 million that ADB has already approved for the immediate purchase of food, tents and other relief goods.
ADB will work closely with the government and other international agencies to help rebuild the lives and livelihoods of the more than 33 million people affected by the disaster, ADB says.
Meanwhile the World Food Programme (WFP) in its situation report released on Tuesday, says the floods are highly likely to exacerbate food insecurity and malnutrition for millions of people in Pakistan. For the poor families, their coping capacities have already been stretched by COVID-19 and the ongoing economic crisis.
Prior to the floods, an Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis of 28 highly vulnerable districts in Balochistan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, and Sindh found that some 5.96 million people in the assessed districts are estimated to be in IPC Phase 3 (crisis) and 4 (emergency) between July and November 2022 – a figure expected to increase to 7.2 million people from December 2022 to March 2023.
A recent assessment by the Food and Agriculture Organization indicates that 9.4 million acres of crop area is potentially damaged, over half of which is in Sindh. Given that a third of Pakistan’s food is grown in Sindh, this is likely to impact overall food insecurity.
