ISLAMABAD:Federal Secretary for Economic Affairs, on the directions of the Prime Minister, instructed the concerned authorities to immediately approach the UN agencies, international development partners for immediate assistance and funding for relief, rehabilitation and restoration of infrastructure in the wake of large-scale losses caused by flash floods and heavy rains in all the provinces.
Mian Asad Hayaud Din, federal secretary for Economic Affairs, shared this in a meeting with development partners and National and Provincial Disaster Management Authorities. The meeting was held for mobilizing assistance for relief, rehabilitation and restoration of the damaged infrastructure caused by flash floods and heavy rainfall, said a press release issued here.
Mian Asad Hayaud Din chaired the meeting of selected development partners and National and Provincial Disaster Management Authorities to review the need assessment for immediate relief and to mobilize assistance for relief, rehabilitation and restoration in the wake of flash floods across the country.
The federal secretary further directed additional and joint secretaries of the ministry to approach all the development partners (multilateral & bilateral), including the UN agencies, to seek both financial and humanitarian assistance for relief, rehabilitation and restoration of damaged infrastructure.
The meeting was organized for respective heads and representatives of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), National Disaster Risk Management Fund (NDRMF), and the six Provincial Disaster Management Authorities (PDMAs) to engage with foreign development partners to present their need-assessment reports and to formalize an action plan of assistance.
During the meeting, a detailed presentation was made by a representative of NDMA on the damages caused by flash floods across the country including details of infrastructure, crops, life-losses along with the present status of resources and immediate relief programs that was being implemented in each province.
Furthermore, all the Provincial Disaster Management Authorities (PDMAs) were asked to present their specific requirements for both immediate relief phase and rehabilitation and restoration of damaged infrastructure caused by flash floods.
The foreign development partners stated that they stood firmly with Pakistan in this disastrous situation and were ready to provide whatever assistance was required to all the provinces. The secretary thanked and assured the development partners to fill the gaps through the ministry’s intervention.
The secretary, EAD, further stressed the need to officially declare emergency in the affected districts of the provinces and directed the NDMA to submit the need assessment reports of both National and Provincial Disaster Management Authorities to the foreign development partners so that they could formalize and implement an action plan for the assistance.
The meeting was attended by both National and Provincial Disaster Management Authorities, NDRMF, Irrigation Department, Government of Punjab, and Development Partners including USAID Pakistan, UN-OCHA, IOM, Embassy of Denmark, Asian Development Bank (ADB), United Nations (UN), World Bank (WB), Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), Embassy of China, TIKA, KFW, Embassy of Japan, Humanitarian Office EU delegation, and Embassy of Germany.
Representatives from the Ministry of Economic Affairs included; federal secretary for Economic Affairs, additional secretaries, joint secretaries and senior officers of the ministry also attended the meeting.