Pakistan flood victims to get $554 million assistance from ADB and Japan

Islamabad: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Japanese government will provide $554 million in financial assistance for recovery and reconstruction efforts in flood-affected areas of Pakistan.

The financing package would strengthen disaster and climate resilience in Pakistan which witnessed the worst flooding this year that submerged a third of the country. The cataclysmic floods killed more than 1,700 people and affected 33 million. A post-disaster needs assessment by the government and development partners estimated total damage and losses at more than $30 billion and recovery and reconstruction needs at $16.3 billion.

“This year’s floods, which affected 33 million people and brought enormous damage to infrastructure and agriculture, are a devastating reminder of Pakistan’s acute vulnerability to climate change,” said ADB Director General for Central and West Asia Yevgeniy Zhukov. “This project will help to rebuild critical infrastructure in affected areas and restore rural livelihoods.”

Restoration of farmlands and livelihoods

The ADB and the Japanese government financing will support the restoration of irrigation, drainage, flood risk management, on-farm water management, and transport infrastructure in flood-hit areas of Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Sindh provinces. The financing includes a US$475 million loan and a US$3 million technical assistance grant from the Asian Development Bank, and a $5 million grant from the Government of Japan. The ADB has repurposed an additional $71 million from existing loans to support the government’s flood-response efforts. The loan will reconstruct about 30 bridges, 400 kilometres of roads, and 85 km of the N-5, the country’s busiest national highway.

The financial assistance is expected to restore livelihoods, and strengthen flood risk management structures to mitigate future risks to agricultural land, and communities. The $5 million grant from Japan “will support staple crop cultivation in Balochistan and provide at least 60,000 farm households with higher quality, certified rice seeds for increased productivity over 54,000 hectares of land.”

Demand for climate justice

Pakistan pushed the climate funding agenda forward and galvanized support for the establishment of a “loss and damage” fund at the COP27 summit in Egypt. The countries facing the most direct impact of the climate crisis have been demanding compensation from the big polluters for the loss and damage they’ve caused with greenhouse gas emissions.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif demanded climate justice and urgency of climate solidarity in his emphatic speech at the UN climate conference COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh. Pakistan was among the first seven countries that will be the first recipients of ‘Global Shield’ funding to tackle climate risks.