Karachi: The United States has announced a $1 million humanitarian assistance grant for the early recovery of the underprivileged communities in Pakistan who have suffered losses due to recent heavy monsoon rains.
Ambassador of the US to Pakistan, David Blome, made the announcement as he met Sindh Chief Minister, Syed Murad Ali Shah, to discuss the devastation caused by heavy monsoon rains. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) will provide this assistance for the relief and rehabilitation of the rain-affected communities in Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Gilgit-Baltistan. The assistance will be spent through the local disaster and relief authorities.
The Sindh CM informed the US Ambassador that eight districts in three divisions of the province had been adversely affected due to monsoon rains from June 20 to August 11.
The CM said that 130 people had lost their lives in rain-related incidents in the province, including 54 men, 11 women, and 65 children, while 422 people had received injuries.
Moreover, the rains have affected 723 villages besides damaging 548 roads spread over an area of 2,135 kilometres, 45 bridges, and 32 shops. The rains have completely destroyed 4,520 houses while 22, 817 housing units have been partially damaged. The torrential rains have also killed 974 animals in Sindh.
The ambassador said the people of the United States shared the grief of Pakistani families that had lost their loved ones in the recent rains and had started struggling for their rehabilitation.
Blome said he was pleased that new funding would ensure the early revival of the suffering communities and also help them in beefing up their safety arrangements to show resilience while facing such natural disasters in future.
The CM also told the American diplomat that work had been in progress to build 106 schools in several districts of the province under the US-funded Sindh Basic Education Programme. Construction of 84 of these schools has been completed as they have started functioning in collaboration with the partner non-governmental organisations while the rest of the schools will be built by June next year.
The US has been providing assistance to Pakistan in the sectors of energy, economic development, security, education, health, and other social areas. The USAID in the past decade provided $ 7.7 million in funding for development programmes in these sectors.
