Geneva conference: PM Shehbaz vows transparency in aid spending

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif has vowed to ensure complete transparency in the utilisation of funds to be provided by the international community for a Climate Resilient Pakistan, ARY News reported on Monday.

The prime minister made these remarks while addressing a joint press conference with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on the sidelines of International Conference on Climate Resilient Pakistan in Geneva.

PM Shehbaz said that considering ‘the gigantic task of resilient recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction of 33 million flood-affected people’, they were looking towards global support to generate $8 billion to meet the impending challenges.

The prime minister expressed confidence that they would be able to generate close to about $8 billion dollars domestically and also look towards the international community to contribute with an equal amount to support these measures.

Elaborating the large-scale devastation caused by the floods, the prime minister said it had crippled Pakistan’s economy and they with meager resources could not cope with such a gigantic challenge.

The prime minister said that he had never witnessed such destruction in his lifetime. “About 33 million people were displaced, with 2 million houses completely or impartially destroyed. The country’s economy suffered to the tune of $30 billion,” he noted.

The prime minister informed that the government of Pakistan had already spent $400 million to provide support to about 2.7 million households whereas another amount of $575 million was spent in cash and kind which was contributed by friends and countries across the globe.

He said they were now going for reconstruction and rehabilitation of infrastructure and to put back 33 million people affected by floods on their feet which was an unprecedented contemporary task.

He further assured that every penny contributed for the purpose would be spent in a transparent manner and they would be accounted for the amount as he had resolved for holding of a third party’s validation of these contributions.

Reiterating his government’s resolve, the prime minister said that they were committed to complying with the terms and conditions of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme.

However, he said, how the Fund could expect him to pass on the burden of inflation to the citizenry that was still reeling from floods.

“This not in line with the norms of justice and fair play,” he said, adding that he had asked the IMF to provide Pakistan with a “pause and some breathing space”.

Speaking on the occasion, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stressed that it was a time for the international community to reciprocate with the generosity shown by the people of Pakistan by very generously hosting millions of Afghan refugees for decades.

Recollecting his past experiences, he said Pakistan had witnessed difficult moments as it was badly affected by natural catastrophes like earthquakes and floods.

He lauded the people of Pakistan for their generosity, their resilience against scourge of terrorism and for supporting millions of Afghan refugees.

Guterres further hoped that the global community would support Pakistan in rebuilding and reconstructing efforts as the country ‘has been a victim of man-made destruction’, adding that loss and damage fund would help support developing countries like Pakistan.

‘$8.57bn pledged so far at Geneva moot’

In another Tweet, Marriyum Aurangzeb claimed that the donors at the Geneva conference had committed to give more than $8 billion to help Pakistan recover from last year’s devastating floods.

Marriyum said the first plenary of the conference had culminated in a “generous outpouring” from the international community.

“The European Union pledged $93 million, Germany $88m, China $100m, Islamic Development Bank $4.2 billion, World Bank $2bn, Japan $77m, Asian Development Bank $1.5bn, USAID $100m, France $345m,” she said on Twitter.