USAID Administrator Samantha Power calls on COAS Bajwa

RAWALPINDI: The Administrator of USAID – USA Samantha Power called on Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa at General Headquarters (GHQ) today, ARY News quoted ISPR Friday.

During the meeting, matters of mutual interest and collaboration in humanitarian measures were discussed.

US AID Administrator Samantha Power expressed grief over the devastation caused by ongoing floods in Pakistan and offered sincere condolence to the families of victims.

She offered full support to the people of Pakistan. She also appreciated Pakistan Army’s efforts for assisting civil administration and flood-affected populations in rescue and relief efforts in areas hit by recent floods.

READ: UN CHIEF APPEALS GLOBAL COMMUNITY TO HELP FLOOD-HIT PAKISTAN

COAS Bajwa thanked for USA’s support and reiterated that assistance from our global partners shall be vital in the rescue and rehabilitation of the victims.

On September 8, Administrator Samantha Power began her trip to Pakistan by visiting Sindh province to view the extensive flood damage, meet with people of Pakistan affected by one of the country’s worst-ever natural disasters and speak with those on the ground responding to the crisis.

The Administrator began her day by joining the Pakistani military and USAID’s Disaster Assistance Response Team leader for a flyover of Sindh province, the disaster’s epicentre, to view the extent of the damage and destruction to homes, roads, bridges, and farmland caused by severe flooding, as well as landslides and glacial lake outbursts, according to the USAID Acting Spokesperson Shejal Pulivarti.

READ: FLOODWATER FROM MANCHAR LAKE INUNDATES SIX MORE VILLAGES

Power then visited Dadu District, in southern Pakistan, where she met with flood survivors and spoke with families who were forced to leave their homes and livelihoods.

Hard to capture the enormity & devastation of Pakistan’s floods. In stats: 33 million ppl affected. Over 1,300 ppl killed (⅓ children). 750k livestock killed. 1.7 million homes destroyed. 17,500 schools damaged.
In searing visuals from today, countless villages now underwater: pic.twitter.com/fPOSpD2bCh

— Samantha Power (@PowerUSAID) September 8, 2022

The Administrator also spoke with Pakistani military officials leading the response about their most acute needs, the status of ongoing rescue work and projections on water movement and future displacement.

Administrator Power then travelled to Sukkur where she met with Pakistani military members as well as US military members who had just arrived on a US Air Force C-17 Globemaster cargo aircraft.

WFP is scaling up its emergency response to reach 1.9 million people affected by this year’s monsoon floods in Pakistan.

Recovery and resilience support is now a top priority as families struggle to cope with the loss of homes, livestock and food.

— WFP Media (@WFP_Media) September 9, 2022

The aircraft was carrying the equipment needed to establish a logistics hub that will be used to get much-needed relief supplies to the people of Pakistan. The aircraft was the first of several that will be transporting relief supplies to Pakistan from USAID’s Dubai warehouse over the coming days, it concluded.