Pakistan has been ‘doubly victimised’ by…: What UN chief said

United Nations secretary general Antonio Guterres called for support for Pakistan in its rebuilding efforts following devastating floods in the country last year.

The rebuilding process is estimated to cost over $16 billion for Pakistan as the country’s economy faces inflation.

“We must match the heroic response of the people of Pakistan with our own efforts and massive investments to strengthen their communities for the future,” Antonio Guterres said in Geneva.

The UN chief also said that Pakistan has been “doubly victimised” by climate chaos and a global financial system which is not helping the country in financing and debt relief.

Ahead of the conference, head of the UN development agency Achim Steiner, described the floods as a “cataclysmic event” adding that Pakistan may face “an extraordinary amount of misery” if the world did not step up and help.

Pakistan prime minister Shehbaz Sharif said that the country needs $8 billion from its international partners over the next three years to rebuild the country. Massive floods, which experts have blamed on climate change, displaced almost 8 million people and killed at least 1,700.

Pakistan’s foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who attended the meeting with Shehbaz Sharif, called the floods “a climate disaster of monumental scale”.

“This is the greatest climate disaster in our country’s history. Pakistan will need considerable support over the next several years from our international partners to implement this comprehensive plan,” he said.