The Bank has consistently stood by Pakistan in the wake of this monsoon’s cataclysmic flooding, helping with post-disaster needs assessment and mobilising technical and financial resources.
By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has okayed a USD 554 million financing package to support recovery and reconstruction efforts in Pakistan following this year’s devastating floods, a statement issuing from the Bank’s manila headquarters said Monday.
Including fresh funding as well as funds reallocated from other projects in the country, the financing package is aimed to strengthen the country’s disaster and climate resilience.
It will support the restoration of irrigation, drainage, flood risk management, on-farm water management, and transport infrastructure in the flood-affected provinces of Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Sindh provinces of the country.
“ADB’s Emergency Flood Assistance Project will also incorporate climate and disaster resilience measures into the design of the infrastructure”, the statement said, adding that the Bank has repurposed an additional USD 71 million from existing loans to the package.
“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.”
After unprecedent heatwaves in April to June 2022, Pakistan suffered a prolonged and intense monsoon that led to the country’s worst flooding in a century with glacial lakes bursting, rivers breaking their banks, flash flooding, and landslides.
A post-disaster needs assessment (PDNA) conducted by the government and development partners, including ADB, estimated total damage and losses at more than USD 30 billion and recovery and reconstruction needs at USD 16.3 billion.
The loan will reconstruct about 400 km of roads, including about 85 km of the N-5, the country’s busiest national highway, and about 30 bridges.
It will also help to restore and upgrade irrigation and drainage structures including canals and on-farm water facilities to restore livelihoods, and strengthen flood risk management structures to mitigate future risks to agricultural land, communities, and assets.
“More people are expected to fall into poverty as a result of the floods and the food-insecure population is likely to double to more than 14 million people in the most affected districts,” said ADB Principal Transport Specialist Zheng Wu.
“In close coordination with the government and other development partners, this project will provide crucial support to restore agriculture and other priority infrastructure to support socioeconomic recovery from floods.”
The financing package includes a USD 475 million loan and a USD 3 million technical assistance grant from the ADB.
It also includes a USD 5 million grant from the Government of Japan, funded through the Japan Fund for Prosperous and Resilient Asia and the Pacific.
The Japanese grant 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.
The grant will also support women’s livelihoods in agriculture by providing farming equipment.
The USD 3 million technical assistance grant will support the implementation of the project and the preparation of an ensuing flood risk management investment.
ADB says it approved a USD 1.5 billion loan in October to support the government’s provision of social protection, food security, and employment to mitigate the adverse impact of cumulative external shocks.
“The program partly contributes to the floods response given that a portion of the program beneficiaries are also flood victims”, the statement said.
“ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty.”
Established in 1966, ADB is owned by 68 members – 49 of whom are from the Asia-Pacific region.
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