The government’s drive to raise sizable international assistance for post-floods rehabilitation and reconstruction seems to be in a low gear. As the widespread floods-related devastations began to emerge in late August, it was then that the idea of a global donors’ conference was raised by the PM. A month later at the UN General Assembly sessions, the PM told the media that UN would organize a donors’ conference in New York or Europe. France reportedly offered to take the lead in organizing it.
At the time, there was no timeline announced – only that the conference would be held “soon”. Considering the urgency of funding amid an acute humanitarian crisis and given Pakistan’s precarious macroeconomic situation that couldn’t deal with this crisis alone, one had expected quick action on this front. The conference was seen as vitally important for Pakistan,in terms of i) showcasing global diplomatic support after many dormant years, ii) highlighting Pakistan’s vulnerability to climate change, and iii) providing sizable, long-term foreign inflows for reconstruction to a fiscally-strapped government.
In the first week of October, the UN General Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution to support Pakistan’s floods-related efforts; it also welcomed the donors’ conference to help Pakistan deal with the crisis.Also in early October, the Foreign Office indicated that the donors’ conference might take place towards “perhaps end November”. By then, it was understood that the conference would be co-convened by the UN and France, with the latter playing the host. But it appeared that the urgency was missing.
The conference had assumed greater significance because the UN’s Flash Appeal for Pakistan Floods had limited impact. The initial UN call for $160 million was issued in late August; itwas later rose fivefold to $816 million in early October (covering a period until May 2023). Within the revised appeal, funding target was set at $472 million until December 2022. By early October, data from UN’s OCHA showed that only $90 million had been mobilized. (As of 5 December, $190 million have been raised under the appeal – 40% of the plan requirements until 2022 end. The US alone provided 28% of those funds).
Meanwhile, the preparation for the conference took time, as there were delays and disagreements over flood-related damages and losses (about $32bn) and reconstruction financing (about $16bn). In the first week of November, at the UN Climate Conference (COP27) in Sharm el-SheikhEgypt), the prospect of the so-called pledging conference was revived. Standing alongside the PM, the UN Secretary General, who had previously visited Pakistan at the height of floods, made the following encouraging remarks:
“The UN is proud to be associated with the Government of Pakistan for the international donor conference in which we will try to obtain from the international community the kind of massive support that is needed for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the areas impacted by these tragic events… Let's be clear. Pakistan deserves massive support directly from the international community. Pakistan deserves loss and damage to be considered as a reality and for that reality to be recognized through financial mechanisms that I hope this conference will be able to decide”.
With November come and gone, now there are reports in December that the said conference might be held in January next month, most likely in Geneva. At the heart of the delay is apparently the slow progress in the development of a “comprehensive rehabilitation and reconstruction plan” or a “climate-resilient reconstruction framework” by the government and its subsequent sign-off by donors before it is presented at the conference. The said reconstruction/financing framework is also apparently among the reasons holding back the government-IMF talks on the ninth review under the IMF.
Within the $16 billion floods-related reconstruction costs, the government is reportedly targeting $13 billion to be raised from foreign aid inflows in the medium term. Materializing such high hopes hinge on a successful donor conference full of financing pledges. With the domestic political instability now receding, let’s see how soon the government is able to finish its homework; including keeping the provinces fully on board with the reconstruction plan.
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