Congresspersons commit US support to relief efforts

ISLAMABAD: A US Congressional delegation (CODL) Monday expressed solidarity with the flood victims and assured that the Congress and administration will continue to support the relief efforts in Pakistan.

The delegation — led by Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee and comprising Congressmen Tom Souzzi and Al Green — called on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at the Prime Minister’s House.

Sheila Jackson Lee is the Chairperson of Pakistan Congressional Caucus, while Congressman Tom Souzzi is the Co-chair of Democratic Party for the Pakistan Congressional Caucus.

Speaking on the occasion, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed satisfaction over the upward trajectory in Pak-US relationship and underlined the need for a constructive and sustained bilateral engagement based on mutual respect, trust and understanding.

Shehbaz appreciated their visit to Pakistan at a critical juncture when flash floods had ravaged the country.

The prime minister underlined that the government was fully engaged in the rescue and relief efforts. He added that the floods had affected over 33 million people, killing 1,300 human beings, and causing extensive damage to agriculture, livestock, property and critical infrastructure.

He underscored that rehabilitation and reconstruction would pose serious challenges and entail commitment of enormous resources. Continued support, solidarity and assistance from the international community was critical in that context, he added.

Shehbaz underscored that despite being one of the lowest emitters of carbon emissions, Pakistan was facing the brunt of climate catastrophe. He stressed that the developed countries must step up their climate ambition, including towards the provision of predictable climate finance for mitigating the adverse impacts of climate change in the developing world.

Appreciating the flood relief assistance being provided by the US, he added that the Congressional delegation’s visit would help enhance global awareness of the scale of destruction caused by the super floods in Pakistan and mobilize greater support.

The three-member Congressional delegation is visiting Pakistan from September 4-6. The delegation visited Sindh to witness the extent of the damage and human sufferings, and held meetings with key stakeholders to explore ways and means to assist Pakistan in its recovery efforts in a sustained manner.

Congresswoman Lee, while sharing her deepest sympathies for the flood victims, particularly those who had lost loved ones, lauded the prime minister’s efforts and expressed the hope that the Pakistani nation would deal with the calamity with resilience and resolve.

She affirmed that the US Congress and administration would stand by Pakistan in the wake of the colossal challenge, and extend critical support to help them mitigate the suffering of the affected people and rebuild their lives and communities.

The delegation also called on Minister for Climate Change Sherry Rehman, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and State Minister Hina Rabbani Khar. Federal Minister for Climate Change Senator Sherry Rehman apprised the US Congresspersons of the current relief efforts and assistance required for rehabilitation of the flood victims and reconstruction.

The delegation expressed solidarity with the people of Pakistan and great concern over the devastation, promising full support to Pakistan in these trying times. Explaining the ongoing relief efforts, the minister said, “The devastation on ground is much more than we encountered in the 2010 floods. This time, however, we are unable to find dry ground to land our helicopter sorties providing relief. We had a cataclysmic start to the year, with temperatures reaching 53 degrees in Sindh followed by heat waves and 3 times the normal amount of GLOFs. The South remains inundated, posing danger to human health now. Despite relief efforts from the government, NDMA, PDMAs and Pak Army, we are under-resourced. 33 million people have been impacted severely. We have appealed to our bilateral and multilateral partners in this time of need.”

Talking about the imminent health crisis, Sherry remarked, “There are far-reaching impacts of these floods which have unleashed on Pakistan for 9 weeks now. The situation on the ground is still worrying in terms of relief and rescue. It is a national emergency. We are now heading towards a health emergency due to water-borne diseases. We need urgent relief funds to deal with this emerging crisis. We really appreciate US assistance and support in this moment of great crisis. It reminds us of a strong partnership and of better times. Right now, we are looking at conducting risk assessment followed by building climate-resilient infrastructure and for that we would require your support.”

The US Congressional delegation expressed condolences and deepest regret on the loss of lives and commitment to helping Pakistan in these trying times and advocate for funding in the US.

Talking to the Congressional delegation, Bilawal thanked the US government for its relief efforts.In a tweet, he said, “Pakistan reaffirms stronger partnership and continued engagement with the United States. We exchanged views on short-term relief efforts, rescue efforts and rehabilitation.”

“I exchanged views on climate justice, mitigation, resilience and adaptation”, he said. Later the Foreign Office quoted the foreign minister as saying he appreciated the delegation’s visit to Pakistan at the time when super floods had ravaged the country.

“He underscored that Pakistan has undergone floods of historic proportions. More than 1,300 lives have been lost; over 33 million people are affected; over 4 million acres of crops have been washed away; and close to a million livestock have perished”.

The foreign minister said, currently, the government was fully engaged in the rescue and relief efforts. He emphasized that rehabilitation of the millions impacted and reconstruction of critical infrastructure required enormous resources which was a huge challenge.

The foreign minister underlined that despite being one of the lowest emitters of carbon emissions, Pakistan was adversely impacted by the climate change. He stressed that the developed countries must step up their climate efforts, including towards the provision of predictable climate finance for mitigating the adverse impacts of climate change in the developing world.

Ms Jackson was of the view that that Government of Pakistan was committed and resilient and was ready to help save their nation from this deadly flooding that also killed a high number of children. “The people of Pakistan are not giving up”, she said. They visited the flood affected areas of Pakistan to assess the extent and scope of the destruction and devastation caused by the floods.

“Our delegation brought hope that the United States will be an effective and consistent partner in helping Pakistan work through this human crises! How frightening! Humanity is under attack!”, Ms Jackson tweeted after seeing for herself the situation on ground in Sindh.

She noted that whole villages were underwater, 33 million Pakistanis were affected and almost 70,000 women were expected to give birth potentially without medical care. “As far as the eye could see, I saw water; we were the first US delegation to visit the most devastating and deadly flooding in Pakistani history. A flood of historic proportion, really a monster of a disaster”, she added.