Islamabad, Pakistan: Pakistan is releasing a special song at the International Conference on Climate Resilient Pakistan, co-hosted by the Government of Pakistan and the United Nations taking place on 9 January 2023 in Switzerland.
As the Conference on Climate Resilient Pakistan gets underway in Geneva tomorrow, a song “Aao Hum Kucch Aisa Karein”, penned, composed, and sung by Shakeel Asghar Malik, an officer of the Foreign Service of Pakistan has been launched.
The song, captioned in English as ‘Acts of Humanity’, is dedicated to the victims of recent floods in Pakistan and appeals to the spirit of giving and the moral imperative of helping those in difficulty.
The soulful music track has been designed and recorded under the supervision of veteran music maestro Mujahid Hussain.
Though the title indicates that the issue of global climate change will steer discussions in reference to the victim of the change which is Pakistan. However, there are chances that the issue of climate change and the responsibilities of responsible countries would not be the core of the discussion, and only floods in Pakistan will be discussed. The last appeal of the UN to help Pakistan did not bear fruits and less than $500 million is yet to be realized out of pledges. The UN called for $816 million in support to help the victims of Pakistan’s floods.
According to estimations of UN agencies, an additional nine million people risk being pushed into poverty on top of the 33 million affected by last summer’s floods in Pakistan. The global corporate sector and international non-government organizations having offices in Switzerland are expected to attend the event. A document of Resilient Recovery, Rehabilitation, and Reconstruction Framework (4RF) with a multi-sectoral strategy would be presented as per the agenda of the Conference. UN and Pakistan are trying to secure international support for rebuilding Pakistan after a flood washed away over 33 percent of the agricultural lands of Pakistan.
It is pertinent to mention that the year 2022 floods left one-third of the country submerged, about 15,000 dead or injured, and eight million displaced. Over two million homes, 13,000 kilometers of highways, 439 bridges, and more than four million acres of agricultural land were destroyed or damaged. An estimated nine million more people could be forced into poverty as a direct consequence of these floods.
Despite the economic crunch, the Government of Pakistan provided US$245 million in cash support to 2.2 million households and, with the help of international agencies and distributed tents, food, water, and medicines to the destitute and the displaced.
Pakistan is seeking the help of the United Nations system, the World Bank Group, the Asian Development Bank, and the European Union to realize a Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) plan, which estimates flood damages to exceed US$14.9 billion, economic losses over US$15.2 billion and reconstruction needs over US$16.3 billion.
