No:004/23, Press release on the speech of Deputy Foreign Minister Elnur Mammadov at the International Conference co-organized by the UN and Pakistan in Geneva
On January 9, 2023, an International Conference on Climate Resilient Pakistan was held in Geneva, jointly organized by the UN and Pakistan. The main purpose of the conference was to attract the necessary financial resources to support the elimination of the consequences of the natural disaster in Pakistan that happened in August of last year and the implementation of reconstruction projects.
Pakistani Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres made speeches at the opening of the event, and a video address of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was broadcast.
Deputy Foreign Minister of the Republic of Azerbaijan Elnur Mammadov made a speech via video conference at the event attended by representatives of 46 countries of the world, as well as 48 international financial and civil society institutions at the invitation of the organizers.
In the speech, it was noted that Azerbaijan shared the pain of the friendly and brotherly people and state of Pakistan, and since 2010 has contributed about $7 million to support the elimination of the consequences of floods in this country in different years. It was noted that in August 2022, in support of the destruction caused by the latest floods, which are considered the most serious natural disaster in the history of Pakistan, Azerbaijan provided financial assistance to Pakistan in the amount of $2 million. Taking into account the scale of the consequences, Deputy Foreign Minister informed the Pakistani side and the conference participants about the provision of additional humanitarian financial assistance in the amount of $2 million by Azerbaijan according to the instruction of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mr. Ilham Aliyev in support of the initiative.
The disaster that happened in 2022 flooded a third of the country's territory, causing the death and injury of 15.000 people, as well as the displacement of 33 million people, thus becoming the most terrible natural disaster in the history of Pakistan. The World Bank Group estimates that as a result of these floods, about 9 million people may fall into poverty. Pakistan, with the support of the UN system, the World Bank Group, the Asian Development Bank, and the European Union, developed a post-disaster Needs Assessment Plan and found that the damage caused by floods exceeded $14.9 billion, economic losses exceeded $15.2 billion, and reconstruction needs exceeded $16 billion. The plan, which forms the basis of the Recovery, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Framework (4RF), has set key priorities such as livelihood and agricultural revitalization, reconstruction of private housing, restoration and reconstruction of public infrastructure.
