UNITED NATIONS, Nov 14: Pakistan on Monday called for sustained international attention and contributions of the international community to address the recovery and reconstruction efforts, following the massive earthquake which has virtually devastated part of the country.

Introducing Pakistan’s Draft Resolution in the UN General Assembly on strengthening emergency relief, rehabilitation, reconstruction and prevention in the aftermath of the Oct 8 earthquake, Pakistan’s UN Ambassador Munir Akram stressed: “It would be essential that international attention remains focused on the long-term impact of this disaster and the need to reconstruct the infrastructure that can enable millions of the affected people to survive through the winter, rebuild homes, schools, hospitals, livelihoods and rebuild their broken lives.”

Mr Akram underscored that “disasters like the South Asian earthquake, teach us some hard lessons saying “we need a comprehensive strategy to achieve such disaster management –- including early warning systems and disaster preparedness plans.

Secondly, the role of the UN and its disaster coordination machinery –- OCHA –- as well as the role of the UN’s specialized agencies, with their specific expertise, is indispensable. This machinery needs to be strengthened to respond to such natural or human calamities. Even if support in such disasters is provided largely through bilateral channels, the UN’s overall coordination role is crucial, especially in the early stages of such catastrophes.

Thirdly, and more importantly, it is imperative that the UN should be provided with adequate financial resources to respond quickly and effectively to such disasters. Pakistan fully endorses the Secretary-General’s proposal for a $500 million Central Emergency Revolving Fund to be placed at his disposal for this purpose.

Mr Akram said: “Pakistan hopes that the international community will support the medium-and long-term rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts of the government and people of Pakistan. This will be a long and arduous task, spanning months and years. In this regard we welcome the generous pledges by a number of member states to the long-term reconstruction projects in the affected areas and look forward to their concrete expression of support at the donors conference in Islamabad on November 19.”