UNITED NATIONS: As Pakistan and the United Nations are co-hosting a conference in Geneva on Monday to mobilise international support for the flood victims, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari warned the nation that recovery from climate-induced disasters “is a long process”, which cannot be achieved in one or two conferences.

“We do not want to raise expectations. It’s not like we will go there and come with a cure for all our problems,” he told Dawn in an interview this weekend.

A UN report released this week warned that an additional nine million people risk being pushed into poverty on top of the 33m affected by last summer’s devastating floods.

Mr Bhutto-Zardari pointed out that flood waters had not yet receded in some areas. He listed rebuilding homes, schools, and hospitals, and replenishing agriculture and livelihoods among the most urgent needs. The conference will bring together public and private sectors’ leaders and generate financial and international support to communities impacted by last year’s devastating floods, he said.

“It’s the start of a process,” he said. “Then we will go on the road, telling people how we want to build a climate resilient Pakistan.”

Pakistan, he said, would approach all those who could help. “We will go to all, including international financial institutions. It’s a long-term thing, an uphill task.”

The foreign minister said the floods did not just bring a crisis. “The floods also created an opportunity for us. The international media highlighted our problems, the UN secretary general got involved in the efforts to help us. Now, it’s up to us to take advantage of this and build a climate resilient Pakistan,” he added.

Published in Dawn, January 9th, 2023