ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will on October 24 release a Post Disaster Need Assessment (PDNA) report quantifying exact physical damages and economic losses from recent floods as well as the costs of meeting recovery needs, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said on Thursday.
Heavy rains and melting glaciers triggered flash floods across the country that have killed over 1,700 people since June 14. Floods have also affected over 33 million people in Pakistan, washing away houses, crops, livestock and infrastructure in the southern provinces of Sindh and Balochistan.
Debt-riddled Pakistan has repeatedly clarified it is not seeking rescheduling or a moratorium on its loans. In an exclusive interview with the Financial Times this week, PM Shehbaz Sharif said Islamabad was “asking for additional funds” from the world.
On Thursday, Sharif chaired a meeting of the National Flood Response and Coordination Center to review Pakistan’s relief and rehabilitation efforts.
“On October 24, a detailed Post Disaster Need Assessment report— prepared with the cooperation of the federal and provincial governments and international organizations— will be presented,” the PMO said.
Affected family take a refuge on the road after their flood-hit homes in Jaffarabad, a district of Pakistan's southwestern Baluchistan province, on September 1, 2022. (AP)
In 2015, UN Development Group (UNDG), the World Bank (WB) and the European Union (EU) collaborated on the development of a joint PDNA tool. This tool represents a harmonized and coordinated approach, providing for an objective, comprehensive and government-led assessment of the post disaster damages, losses and recovery needs, and paving the way for a consolidated recovery framework.
Pakistan said Wednesday the World Bank estimates this summer’s record-breaking floods have caused $40 billion in damages in this impoverished South Asian nation.
Sharif’s government last month offered an estimate of $30 billion from the floods but cautioned that the real figure may be far higher. A final report on the damages is now expected on Oct. 24.
