ISLAMABAD: The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) will hold a meeting this month to review the implementation of its 2022 resolution that urged support for Pakistan after devastating floods wreaked havoc in the South Asian country, Pakistani state media reported on Sunday, citing a spokesperson of the 78th UNGA session.
The deluges, which experts blamed on climate change, inundated a third of Pakistan at one point, killing more than 1,700 people, affecting around 33 million people and causing $30 billion economic losses.
The floods pushed millions into poverty, and the national poverty rate was expected to increase by 4 percent, according to the country’s post-disaster assessment report.
“The [UNGA] meeting is aimed at calling on the world community to increase aid and keep up the political will to support Pakistan’s long-term recovery efforts,” the state-run Radio Pakistan broadcaster quoted Monica Grayley, spokesperson of the 78th UNGA session.
The 78th UNGA session opened on September 5 and the high-level general debate will be held from September 19 to September 29.
In October last year, the UNGA passed a resolution to express solidarity with flood-battered Pakistan and called on the international community to increase aid to the South Asian country.
The development came days after Pakistan and the UN jointly launched a humanitarian appeal of $816 million, revising it up five-fold from $160 million.
Pakistan, one of the countries most affected by climate change, has been witnessing downpours and flash floods this monsoon as well.
The rains have claimed 217 lives and injured another 320 so far this year, according to the country’s disaster management authority.
