ISLAMABAD: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Friday announced the approval of a $400 million concessional loan to support the reconstruction of houses and community infrastructure damaged by the devastating floods in 2022 in Pakistan’s southeastern province of Sindh.
The floods were triggered by unprecedented monsoon rains in the country, attributed to climate change, which claimed 1,700 lives and destroyed homes, farmlands and public infrastructure, causing more than $35 billion in damages.
The ADB’s approval of the loan under the Sindh Emergency Housing Reconstruction Project is part of its commitment to provide $1.5 billion in total assistance to the country from 2023 to 2025 in an effort to catalyze Pakistan’s flood recovery.
“This project will help rebuild homes and communities, and restore livelihood and basic services in Sindh, the province most affected by the devastating 2022 floods,” ADB Director General for Central and West Asia Yevgeniy Zhukov was quoted in a statement circulated by the bank. “It is part of ADB’s extensive support to help Pakistan recover from the disaster which affected 33 million people and damaged houses and infrastructure across the nation.”
According to ADB estimates, Sindh sustained about 83 percent of the total housing damage inflicted by the floods, with around 2.1 million houses either fully destroyed or damaged.
“Two years on, many victims still reside in inadequate, temporary shelters lacking essential services such as water, sanitation, and electricity,” the statement said.
The ADB says its project will support conditional cash grants for the reconstruction of 250,000 houses with multi-hazard resilient and environment-responsive designs.
The concessional loan will also support community-driven construction of infrastructure such as drinking water and sanitation facilities, covered drainage, and renewable energy solutions for 100,000 households in around 1,000 flood-damaged villages in the province.
The project will also support conditional cash grants for livestock, agriculture, small enterprises and e-commerce.
“ADB’s support will not only help Pakistan build back better, but it will also promote community-led climate resilience and disaster risk management strategies to better prepare for future hazards,” the bank’s Director for Water and Urban Development Srinivas Sampath said. “We are coordinating closely with other development partners to support the government’s recovery and reconstruction priorities.”
The project supports the government’s resilient rehabilitation, reconstruction and recovery strategy and will follow an integrated and sequential approach to ensure that investments across sectors complement each other.
ADB has also promised $500,000 technical assistance grant to further support the government’s operational capabilities in procurement, safeguard compliance and technical and financial management.
