At UN, Pakistani PM Calls for Global Assistance in Overcoming Floods

New York, MINA – With much of his country still inundated after recent devastating floods, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif is calling for global assistance to help his country face the consequences of an unprecedented climate catastrophe.

“There are no words that can describe the shock we are experiencing or how the face of this country has changed,” said Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif at the UN General Assembly’s annual high-level debate in New York, United States on Friday as quoted by UN News.

“For 40 days and 40 nights, a biblical flood washed over us, breaking centuries of weather records, challenging everything we knew about disasters and how to manage them,” he added.

Nearly eight million people were displaced by the disaster, according to the United Nations, which together with authorities and partners are continuing to reach the affected population with much-needed relief items.

To date, more than 1,500 people have died, including 552 children.

Pakistan’s PM noted that some 33 million people are now at risk of health hazards, more than 13,000 kilometers of roads have been damaged, one million houses have been destroyed and another one million damaged and four million hectares of crops have been washed away.

“Pakistan has never seen a more tangible and more devastating example of the impact of global warming,” he stressed. “Life in Pakistan has changed forever.”

On his visit to Pakistan earlier this month, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said he had never seen a “climate massacre of this scale,” and called for urgent financial support, saying it was not just a matter of solidarity but also of justice. (T/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)