US Turns Biggest Contributor: Donors Pledge 5.4 billion Dollars to Pakistan
PakistanTimes.net Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: The International Donors' Conference Saturday pledged 5.4 billion dollars as assistance to the Quake-hit areas of Pakistan.

At the end of day-long moot Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said it is almost near the level the country needs for relief and rehabilitation of the affected people.

"The rough total we have as of now is 5.4 billion dollars," Aziz said while wrapping up the conference of about 70 countries, international financial agencies and aid groups.

Pakistan had said it needed 5.2 billion dollars for reconstruction and ongoing relief after the October-8 quake that killed more than 83,000 people and made about three million homeless just before the onset of winter.

The World Bank and the Asian Development Bank pledged one billion dollars each, mostly in the form of loans. The Islamic Development Bank said it would increase its assistance from 250.6 million dollars to 501.6 million dollars.

United States: The Single Biggest Donor

The single biggest donor country was the United States, which pledged 510 million dollars, including 156 million dollars already given.

The United States increased its aid package to $510 million from $156 million, comprising $300 million in cash, $100 in private donations and $110 million in military-supplied relief.

US delegate talking in the moot said 24 US helicopters, two emergency field hospitals, an engineering unit and 1200 US soldiers have been engaged in relief operations in the quake-hit area.

Chinese delegate addressing the conference said China will setup a hospital in Balakot, while it will also reconstruct the Karakoram Highway and establish a seismic centre in the area. China will also provide $ 300 million soft loans to Pakisan.

Saudi Arabia pledged a total of 391 million dollars, while Germany said it would contribute 111.6 million dollars.

The European Union said its contribution would be 110 million dollars, mostly in grants, with about half already handed over.

Aziz said of the pledges: "A lot of them are in cash, a lot of them are in soft loans and lot of them are in kind. "We really thank the countries, we thank all of those present."

The pledges "will give us more strength to rebuild ... so that the area can be restored quickly," he said.

The United Nations and aid agencies have warned that thousands more people could die if funding problems disrupt relief operations during the winter in the mountain region, which has already seen the first winter snow falls.

In-depth

The donors’ conference for global assistance to the Quake-hit areas of Pakistan opened here on Saturday morning.

The international donors' meeting has been called to raise the 5.2 billion dollars it needs to recover from last month's earthquake, with survivors under threat from the harsh Himalayan winter.

The country was in a "race against time", Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said in opening remarks to about 300 delegates from around 50 countries and a host of global financing and aid groups.

Aziz termed presence of the UN chief a symbol of the world’s help to the quake victims.

"Winter has already set in threatening the lives of the survivors. There is a need to act; there is a need to act now," he said.

"While the first wave of injuries and trauma have been taken care of, we recognise that the emergency relief assistance must continue for a period longer than expected... It is a marathon not a 100 metres dash," he said.

ADB pledges one billion Dollars

The Asian Development Bank on Saturday unveiled a billion-dollar package of grants and loans to help Pakistan rebuild after the massive October-8 earthquake reduced parts of the country to rubble.

Bank President Haruhiko Kuroda said in a statement that the ADB had given 80 million dollars for a quake relief fund, and that a further 100 million dollars would come from savings earned by restructuring existing loans to the country.

The bank said it was considering another 300 million dollars in aid in the form of an emergency assistance fund.

The rest of the package would come from a new credit line to be opened up in 2006, the statement said.

The money was pledged ahead of an international donors' conference here hoped to raise the 5.2 billion dollars it is estimated will be needed for relief and reconstruction work in Pakistan.

Kuroda called on all sectors of Pakistan society to pull together to rebuild the shattered Kashmir region after the quake, which killed 74,000 and left more than 3.5 million people homeless.

"I am confident that the strong sense of ownership shown by the government and the civil society, and good coordination and cooperation among all involved, will help us in this endeavour," he said.

Musharraf unfolds Reconstruction Plan

President Musharraf unveiled his plan in the moot for reconstruction in the quake-hit zone.

Musharraf said the children in schools were worst hit lot of the population in the disaster, one of the worst natural disasters in a century, left nearly 73,000 dead and more than double injured.

He said the government has established the President’s Relief Fund for Earthquake, Federal Relief Commission, Earthquake Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Authority and National Volunteers Movement for the relief operations.

In the quake stricken areas 4,00,000 new houses will be built, health and education facilities and roads and bridges will be constructed, he said. The widows, orphans and handicapped persons will be provided assistance for their rehabilitation, president further said. Trauma management centres will be established to help the survivors.

A basic health centre will be setup in each village, while a rural health centre for every four villages and a 25-bed hospital will be constructed on tehsil level in the quake zone, Musharraf said. A 100-bed hospital will be established in each district and 200-bed hospital will be setup in Muzaffarabad, the main city of the quake-hit region, he further said.

Schools and colleges will be established at village. tehsil and district level, he added.

He appealed the world to extend support to Pakistan and its people in this time of need.

Kashmir solution could be India’s ‘Donation’

President Pervez Musharraf urged India to work together with Pakistan to resolve the dispute over Kashmir, saying it could be New Delhi's "donation" to the earthquake relief effort.

"Let us together solve the Kashmir dispute once for all," Musharraf said at a meeting to raise 5.2 billion dollars for reconstruction and relief after the October 8 quake that killed nearly 80,000 people, most of them in Azad Kashmir.

"Let this be the Indian donation to Kashmir," he said to applause from the conference, which included a minister-level delegation from India.

"I sincerely and genuinely believe that the challenge of this earthquake can be converted into an opportunity of a lifetime that was never available to India and Pakistan to improve its relations," he said.

Perspective

With survivors under threat from the harsh Himalayan winter, Pakistan was in a "race against time", Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said in opening remarks.

"Winter has already set in threatening the lives of the survivors. There is a need to act; there is a need to act now," he said.

"While the first wave of injuries and trauma have been taken care of, we recognise that the emergency relief assistance must continue for a period longer than expected... It is a marathon not a 100 metres dash," he said.

The quake, one of the worst natural disasters in a century, left nearly 74,000 dead, more than double injured and 3.5 million homeless, most of them in Azad Kashmir.

Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan will use the one-day meet to call for more international help, with Annan saying Friday the donor response so far "has been weak entirely."

Six weeks after the quake, Pakistan had received just 30 percent of what it required, he said.

UN and aid agencies have raised alarm that thousands more could die if funding problems disrupt relief operations with snow already falling in the disaster zone.

The amount sought by Pakistan includes 3.5 billion dollars for long-term reconstruction of infrastructure and 1.7 billion dollars for relief and immediate rehabilitation of survivors.

As the conference opened, the Asian Development Bank unveiled a billion-dollar package of grants and loans, the lion's share from a new credit line to be opened up in 2006.

Foreign ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said there was "certainly a gap between our requirements and the pledges made so far."

"Rehabilitation and reconstruction are urgent tasks which cannot wait. We have to take prompt actions and naturally we will also mobilise our own resources," she said.

"The donors' conference will give us an idea about the nature and volume of international assistance and help us prepare a strategy to address the challenge," she said.

President Musharraf has said he is hopeful of a good response, having talked to the leaders of Australia, France, the United States and other nations ahead of the meeting.

Pakistan is also prepared to "tighten its belt", he said Tuesday. The country has postponed the purchase of about 20 F-16 fighter planes from the United States to help fund disaster recovery.

Objectives

The conference was convened to generate funds for rehabilitation and reconstruction in the affected areas due to the October-8 devastated earthquake.

Secretary General United Nations Kofi Annan, foreign ministers and finance ministers from many countries including heads of World Bank, Asian Development Bank, European Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy, Chief Executive Officers of five leading private American firms and representatives of many world organizations have arrived here to attend the conference.

Over 300 delegates from foreign countries, agencies and corporate sector are expected to attend the donors’ conference, where President Pervez Musharraf will unfold a comprehensive reconstruction plan for the revival of quake affected people.

The conference would discuss the longer term reconstruction and humanitarian needs in the wake of widespread death and destruction in Azad Kashmir and NWFP. Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz will wrap up the day-long conference

The Quake Impact

The worst calamity in Pakistan’s history has left more than 83,000 people dead, nearly 69,000 seriously wounded and an estimated three million people without shelter in area spread over some 28,000 square kilometers.

Reconstruction of the quake-ravaged areas was the biggest challenge for the government.

The government with the help of World Bank and the ADB have estimated that the cost of the devastating quake will exceed 5.2 billion US dollars which includes 3.5 billion dollars for reconstruction.

The United Nations had already been struggling to raise 550 million dollars which, it says, were needed for a medium term programme to help victims.

The conference discussed the damage assessment reports of the World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Pakistan‘s Earthquake Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Authority (ERRA) and Pakistan hopes that the world community would announce more donations.

The Conference provided Pakistan with an opportunity to impress upon the urgent need of developing a common planning framework, in order to respond to this human tragedy in a manner that is comprehensive, equitable, swift and adequate in terms of financial resources.

Whereas delegations from UK, China, Sweden and France and from several international organizations arrived on Saturday, the arrivals Friday included delegations from USA, Japan, the European Union, Turkey, Italy, Iran, Libya, Malaysia, Bahrain, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Morocco, Ireland, Jordan, Azerbaijan, Thailand and others.

UN chief announces 3-point Strategy

The U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan announced a three-points programme for the earthquake rehabilitation.

Addressing the donors’ conference at Islamabad’s Convention Centre Annan said the foremost priority was rehabilitation of victims, construction of temporary houses and reconstruction of the region.

He urged the world and donors including the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and other organization to come forward to help Pakistan for rehabilitation and reconstruction of the quake-hit areas.

He called the donors to dig deeper, warning that a second calamity threatened as winter closed in on the mountainous quake zone.

"The pitiless Himalayan winter is almost upon us and growing more and more severe every week," Annan told delegates from about 50 donor countries gathered in response to the appeal for $5.2 billion in recovery aid and longer-term reconstruction help.

"We must sustain our efforts to keep people as healthy and as strong as possible until we can rebuild."

Leaves Pakistan

Kofi Annan left Pakistan Saturday after urging an international donors' conference to give generously towards efforts to cope with last month's "unprecedented disaster".

Annan arrived in Pakistan on Thursday and on Friday toured an area near the epicentre of the October 8 earthquake in northern Pakistan with President Pervez Musharraf.

He told about 300 delegates at Saturday's conference the quake was an "unprecedented disaster, it requires us to mount an unprecedented response."

Strict security arrangements have been taken for the peaceful holding of the conference.



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