New floods hit Pakistan while 2022 aid pledges largely unfulfilled

ISLAMABAD: As fresh flash floods sweep across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan and Punjab, Pakistan’s ambitious recovery agenda from the 2022 deluge faces major setbacks, with less than 20% of pledged international aid actually delivered.

A Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) had estimated the 2022 floods caused $14.9 billion in damages, $15.2bn in losses, and required $16.3bn for recovery. The Resilient Recovery, Rehabilitation, and Reconstruction Framework (4RF), launched in late 2022, became the basis of Pakistan’s appeal to donors at the Geneva Conference in January 2023, where $10.9bn was pledged.

Three years on, only about $3.4bn worth of projects have been executed. The bulk of commitments remain tied to multilateral institutions:

• World Bank: $2.1bn in projects initiated.

• ADB: Operationalised nearly a third of its pledge.

• Islamic Development Bank: Just $600m for flood response, while $3.6bn redirected to commodity financing.

• AIIB: Minimal, mostly budgetary support.

• Saudi Fund for Development: $1bn earmarked for oil imports, not recovery.

This reduces effective recovery financing to around $6bn — barely a third of the pledges.

Bilateral aid is also lagging: Paris Club countries pledged $799m, but only 14.6% has been disbursed as of August 2024. France and Japan have led disbursements, while Germany and Italy have yet to make meaningful contributions.

Crucially, allocations remain uneven. Agriculture and livelihoods — which suffered the deepest blows and underpin GDP and employment — have received under $200m, or just 4.5% of assessed needs. Infrastructure projects, by contrast, continue to draw concessional loans, while social sectors such as health, governance, and inclusion depend on scarce grants.

With the World Bank estimating $348bn required over the next seven years for climate and development challenges, experts warn Pakistan is locked in a cycle of underfunded recovery, mounting climate risks, and rising social vulnerability.

Images of submerged villages, ravaged farmland, and displaced families once again underscore the urgency of global climate accountability.