The world’s response to the flood devastation in Pakistan is commendable but far from meeting the country’s need, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said. “We are among the top ten most vulnerable countries [to climate change],” he told Bloomberg TV in an interview, adding that around 1,500 people had died due to floods which have displaced over 33 million people. The prime minister highlighted that Pakistan could not fund relief and rehabilitation work by itself. Flood losses are estimated to be at $30 billion, he said. “Unless the world comes out with billions of dollars for relief, rehabilitation and for building resilient infrastructure… things will not come back to normal. And I need to put the economy back on [track] and put millions of people back in their homes,” reported Dawn. “Unless we get substantial relief, how can the world expect us to stand on our own feet,” he asked. “It is simply impossible. The world has to stand by us.”
