Islamabad, JULY26: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) announced that a $400 million concessional loan has been approved to help rebuild homes and community facilities that were destroyed by the catastrophic floods that struck Sindh, a province in southeast Pakistan, in 2022.
The nation’s unusual monsoon rains, which are linked to climate change, caused the floods, which devastated houses, farms, and public infrastructure and lost 1,700 lives. The damages totaled over $35 billion.
In an effort to accelerate Pakistan’s flood recovery, the ADB has committed to giving the nation $1.5 billion in overall assistance between 2023 and 2025, which includes approving the loan under the Sindh Emergency Housing Reconstruction Project.
“In Sindh, the province most affected by the devastating 2022 floods, this project will help rebuild homes and communities, as well as restore livelihood and basic services,” ADB Director General for Central and West Asia Yevgeniy Zhukov was quoted as saying in a bank statement. “It is a part of ADB’s extensive support to help Pakistan recover from the disaster that destroyed homes and infrastructure across the country and affected 33 million people.”
Based on ADB estimates, Sindh incurred around 83% of the overall housing loss caused by the floods, with over 2.1 million dwellings completely destroyed or severely damaged.According to the statement, “many victims still live in subpar, temporary shelters without basic amenities like electricity, water, and sanitary facilities two years later.” According to the ADB, this project will facilitate conditional cash incentives for the reconstruction of 250,000 homes using environmentally conscious and multi-hazard robust architecture.
In addition, the concessional loan will help the community in around 1,000 flood-damaged villages in the province build infrastructure that will benefit 100,000 homes, including covered drainage, renewable energy sources, and facilities for drinking water and sanitary usage.
Additionally, conditional cash incentives for small businesses, livestock, agriculture, and e-commerce will be supported by the project. According to Srinivas Sampath, director of water and urban development at the bank, “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.” “We are closely collaborating with other development partners to support the government’s priorities for rebuilding and recovery.”
The project will adhere to an integrated and sequenced approach to guarantee that investments across sectors complement each other and supports the government’s resilient rehabilitation, reconstruction, and recovery strategy.In order to strengthen the government’s operational capacities in procurement, safeguard compliance, and technical and financial management, ADB has also committed to providing a $500,000 technical assistance grant.
