Briefing on the Pakistan floods pursuant to resolution A/RES/77/1 General Assembly, Informal Meeting, 78th session, 27 September 2023

Mr President of the General Assembly, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen.

As we have heard today, the unprecedented floods that struck Pakistan just over one year ago had a devastating impact on the humanitarian situation in the country and threatened to undermine years of development investments.

As is far too often the case, rural communities were hardest hit, their livelihoods washed away in moments.

Damages to the agriculture sector alone included the loss of over 4.4 million acres of farmland and 800 000 animals – this would have seriously compromised food production in the near term without substantial and rapid support.

The floods called for immediate humanitarian response to save livelihoods and protect and quickly restore livelihoods. And thanks to flexible and immediate release of donor funding, FAO was able to contribute to a swift, cohesive multisectoral humanitarian response under the leadership of the Government of Pakistan.

Working with the Government and other partners, FAO was able to reach 1.52 million rural people over the past year through a combination of agricultural input distribution and animal health support.

Thousands of smallholder farming families were able to plant in time for the season, producing approximately 129 000 tonnes of food to feed themselves and their families, and ensuring that their livestock – a key economic asset – were protected against common animal diseases. This protected them from slipping into high levels of food insecurity.

Excellencies.

Alongside humanitarian responses to climate extremes, we need to scale up investments in climate resilient communities.

The Government of Pakistan has led the way, connecting from the outset the humanitarian response to resilient futures under the Resilient Recovery, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Framework.

Through the Living Indus Initiative, FAO is working with the Government and other key partners to facilitate improved water management in the agriculture sector throughout the Indus Basin and improved on-farm practices for smallholders that can build their climate resilience.

Ensuring real success depends on engaging with local communities, understanding their needs and priorities, and enhancing their skills and knowledge so they can lead in the transformation of their livelihoods. As such, FAO is focusing on the role of Pakistan’s smallholder producers in building climate resilience and improving water management, alongside supporting policy development at local, provincial and national level. It is critical that these smallholders own and lead efforts to adapt to the reality of climate change in the area. That means, among others, training extension workers and farmer facilitators to lead in skills training and sharing improved production practices.

FAO remains committed to continue supporting the Government to build climate resilient, prosperous agri-food systems across all provinces of Pakistan, leveraging its extensive experience in implementing humanitarian, development, and climate programming, by providing technical guidance and on-the-ground interventions across the humanitarian-development nexus

Thank you.