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UK allocates £10 million for early recovery assistance for Pakistan’s flood-hit communities

UK allocates £10 million for early recovery assistance for Pakistan’s flood-hit communities
In this file photo, taken on August 30, 2024, residents gather at the site of a landslide owing to heavy monsoon rains in the remote area of Patrak, in Upper Dir district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. (AFP/File)
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Updated 09 October 2024
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UK allocates £10 million for early recovery assistance for Pakistan’s flood-hit communities

UK allocates £10 million for early recovery assistance for Pakistan’s flood-hit communities
  • Support includes cash assistance, temporary shelters, livestock provision, rebuilding damaged infrastructure
  • Heavy monsoon rains in Pakistan this year killed over 350 people and damaged thousands of homes
Updated 09 October 2024
Hasaan Ali Khan
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KARACHI: The United Kingdom has allocated £10 million ($12.2 million) in humanitarian aid for Pakistan’s flood-hit communities, a press release from the British High Commission said on Wednesday, with a focus on providing immediate relief and early recovery assistance.
Heavy monsoon rains in Pakistan this year, especially in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and eastern Punjab provinces, killed nearly 350 people and injured hundreds of others. Thousands of homes were damaged and destroyed in flash floods, landslides and other rain-related disasters. 
In 2022, unusually heavy rains triggered flash floods in many parts of the country, killing over 1,700 people, inflicting economic losses of around $30 billion, and affecting at least 30 million people.
Scientists have attributed Pakistan’s erratic weather patterns to climate change effects. The South Asian nation is widely recognized as one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change.
“‘Monsoon may be ending, but recovery has only just begun. Once again flooding has resulted in a loss of lives, livelihoods and the destruction of infrastructure,” British High Commissioner Jane Marriott was quoted as saying in a press release from the UK mission as it announced the £10 million funding.
“We’re providing immediate relief and early recovery assistance to families whose lives have been overturned by these floods.”
The UK’s support will be targeted at meeting urgent humanitarian and early recovery needs of the most vulnerable, affected families in 13 worst hit districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit Baltistan, Balochistan, Punjab and Sindh. Immediate support includes the provision of temporary shelters, essential relief items as well as cash assistance for affected families. Work had already begun to restore damaged drinking water and sanitation infrastructure, irrigation channels, remove debris, and restore damaged infrastructure, the UK High Commission said. 
The agricultural industry was particularly affected by the floods, and the UK is helping to restore people’s livelihoods through supporting climate smart agriculture, livestock provision, and vocational skills training, the statement added. 
Working with the Concern Worldwide led consortium and the World Food Programme (WFP), the UK is supporting over 130,000 affected families, approximately 900,000 individuals, through emergency relief and restoration of infrastructure and livelihoods, the statement said.
“The UK’s focus is on improving Pakistan’s longer-term climate resilience, rather than purely responding to disasters,” Mariott added. “The UK has already helped 1.5 million people improve their resilience to extreme climate events, and aims to support a further 3 million people in the next 4-5 years.”
During the devastating floods of 2022, the UK helped over 2.3 million people, dedicating a total of £39 million in UK aid. The British public mobilized and raised £41.5 million as part of the Disasters Emergency Committee appeal. Support included emergency cash assistance, shelter kits, nutritional support, learning kits and infrastructure repair.

Topics: Pakistan Floods Monsoon in Pakistan Pakistan UK Ties

Pakistan’s progress on structural reform remains key to credit profile — Fitch

Pakistan’s progress on structural reform remains key to credit profile — Fitch
Updated 15 sec ago
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Pakistan’s progress on structural reform remains key to credit profile — Fitch

Pakistan’s progress on structural reform remains key to credit profile — Fitch
  • Rating agency says expects new bilateral capital flows to be increasingly commercial, conditional on reforms
  • Discussions on partial sale of government stake in copper mine to Saudi investor exemplify such commercial flows
Updated 15 sec ago
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has continued to make headway restoring economic stability and rebuilding external buffers, global credit rating agency Fitch said this week, but progress on difficult structural reforms would be key to upcoming IMF program reviews and continued financing from other multilateral and bilateral lenders.

In a note released on Thursday, Fitch said the State Bank of Pakistan’s decision to cut policy rates to 12% on Jan. 27 underscored recent progress in taming consumer price inflation, which fell to just over 2% year-on-year in January 2025, down from an average of nearly 24% in the fiscal year ended June 2024 (FY24). Rapid disinflation reflected fading base effects from earlier subsidy reforms and exchange rate stability, underpinned by a tight monetary policy stance, which in turn had subdued domestic demand and external financing needs.

“Economic activity, having absorbed tighter policy settings, is now benefiting from stability and falling interest rates,” Fitch said. “We expect real value added to expand by 3.0% in FY25. Growth in credit to the private sector turned positive in real terms in October 2024 for the first time since June 2022.”

However, the rating agency said it expected new bilateral capital flows to be increasingly commercial, and conditional on reforms. 

“Discussions on the partial sale of the government’s stake in a copper mine to a Saudi investor exemplify such commercial flows. Pakistan and Saudi Arabia also recently agreed on a deferred oil payment facility,” it added. 

Securing sufficient external financing remains a challenge for Pakistan, considering large maturities and lenders’ existing exposures. 

The authorities budgeted for about $6 billion of funding from multilaterals, including the IMF, in FY25, but about $4 billion of this will effectively refinance existing debt. A recently announced $20 billion 10-year framework with the World Bank Group appears broadly in line with this. The group’s current project portfolio is about $17 billion, and its net new yearly lending to Pakistan averaged around $1 billion over the past five years.

Strong remittance inflows, robust agricultural exports and tight policy settings have allowed Pakistan’s current account to move into a surplus of about $1.2 billion (over 0.5% of GDP) in the six months to December 2024, from a similarly sized deficit in FY24, Fitch noted. Foreign exchange market reforms in 2023 also facilitated the shift. 

“When upgrading Pakistan’s rating to ‘CCC+’ in July 2024, we expected a slight widening of the current-account deficit in FY25,” the agency added. 

Foreign reserves are set to outperform targets under Pakistan’s $7 billion IMF Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and Fitch’s earlier forecasts. Gross official reserves reached over $18.3 billion by end-2024, about three months of current external payments, up from around $15.5 billion in June.

Reserves remain low relative to funding needs, however. 

“Over $22 billion of public external debt matures in the whole of FY25. This includes nearly $13 billion in bilateral deposits, which we believe bilateral partners will roll over, as per their promises to the IMF. Saudi Arabia rolled over $3 billion in December, and the UAE $2 billion in January,” Fitch added. 

There has also been progress on fiscal reform, despite some setbacks. The primary fiscal surplus has outperformed IMF targets, although federal tax revenue grew less than required under the IMF’s indicative performance criterion in the first six months of FY25. All provinces have recently legislated higher agricultural income taxes, a key structural condition of the EFF, although delays mean that the program’s January 2025 implementation deadline for the reform was missed.

In July, Fitch noted that positive rating action could be driven by a sustained recovery in reserves and further significant easing of external financing risks, and/or implementation of fiscal consolidation in line with IMF commitments.

Meanwhile, deteriorating external liquidity, for example linked to delays in IMF reviews, could lead to negative action, the rating agency said.

Topics: Pakistan Fitch

Issue of Pakistan hosting released Palestinian prisoners not taken up at ‘official level’ — FO

Issue of Pakistan hosting released Palestinian prisoners not taken up at ‘official level’ — FO
Updated 50 min 21 sec ago
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Issue of Pakistan hosting released Palestinian prisoners not taken up at ‘official level’ — FO

Issue of Pakistan hosting released Palestinian prisoners not taken up at ‘official level’ — FO
  • Hamas spokesperson told Arab News this week Pakistan was ready to host 15 Palestinian prisoners freed under ceasefire deal
  • Palestinian territories, encompassing Gaza Strip and West Bank, including East Jerusalem, occupied by Israel since 1967
Updated 50 min 21 sec ago
SAIMA SHABBIR

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Office Spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan said on Thursday the issue of Pakistan hosting Palestinian prisoners freed by Israel under the Gaza ceasefire deal had not yet been discussed with Islamabad at the “official level.”

On Feb. 3, a spokesperson for Hamas, Dr. Khaled Qaddoumi, told Arab News Pakistan had agreed to host 15 Palestinian prisoners released under the truce reached between Israel and Hamas on Jan. 15 to end the 15-month-long Gaza war. The six-week initial ceasefire phase includes prisoner exchanges, the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from central Gaza and the return of displaced Palestinians to northern Gaza.

“This issue has not come up to the foreign ministry at the official level so any comment at this point would be purely speculative,” Khan said in reply to a reporter’s question during a weekly press briefing on Thursday.

Earlier this week, fifteen Palestinian prisoners freed by Israel arrived in Turkiye after being deported first to Egypt, the Turkish foreign minister and the Hamas prisoners media office said.

Among key components of the Israel-Hamas truce deal is that Hamas will release 33 Israeli hostages, including all women (soldiers and civilians), children, and men over 50 in the first phase, while Israel in exchange will release 30 Palestinian detainees for every civilian hostage and 50 Palestinian detainees for every Israeli female soldier Hamas releases.

The first phase of the ceasefire in Gaza has led to Hamas’ release of 18 hostages and Israel’s release of 583 jailed Palestinians, of whom at least 79 were sent to Egypt.

Talks are now ongoing on phase two of the armistice, which will see the release of remaining Israeli hostages and the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. 

The Palestinian territories – encompassing the Gaza Strip and West Bank, including East Jerusalem – have been occupied by Israel since 1967.

Israel’s latest onslaught on Gaza began on Oct. 7, 2023, after about 1,200 Israelis were killed and 251 taken to Gaza as hostages after Hamas attacked Israel. The assault triggered a massive Israeli military offensive in Gaza, which has killed more than 47,000 Palestinians. Nearly the entire population of 2.3 million people in the enclave has been displaced from their homes and much of the territory has been laid to waste.

The Gaza war is the bloodiest episode yet in a conflict between Israelis and Palestinians that has rumbled on for more than 75 years and destabilized the Middle East.

Pakistan does not recognize nor have diplomatic relations with Israel and calls for an independent Palestinian state based on “internationally agreed parameters.”

Topics: Palestinian prisoners Pakistan

‘Butterfly Lady’: Pakistani woman on a mission to save Karachi’s winged wonders

‘Butterfly Lady’: Pakistani woman on a mission to save Karachi’s winged wonders
Updated 07 February 2025
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‘Butterfly Lady’: Pakistani woman on a mission to save Karachi’s winged wonders

‘Butterfly Lady’: Pakistani woman on a mission to save Karachi’s winged wonders
  • Shereen Abdullah is part of a nonprofit that trains children to become environmental stewards who rescue caterpillars, raise butterflies
  • Warmer temperatures are making life harder for butterfly populations around the world as food is scarcer, flowering periods are shorter
Updated 07 February 2025
NAIMAT KHAN

KARACHI: Shereen Abdullah remembers the exact moment she decided to take on the mission to conserve and protect Karachi’s butterfly population.

It was 2004 and she was visiting plant nurseries in the Pakistani port city with her son Hamza, a toddler who wanted to see caterpillars and understand how the insects become butterflies through the process of metamorphosis. 

One gardener’s dismissive remark – “Madam, they are just insects, we kill them” – sent chills down Abdullah’s spine. 

“I still get goosebumps,” Abdullah, popularly known as ‘The Butterfly Lady’ in Karachi, told Arab News at a sanctuary for the winged insects she has set up in her home. “And that day I decided I have to do something about it.”

That “something” was a conservation program built on three Rs, rescue, raise, and release, with Abdullah and her team of young environmental stewards working tirelessly to rehabilitate the city’s butterfly population — one caterpillar at a time.

Warmer temperatures are making life harder for butterflies around the world, as food is scarcer, flowering periods are shorter, and experts now suspect butterflies may be getting smaller.

The butterfly life cycle is a fascinating four-stage transformation, beginning as a tiny egg laid on a host plant that hatches into a voracious caterpillar focused on eating and growing. The caterpillar then enters the pupa or chrysalis stage, a period of dramatic metamorphosis where it reorganizes its body into a butterfly. Finally, a fully-formed butterfly emerges from the chrysalis, dries its wings, and takes flight, ready to reproduce and continue the cycle.

Abdullah’s journey to save Karachi’s butterflies began with awareness sessions on butterfly lifespans, the first of which was held on Earth Day in 2007. Her efforts grew over time, and she set up a butterfly club in Karachi in 2016. In 2024, she joined the Butterfly Effect Program, a nonprofit experiential learning initiative that trains children to become environmental stewards who rescue caterpillars and raise butterflies.

Butterfly Effect has built its first conservatory at Karachi’s Church Mission School (CMS), the alma mater of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan. A second conservatory has been established at a government school in Islamabad and a third is in the works in the city of Narowal in Punjab province. 

Caterpillars are typically rescued in the egg or caterpillar stage, with Butterfly Effect students learning to carefully collect them from their host plants and nurture them in clean, well-ventilated jars, feeding them the same leaves they were rescued from. 

“We felt happiness for the first time,” said Muhammad Yousuf Mansoor Bhojani, a student of grade nine who is involved in the program, describing the joy of raising a caterpillar into a butterfly and then releasing it into the wild. 

“It was so light, and by the grace of Allah, it was so beautiful that I didn’t want to let it go.”

Abdullah’s own children, including her now 22-year-old son Hamza, have grown up learning to love butterflies. 

“For them, there is no wow factor,” she said. “It is like they have grown up with butterflies. They always say butterflies are like our siblings.”

“ECOSYSTEM LOSS”

According to a 2020 study in the Journal of Bioresource Management, from nearly 20,000 species of butterflies known globally, nearly 400 species of moths and butterflies have been recorded in Pakistan.

“Very interestingly, when I started this work, the count of butterfly species…there were 20,000 species [around the world],” Abdullah said. “And now if you see, the number comes to 17,000, 16500 … So, in these twenty years, there is a decline. And the decline is not just in population but we are losing a lot of species as well.” 

Rehan Khan, who has been photographing butterflies for 28 years, said he had witnessed the decline of the species firsthand in Pakistan. 

“The natural colors of these butterflies are so beautiful that I feel compelled to shoot them,” Khan said. “But over time, this has been decreasing significantly.”

Javed Ahmed Mahar, the chief of the Sindh wildlife department, said he attributed the decline to habitat loss and the use of agricultural pesticides, emphasizing the role of butterflies as important pollinators that help plants reproduce and also provide food for other animals.

“Look, if butterflies are not present in our ecosystem or around us, it’s not just a loss of beauty but also a significant ecosystem loss,” Mahar explained.

And that is why rescuing the species is so important for Abdullah.

“I say the single rescue of a caterpillar is impactful because one caterpillar changes into a butterfly and that butterfly lays hundreds of eggs,” she explained. “So ideally, one butterfly is capable of producing 15 more butterflies.”

Topics: butterfly Pakistan Karachi climate change Shereen Abdullah Arab News Pakistan

Saudi Arabia says ‘proud’ to participate as Pakistan’s AMAN-25 naval exercise kicks off 

Saudi Arabia says ‘proud’ to participate as Pakistan’s AMAN-25 naval exercise kicks off 
Updated 07 February 2025
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Saudi Arabia says ‘proud’ to participate as Pakistan’s AMAN-25 naval exercise kicks off 

Saudi Arabia says ‘proud’ to participate as Pakistan’s AMAN-25 naval exercise kicks off 
  • Pakistan Navy has conducted AMAN maritime exercise every two years since 2007 under the theme “Together For Peace”
  • This year’s edition will include the inaugural AMAN Dialogue for senior naval and other leaders from participating nations
Updated 07 February 2025
NAIMAT KHAN

KARACHI: Saudi Arabia said this week it was “proud” to participate in Pakistan’s AMAN maritime exercises that start today, Friday, adding that the multinational effort would enhance maritime cooperation and help address shared challenges.

The Pakistan Navy has conducted the AMAN (peace) maritime exercise every two years since 2007 under the theme “Together For Peace,” involving ships, aircraft and special operation forces. 

This year’s special feature is the inaugural AMAN Dialogue themed “Secure Seas, Prosperous Future,” with a focus on security challenges in the Indian Ocean. These include strategic competition, piracy, narco-trafficking, non-state actors, resource exploitation, climate change, emerging technologies like AI and unmanned systems, the blue economy, and the need for global collaboration to ensure stability and prosperity.

A senior Pakistani naval official said on Tuesday two Saudi warships, HMS Jazan and HMS Hail, would participate in AMAN-25, the exercise’s ninth edition, scheduled to be held from Feb. 7-11.

“Exercise AMAN is a key multinational effort to enhance maritime cooperation and address shared challenges,” Brig. (Staff) Bander Hamad S Al-Hokubani, the Saudi Military Attache in Islamabad, said in a video message. 

“The Royal Saudi Navi is proud to participate, reflecting our commitment to maritime security. We look forward to achieving its goals and fostering stronger ties with all participants.”

According to the Pakistan navy, nearly 60 countries will participate in this year’s AMAN exercise, with a wide range of maritime professionals and over 200 observers from around the world attending. The exercise will be conducted in two phases: a harbor phase from Feb. 7-9 and a sea phase, running from Feb. 10-11, which will include search and rescue operations, live weapon firings and an international fleet review.

The inaugural AMAN Dialogue is also expected to bring together chiefs of navies, coast guards and heads of defense forces of participating countries.

“Due to the growing global participation over the years, PN has initiated the AMAN Dialogue as an adjunct to the exercise and its inaugural session will be held in tandem with AMAN-25,” the Pakistan Navy said in a statement on Jan. 14, adding that the aim of the dialogue was to provide a “dedicated forum” for senior leaders to discuss regional security and evolving challenges at sea.

“AMAN dialogue will include a summit of chiefs of navy and coast guards, a seminar encompassing academic activities and bilateral meetings between delegations.

“The main objectives are to promote peace and regional cooperation, enhance interoperability with regional and extra regional navies, thereby acting as a bridge between the regions, displaying united resolve against terrorism and crimes in the maritime domain.”

Other objectives of the dialogue include understanding maritime security issues and challenges confronting the region and their linkages with the economy.

Main activities during the exercise will include a maritime counter-terrorism demo by the Special Service Group (SSG) and Pak Marines, table top discussions on professional topics, and ship visits.

“An International Fleet Review is scheduled for February 11, 2025, alongside sea exercises to address collaborative security threats, with Special Operations Forces, Explosives Ordnance Disposal, and Marines teams participating in developing Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures for multinational responses to asymmetric threats,” the Pakistan Navy press statement added.

Topics: Pakistan Saudi Ties AMAN-25 Pakistan Navy Arab News Pakistan

International Atomic Energy Agency chief to visit Pakistan next week

International Atomic Energy Agency chief to visit Pakistan next week
Updated 49 min 11 sec ago
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International Atomic Energy Agency chief to visit Pakistan next week

International Atomic Energy Agency chief to visit Pakistan next week
  • Pakistan was a founding member of IAEA established in 1957 
  • Pakistan elected to IAEA board of governors for two years in 2024
Updated 49 min 11 sec ago
SAIMA SHABBIR

ISLAMABAD: Rafael Mariano Grossi, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), will visit Pakistan next week, the foreign office said on Thursday, to meet key political leaders, attend seminars and visit nuclear power generation sites. 

Pakistan was a founding member of the IAEA in 1957. Last year, it was elected to the IAEA’s board of governors for a two-year term. This is Pakistan’s 21st term on the board.

During next week’s visit, Grossi will call on Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his deputy Ishaq Dar, as well as attend seminars at the Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority and the National University of Sciences and Technology. He will also visit the Anmol Hospital in Lahore and the Chashma Nuclear Power Generating Stations, 250 kilometers south of Islamabad.

“The visit reaffirms Pakistan’s deepening partnership with IAEA on the peaceful uses of nuclear technology and at fostering social economic development of the country,” the FO spokesperson said at a weekly briefing. 

Pakistan and the IAEA cooperate on various issues like climate change, food security, agriculture, water, medicine, and nuclear safety and security. 

Pakistan currently operates six nuclear power reactors at two sites that generate about 10 percent of the country’s total and almost a quarter of its low-carbon electricity.

Topics: Pakistan International Atomic Energy Agency IAEA chief

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