Lauds US diaspora, private sector resources for flood hit communities
Zubair Qureshi
United States Ambassador Donald Blome while addressing a US Agency for International Development (USAID) conference on Tuesday highlighted the valuable contributions of the US-Pakistani diaspora and the private sector in bringing relief to the flood-affected communities. The conference aimed at building back better for flood-affected communities in Pakistan. The US government, the US ambassador said, had pledged more than $200 million to date to support flood relief and recovery efforts, disaster resilience, and food security, while the US-Pakistani diaspora has contributed about $42 million.
During the conference, Ambassador Blome emphasized the longstanding US-Pakistan partnership to advance Pakistan’s economic growth and social and humanitarian causes. He highlighted the need for strengthening climate resilience through the US-Pakistan “Green Alliance” framework and expressed the United States’ commitment to helping the US-Pakistani diaspora and Pakistan-based private companies find opportunities to strengthen climate resilience, pursue energy transformation, and foster economic growth and development outcomes.
The conference continued the momentum built on December 20, 2022, and January 25 conferences in Islamabad where USAID signed a combined six memoranda of understanding mobilizing $75 million. The discussions held in those conferences led to mobilizing additional contributions and investments to help populations and areas affected by floods. In today’s conference on Building Back Better, USAID signed three MOU’s with a Pakistan-based US company and US Pakistani diaspora entities, mobilizing $78 million. More than 200 participants attended the conference, including members of the U.S.-Pakistani diaspora, prominent local business leaders, US business representatives, and Pakistani officials. Attendees discussed ways to help the flood affected population and communities at the building Back Better Conference. The United States remains firmly committed to engaging and partnering with the US-Pakistani diaspora and the private sector to address Pakistan’s challenges in the technology, humanitarian, social, and commercial sectors, and to further Pakistan’s development goals.
