Kofi Annan to Push up Pledges at Donors' Conference in Pakistan
PakistanTimes.net Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: To hand out yet another very strong call for world assistance to help Pakistan rebuild earthquake devastated areas of Kashmir and Northern Areas, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan will arrive in Islamabad Thursday afternoon. Annan will visit Muzaffarabad and Balakot on Friday to see for himself the destruction caused by October 8 earthquake and its bone chilling aftermaths.

UN Secretary General is coming to Pakistan to participate in the International Donors Conference being held on Saturday aimed at generating funds for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of quake hit areas. Kofi Annan has been very vocal about Pakistan’s dire financial requirement to meet the gigantic task of rebuilding hospitals, schools, houses and infrastructure in the quake affected areas.

Mr Annan has time and again warned the world community of second wave of deaths which may occur due to lack of relief supplies. Annan has also been very critical of lukewarm response by the world community towards the worst ever human tragedy. It is believed that during his address to the Islamabad’s

Donors Conference, Mr Annan will once again make a very forceful call to the world powers and donors to pledge maximum cash to government of Pakistan for the next phase of relief.

Perspective

Pakistan has been urging the donors and world community to donate generously in cash for the reconstruction. President General Pervez Musharraf addressed foreign envoys Tuesday to prepare grounds for the donors conference.

He spelled out his country’s requirement and also the strategy his government has evolved to use the funds in the most transparent manner. On Wednesday, President has also met with international media to plead Pakistan’s case.

He also indicated that Pakistan will be willing to cut down its non-development expenditure and may even impose some taxes to overcome cash crisis. He indicated that if required Pakistan may even consider freezing defence budget for some years.

All eyes are now fixed on Saturday’s Donors Conference which is expected to witness significant pledges for the reconstruction of devastated quake affected areas in Azad Jammu and Kashmir as well as NWFP. President Musharraf has been saying that he will convert this tragedy into an opportunity for Pakistan and people of Kashmir.

The United Nations and other humanitarian organisations are endeavouring to reduce the risk of thousands of more deaths from cold, disease and hunger.

The UN Secretary-General had immediately sent the Humanitarian Coordinator Jan Egeland to Pakistan to assess the situation in the aftermath of the 8 October quake tragedy. He also attended the ministerial-level conference at Geneva on 26 October where he revised the Flash Appeal totalling nearly $550 million for six months.

He urged the donor community to provide aid and shelter to the devastated areas before the onset of the winters. Of the $550 million Flash Appeal, the UN has only received $119 million, as well as additional $40 million in pledges.

Prior to his arrival in Islamabad, the Secretary-General visited Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Kuwait, Iraq and Tunisia. In Tunis, he opened the World Summit on Information Society today.●