U.N. chief seeks global support for flood-ravaged Pakistan
STORY: "Food and shelter being offered but the challenge is absolutely beyond human capacity," said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif during a joint news conference with Guterres in the capital Islamabad.
Record monsoon rains and glacier melt in northern mountains have triggered floods that have swept away houses, roads, railway tracks, bridges, livestock and crops, and killed more about 1,400 people.
“Pakistan needs massive financial support to respond to this crisis that have cost it according to some estimates I heard today about $30 billion and counting, and that support is entirely necessary, and it is not a matter of solidarity, it is a matter of justice,” Guterres said.
Huge areas of the country are inundated, and hundreds of thousands have been forced from their homes. The government says the lives of nearly 33 million people have been disrupted. Both the government and Guterres have blamed the flooding on climate change.
Guterres said the world needed to understand the impact of climate change on low-income countries.
"It is essential for the international community to realize this, especially the countries who have contributed more to climate change," he added.
