The United States has pledged an additional $100 million to assist Pakistan’s recovery from devastating 2022 floods, bringing total U.S. assistance to over $200 million since August.
In 2022, heavy monsoon rains caused flooding and landslides in Pakistan, killing around 1,700 people and injuring tens of thousands of others. An estimated 33 million people were affected, and hundreds of thousands remain displaced. Cropland was destroyed and sanitation systems were damaged.
“We always support the people of Pakistan — and especially in times of crisis,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, noting that the new funding will strengthen agriculture, food security and essential health services in flood-affected areas while improving Pakistan’s climate resilience.
The additional $100 million will help Pakistan rebuild damaged infrastructure and invest in clean energy, disease surveillance and economic growth. It also provides humanitarian assistance for Afghan refugees affected by the flood and for their host communities in Pakistan.
Last year, the U.S. government responded quickly to the natural and humanitarian disaster. It provided more than $100 million for relief efforts in 2022, bringing food, drinking water, nutrition, sanitation and shelter assistance while also strengthening resilience. The American people and the U.S. private sector also donated $37 million in essential goods and services for flood relief, such as food, water, medicine and health care.
U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Deputy Administrator Isobel Coleman announced the additional funding January 9 at the International Conference on Climate Resilient Pakistan in Geneva, which convened governments, international partners and the private sector to secure assistance for Pakistan.
At the conference, Coleman said U.S. support for Pakistan’s flood recovery and climate resilience will extend beyond emergency assistance. Emphasizing the two countries’ long-standing partnership, she noted that schools constructed with U.S. support served as shelters in hard-hit areas. The U.S.-constructed Jacobabad Institute of Medical Sciences provided emergency health services.
“The United States will continue to partner with Pakistan in times of need — and work to boost resilience and strengthen Pakistan’s response and recovery systems in the face of recurrent disasters,” Coleman said.
