Friday, August 05, 2011



Italy to provide 57.75 million euros to help flood victims

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: Italy, on Thursday, announced that it would provide 57.75 million euros as a soft loan for the Citizen Damage Compensation Plan (CDCP) so as to enable the government extend second instalment to flood-affected families.

In this regard, Italy’s Ambassador Vincenco Prati, as an Additional International Development Partner for the joint support to CDCP-II signed Concurrence Note to the memorandum of understanding (MoU) already signed on June 9, between the International Development Association, USA, and Pakistan. The Italian government has indicated its desire to contribute 57.75 million euros as soft loan to this effect.

The US has already provided $190 million and United Kingdom $100 million for the CDCP-II and with the contribution from Italian government would help reach the maximum flood-affected families. Over the course of the monsoon season in July and August, 2010, Pakistan experienced the worst floods in its recorded history. Heavy rainfall caused flash floods, disrupting livelihoods of nearly 20 million people, destroying/damaging approximately 1.8 million homes and affecting 2.4 million hectors of cropped land. This flood mostly hit the poor households, which do not have savings or assets to sell to finance their own livelihood recovery efforts.

Hence, they were in need of immediate financial help. The federal government with the active participation of foreign donors announced Rs 100,000 as cash grant and immediately paid Rs 20,000 to each family in the notified flood-affected districts across the country. Pakistan has envisioned the implementation of second phase of the CDCP aimed at complementing the governmental assistance to the victims by providing payment of Rs 40,000 ($460 million) to at least 1 million households.

The federal government is planning to release the second instalment of Rs 20,000 to 40,000 flood-affected families in the month of October after verification of data by the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) for construction of their houses which were destroyed in floods 2010.

Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk

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