Pakistan after the 2022 Floods

The event will take place in english.

Please note the time shift: 18:00h CET / 22:00h PakT

Pakistan belongs to the 10 most vulnerable countries towards climate change. In 2022 Pakistan was first hit by an early heatwave, which caused a serious water shortage. Then in the summer early but heavy and unusually long monsoon rain falls flooded 30% of the country, left 1,700 people dead, approx. 9 million lost their homes. A large part of last year´s agricultural harvests were also destroyed. The natural disaster has given way to a second, humanitarian crisis, as many of the flood victims are still living in makeshift tents and struggling to restore some notion of their former life and livelihood. In a UN donor conference in January 2023, the international community pledged approx. 8bn USD for recovery and climate change mitigation in Pakistan.

How have the recovery measures kicked-off? What does it take to rehabilitate the affected areas and make the country more resilient in the future? Past experiences with natural disaster management in Pakistan show clearly that climate-related catastrophes are just as much challenges of public management and good governance.

Gast
Mukhtar Ahmed Ali
is a development professional with over 20 years of experience in government and civil society sectors. He is currently working as Executive Director at the Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI). His areas of expertise include right to information, elections, local governance, budget transparency, legislative oversight and democratic development. He has an M. Phil degree in Development Studies (with distinction) from the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, UK.

Gast
Afia Salam
is a Masters in Geography and a career journalist having 4 decades of experience of print, electronic and web journalism. She is a LEAD, FNF's International Academy of Leadership & Australia Awards Fellow, member of IUCN Commission on Education & Communications and Commission on Economic & Social Policy. She is also a member of the national coordinating body for Marine Protected Areas and Prime Minister's advisory body, the National Climate Change Council. She has been highlighting issues related to environment and climate change through her writings, and advocacy through seminars and moderation of panel discussions and round tables. As a development practitioner, she is associated in a voluntary capacity with Indus Earth Trust and Baanhn Beli as the elected President of executive committee and Board of Trustees.

Gast
Ms. Birgit Lamm
is Head of Pakistan Office, Friedrich-Naumann-Foundation.

Moderator
Mr. Waqar Waqar Rizvi Senior Anchor / Moderator/Media/Political Consultant
is a TV host, editor, and media and political consultant, with over 15 years of on-air and digital journalism experience. He hosts a current affairs TV show and is an editor for a US news site that uses the power of AI to publish properly sourced news. He also provides consultancy to a range of international think tanks on contemporary geopolitical challenges. Waqar is also pursuing a Master’s in Media Ethics at the University of Sussex.

Gast
Sana A Khoja
is a forward thinking curator, cultural promoter and arts manager, with expertise of planning and delivering large-scale festivals, events and public arts projects. She is co-founder of LAHOOTI, a non-for profit organization aimed at revival of traditional musical instruments of the subcontinent and promotion of indigenous musicians of the Country by providing them due recognition. She has an extensive experience of working with artists, institutions, government, international agencies, private stakeholders & volunteers on strengthening arts & cultural sector in Pakistan. Furthermore, she is an alumnus of the Kennedy-Lugar Exchange and Study (YES) and frequently represents Pakistan on various national and international forums.