UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (centre) was received on his arrival by Deputy Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar (left) in the Islamabad airport in Pakistan on Friday — AP ISLAMABAD, Sept 09 (AP): UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed to the world to help Pakistan after arriving in the country Friday to see climate-induced devastation from months of deadly record floods that have left half a million people living in tents under the open sky.
His trip comes less than two weeks after Guterres appealed for $160 million in emergency funding to help those affected by the monsoon rains and floods that have caused at least $10 billion in damages and 1,391 deaths. International aid is arriving, including the first planeload of what the US has pledged will be $30 million in assistance.
"I have arrived in Pakistan to express my deep solidarity with the Pakistani people after the devastating floods here. I appeal for massive support from the international community as Pakistan responds to this climate catastrophe," he said on Twitter before dawn.
Last week, the UN chief issued a stern warning about the effects of climate change.
"Let's stop sleepwalking toward the destruction of our planet by climate change," he said in a video message to a ceremony in Islamabad at the time. "Today, it's Pakistan. Tomorrow, it could be your country."
Pakistan's Information Minister Maryam Aurangzeb in a statement thanked the UN chief for visiting Pakistan at a time when, she said, one-third of Pakistan is underwater. She said she wants the visit to help elevate the crisis for flood victims to the global level.
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