The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has granted a $400 million concessional loan to help rebuild dwellings and community facilities in Sindh that were devastated by disastrous floods in 2022.
The Sindh Emergency Housing Reconstruction Project will rebuild flood-damaged homes and community infrastructure while also assisting with livelihood recovery, with an emphasis on increasing communities' resilience to climate change-induced natural disasters.
This project is an essential element of ADB's multidimensional response to Pakistan's flood catastrophe, and it is part of the bank's pledge to give $1.5 billion in total assistance from 2023 to 2025 to speed the country's flood recovery.
"This project will help rebuild homes and communities, as well as restore livelihoods and basic services in Sindh, the province most affected by the devastating 2022 floods," said ADB Director General for Central and West Asia, Yevgeniy Zhukov.
"It is part of ADB's extensive support to help Pakistan recover from the disaster, which affected 33 million people and damaged houses and infrastructure across the country."
The 2022 floods caused approximately 83% of the total housing damage in Sindh, with 2.1 million homes either completely destroyed or damaged.
Two years later, many victims continue to live in substandard, temporary shelters that lack basic utilities such as water, sewage, and power.
The initiative would provide conditional cash incentives for the rehabilitation of 250,000 homes with multi-hazard, robust, and environmentally friendly designs.
It will also fund community-led infrastructure projects, including drinking water, sanitation, covered drainage, and renewable energy solutions, for 100,000 families in around 1,000 flood-damaged communities in Sindh.
The project will also provide conditional cash awards for livestock, agriculture, small businesses, and e-commerce.
"ADB's support will not only help Pakistan rebuild better but will also promote community-led climate resilience and disaster risk management strategies to better prepare for future hazards," said Srinivas Sampath, ADB Director for Water and Urban Development.
"We are coordinating closely with other development partners to support the government's recovery and reconstruction priorities," he added.