Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani says inflation, global food crises, conflicts and climate change have given rise to both immediate and long-term humanitarian needs.

She made these remarks while virtually addressing panel discussion of high-level pledging event on the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) for 2023 in New York.

She said ‘Global Humanitarian Overview for 2023’ projects that a record 339 million people will need humanitarian assistance and protection.

Hina Rabbani Khar said a prompt response and anticipatory approach to the onset of a humanitarian emergency can save lives and minimize damage to infrastructure.

She said destruction caused by floods in Pakistan is now cited as an exemplar of climate change.

Hina Rabbani Khar said Pakistan has remained a beneficiary of the Central Emergency Response Fund and received help in life-saving humanitarian activities during displacements, droughts, weather emergencies and floods since the fund’s inception in 2006.

She suggested that an effective emergency response system should comprise certain necessary element of time responsiveness, it should follow a strategic approach and this system should be principled.

She thanked Secretary General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres, and the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths for organizing the event.