STATEMENT BY AMBASSADOR AMJAD HUSSAIN B. SIAL DEPUTY PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF PAKISTAN TO THE UNITED NATIONS, ON THE ORGANIZATION OF THE WORK OF THE FIFTH COMMITTEE OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY AT ITS MAIN SESSION (NEW YORK, Thursday 1 October, 2009)

Mr. Chairman,

  1. On behalf of Pakistan delegation, I would like to congratulate you and other members of the Bureau on their election. We assure you of our full support and cooperation during the deliberations of this Committee.
  2. My delegation associates itself with the statement made by the distinguished representative of Sudan on behalf of the Group of 77 and China.
  3. We thank the Secretary General for his comprehensive and timely reports.

    Mr. Chairman,

  4. We meet at a time, when the world is in the throes of a development emergency triggered by an unprecedented confluence of multiple crises of finance, food and fuel. These crises have been aggravated by the destruction and economic losses inflicted by ever increasing natural disasters on account of changing climate.
  5. According to the UN report on world social situation 2009 (A/64/158), considerable progress has been made in reducing levels of absolute poverty in the world. However, the world is not on track to meet the Millennium Development Goals of halving levels of extreme poverty by 2015. The current global crises have had an impact on whatever progress that has been achieved so far towards development goals. These developments are likely to slow down, if not reverse, the decline in levels of poverty. In some cases, gains made in the other Millennium Development Goals might also be affected. To compound the situation, the flow of official development assistance (ODA) to developing countries and debt relief efforts are also likely to decrease.
  6. In such a scenario the relevance of social development to sustainable development and poverty reduction cannot be over emphasized.

    Mr. Chairman,

  7. The report on the world economic situation and prospects as of mid-2009 (E/2009/73) by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, estimates that between 73 million and 103 million more people will remain poor or fall into poverty in comparison with a situation in which pre-crisis growth continued. Most of this setback will be felt in East and South Asia, with 56 million to 80 million likely to be affected.
  8. More alarming for socio-economic objectives is the observation made by the Secretary General in his report (A/64/157) that worldwide, income inequalities are growing. Many individuals and social groups remain marginalized and excluded. Discrimination and human rights violations also remain a major concern in many countries.
  9. At this critical juncture, it is important to reaffirm our commitments made at the World Summit for Social Development in 1995. We all reiterated those commitments in the 2005 World Summit.
  10. Together with the priority areas of poverty eradication and the promotion of full employment and decent work for all, social integration constitutes an important objective. The World Summit for Social Development highlighted the importance of social integration equally with the other two pillars of social development.
  11. The goal of social integration is to bring all social groups and individuals into the political, social, cultural and economic structures of a society so that they can fully participate and contribute to its development. Yet, the persistence of social exclusion significantly impedes poverty reduction efforts and plagues economic growth and social development.
  12. However, at this point we do not have an exact measure or a definition of vulnerabilities. There is an urgent need to define a criterion for vulnerability based on a scientific methodology.
  13. We therefore, support a new, comprehensive, scientific approach to vulnerability covering physical, economic and climate related aspects. Such an approach, we believe, would allow for more effective and equitable allocation of resources.

    Mr. Chairman,

  14. The financial crisis has also impacted Pakistan’s economy in more than one way. To mitigate the effects of the crisis, Pakistan took various concrete steps, focusing on the scale, depth and intensity of crisis on different segments of the economy. Especially, steps have been taken to broaden the export base and achieve regional diversification of trade.
  15. The Government has also embarked on conserving the resources made available by curtailing non-development expenditures and prioritizing development activities.
  16. To improve food supply, we increased the support price for wheat as an incentive to farmers to increase wheat production. We also liberalized imports of essential commodities to use market channels to facilitate flow of food commodities into the country. For distribution channels, Pakistan has provided basic food items at lower than market price at Government run Utility stores.
  17. With the help of civil society and media, food producers are held accountable for not hoarding their produce to artificially raise prices.
  18. We have also instituted a Rs. 84 billion Benazir Income Support Programme, which provides cash transfers to 3.4 million poor female households. Under the programme, Rs 1,000 per month are being given to each family. The project covers 14 to 15 per cent of the population in the lowest income bracket.
  19. The ongoing Medium-Term Development Framework 2005-2010 stresses on just and sustainable economic system by reducing poverty and achieving MDGs. It incorporates a paradigm shift towards enhancing competitiveness not only by means of higher investment but also through total knowledge inputs to maximize total factor productivity.
  20. Women and physically challenged have also been allocated special quotas in public sector jobs, which have been established in order to provide employment to this segment of the society. Similarly private sector in Pakistan is also encouraging employment for women and physically challenged.
  21. For protecting the rights and social integration of minorities a National Commission under the chairmanship of Minister for Minorities has been set up at all levels. This includes the district Interfaith Harmony Committees with representation from prominent religious leaders of minority and majority communities at grass root level.
  22. On account of these important policy measures, Pakistan’s economic situation has improved considerably with enhanced foreign exchange reserves, improved credit ratings, declining fiscal and trade deficit, declining inflation and current account balances, rising remittances and FDI, rebounding stock markets and resurging consumer confidence.
  23. No small achievement for a time such as this.

    Mr. Chairman,

  24. Without sustained commitment of financial resources, ridding the world of hunger and poverty would remain an elusive dream. Our challenge in the context of global development cooperation is not of making new commitments but of delivering and implementing those already made. Indeed, the list of pledges made by international community at various forums is long and impressive. But delivery unfortunately, is limited and small.
  25. Enhanced international cooperation at regional and global level including fulfilling commitments for ODA, active participation of developing countries in economic decision making, provision of debt relief and technology transfer are key elements to address socio-economic challenges of our time.
  26. We need to remember that the good we secure for ourselves is precarious and uncertain until it is secured for all and incorporated into our common life.

Thank you