|
|
Mr. President,
I would, at the outset like to convey my gratitude to Mr. Anthony Lake, Executive Director of UNICEF for his statement and for his vision and leadership. As past president of UNICEF, I had an opportunity to see his dedication and commitment to the attainment of our shared ideals.
I would also like to commend Ms. Jean Gough, UNICEF Regional Director for South Asia and her team in Islamabad for successfully concluding the UNICEF Country Program Document for Pakistan for 2018-22 after a consultative process.
Our long-standing partnership with UNICEF goes back to 1948. Since then, Pakistan and UNICEF have been partners, committed to the protection, development and welfare of children. We share the dedication to promote the rights of Children to survive, thrive and fulfill their potential.
Mr. President,
This CPD earmarks a total of $ 600 million, to be disbursed for the welfare of our children over the next five years. Programmatic activities of UNICEF will help the Government of Pakistan to finance projects to improve water quality and sanitation in schools, reduce maternal and infant mortality rates, improve child nutrition and combat infectious diseases.
We expect the activities of UNICEF to be guided by Pakistan’s Vision 2025 plan and its associated 25 goals, the United Nations Sustainable Development Framework (UNSDF) for Pakistan 2018-2022, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and the newly adopted QCPR resolution.
Mr. President,
Despite our many challenges, Pakistan is firmly committed to meet the ambitious 2030 agenda, which seeks to end extreme poverty, equitably promote prosperity and well-being, including and especially of children.
We know only too well that Children are the true wealth of our nation and it is their development that will determine our future destiny.
Centered on poverty eradication, our development programme recognizes the crucial link between productive employment and social cohesion.
Pakistan is pursuing a policy of reform to bring the poor and the vulnerable into the mainstream, with focus on the development of children. The policies aim to improving access to education, health care facilities and economic opportunities for different segments of the society.
Some of the key steps taken by my Government include:
One,adoption of a people centric Vision 2025. Its 25 associated goals will help align national priorities with the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals;
Two,commitment to increase Primary School enrolment and completion rate to 100% and the literacy rate to 90% by 2025;
Three,we have embarked on a plan to reduce the infant mortality rate from 74 to less than 40 (per 1000 births) and reduce maternal mortality rate from 276 to less than 140 (per 1000 births) by 2025;
Four,Reduce the incidence/prevalence of Hepatitis and Diahorrea by 50% by 2025;
Five,increase the proportion of population, including children with access to improved sanitation from 48% to 90% by 2025;
Six,the Federal Government has also initiated a strategic review of the National Population Policy to align it with SDGs and Family Planning 2020 Commitments;
Seven,to achieve universal health coverage, a National Health Program has been launched under the leadership of the Prime Minister; and
Eight,the Federal Government has allocated Rs. 100 million in PSDP for the National Initiative for SDGs/Nutrition for the next three years. An Early Childhood Development (ECD) task force has also been established to provide a high level platform for policy/strategic framework, planning, coordination, exchange of information.
Nine,we have made remarkable progress on Polio eradication and we are now close to being a polio free country.
Mr. President,
We look forward to working closely with UNICEF to achieve these ambitious targets and hope that the programmatic activities of UNICEF will be implemented by the guiding principle of ensuring their alignment with our national priorities at the country level, which is an essential condition for its success.
I thank you, Mr. President!