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Mr. President,
At the outset, let me congratulate you and members of the Bureau on their election.
Our congratulations to the new Executive Director UNICEF, Henrietta H. Fore. Your vision of protection and promotion of children’s rights and your leadership, I am sure, will help this organization fully realize its potential.
Mr. President,
The State of the World’s Children Report, entitled as A Fair Chance for Every Child, establishes that, despite progress in reducing child deaths, getting children into schools, and lifting millions out of poverty, there still is a long way to go. We are confronted with an uncomfortable yet undeniable truth: millions of Children’s lives remain blighted: over 535 million children live in countries affected by conflict, natural disasters, epidemics and other emergencies; another 50 million are on the move; and 385 million are confronted with extreme poverty.
These figures demonstrate that deficiencies persist, inequalities and social injustice are deepening, gender discrimination is hampering progress, and climate change has imposed new threats.
Mr. President,
Wisdom, foresight and bold actions are required to improve the situation. Let me make four specific points:
One, poverty is the mother of all evils. Quality education coupled with technical and vocational training is necessary to build the skill sets for gainful employment;
Two, predictability of funding to sustain programmatic activities is a prerequisite to making progress. Deteriorating core resources for development activities and reliance on non-core resources is a matter of concern. The International community should match political will with actual resources to fill the gap;
Three, South-South and Triangular Cooperation for Sustainable Development for all is critical; and
Four, the objectives contained in the Strategic Plan of UNICEF must be in sync with national priorities of host governments;
Mr. President,
On the national front, despite the challenges, we have maintained a steady course of progress. Let me highlight a few achievements:
Our ‘people centric’ Vision 2025 is being implemented, encompassing all SDGs. My government has also pledged to increase heath spending to 3% of the GDP during the next two years.
Our National Immunization Programme is providing free of cost vaccine to every Pakistani child. And the goal of a Polio-free Pakistan is within reach.
In conclusion, Mr. President, we consider UNICEF an important partner in mainstreaming children’s rights. We welcome the appointment of Ms. Aida Girma-Melaku, the new UNICEF Representative in Pakistan and look forward to further strengthening our collaboration with the organization.
I thank you.