Tag: UN

  • ‘More resources are urgently needed’: UN calls for more funds for Pakistan flood victims

    UN Secretary-General’s Spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, has said that flood victims in Pakistan need more funds as more resources are needed in winters to provide relief.
    He added that around 2.6 million people have received food assistance.

    “To date, in support of the government response, our humanitarian partners have reached more than 4.7 million people with aid since the onset of the flood,” Dujarric told reporters.

    “Our (humanitarian) partners have also helped 125,000 children to resume their education, including through more than 500 temporary learning centers.” However, schools remain inaccessible for more than two million children.

    “More resources are urgently needed,” he stressed, emphasizing that so far only 23% of the $816 million Floods Response Plan has been received.

    Torrential monsoon rains triggered the most severe flooding in Pakistan’s recent history. Hundreds of thousands of homes have been damaged or destroyed, while many public health facilities, water systems and schools have been destroyed or damaged. More than 33 million people have been affected by floods and flash floods in 94 districts.

  • Shehbaz meets with world leaders during climate change conference

    Shehbaz meets with world leaders during climate change conference

    Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif on Monday attended the inaugural ceremony of the United Nations (UN) Climate Implementation Summit at the coastal city of Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt.

    The “Sharm El-Sheikh Climate Implementation Summit” is part of the 27th UN Climate Change Conference (COP27).

    The premier separately met with the Presidents of Iraq, Tajikistan and Indonesia Abdul Latif Rashid, Emomali Rahmon, and Joko Widodo, respectively. He also conducted a meeting with Lebanese PM Najib Makati.

    In his meeting with the President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, Shehbaz Sharif thanked him for the assistance sent as aid for flood victims.

    In his meeting with the European Union Commissioner Ursula von der Leyen, PM Shehbaz appreciated the spirit of EU nations for their support extended to the flood-hit population of Pakistan. The premier also met with UN chief Antonio Guterres.

    The PM arrived in Egypt on Sunday to participate in the conference that has drawn delegates from 197 countries.

    Before his departure, PM Shehbaz took to Twitter to say that he would raise the matter of the devasting effects of climate change in Pakistan.

    Last month, it was announced that PM Shehbaz would be the vice-chairperson for COP27.

    The conference is taking place at a time when millions of people in Pakistan, and millions more in other parts of the world, are facing severe adverse impacts of climate change.

    For the first time in the history of COP27, the members would discuss whether rich countries should compensate poor nations most exposed to the adverse effects of climate change.

  • ‘Germany has role and responsibility with regard to situation in Kashmir’: German Foreign Minister

    German Foreign Minister (FM), Annalena Baerbock, has said in Berlin that the country has a role and responsibility with regard to the situation in Kashmir.

    Speaking at the joint press conference on Friday with her Pakistani counterpart, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, she said, “Germany has a role and responsibility with regard to the situation in Kashmir. Therefore, we support intensively the engagement of the United Nations (UN), to find peaceful solutions in the region.”

    Talking about the tensions between India and Pakistan, the minister said, “We support all the engagement with regard to the ceasefire, however, there is a tension which minister [Bilawal] has described so we encourage both Pakistan and India to follow the track of the ceasefire, to follow the track of UN and intensify the political dialogue and also the political and practical cooperation in the region.”

    Moreover, Baerbock showed support for the county by saying that “Pakistan could rely on the support of the German people and government”.

    Bilawal, on the occasion, thanked Germany, and said that the total amount of aid from Germany had reached €60 million for that “we are incredibly grateful to the German people and the government”.

    He also highlighted grave human rights violations in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), and said that the alarming situation posed risks to regional peace and stability.

    The Pakistani foreign minister described his meeting with Baerbock as a “pleasure” and invited her to visit Pakistan.

    In a tweet, he said, “Pleasure meeting for the second time this year with Annalena Baerbock at the German foreign office. Invited her to visit Pakistan to witness firsthand devastation caused by floods in.”

    Bilawal reached Berlin on Friday on his first visit.

  • Gen Bajwa says he will retire in November

    Gen Bajwa says he will retire in November

    Putting months of speculation to rest, Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa has reiterated his promise to leave office after completing his second three-year term in November, adding that he would fulfil the pledge he made earlier.

    The army chief made these remarks at a lunch at the Pakistan Embassy in Washington.

    The COAS also stated that the armed forces have distanced themselves from politics and want to stay out of it in the future as well.

    “There can be no diplomacy without a strong economy,” said the army chief stressing that restoration of the ailing economy of the country should be the priority of every stakeholder of the society.

    After the lunch, Gen Bajwa went to the Pentagon for a meeting with US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin.

    According to the ISPR, Gen Bajwa called on retired General Lloyd James Austin III, Secretary of Defence; Jacob Jeremiah Sullivan, National Security Adviser; and Wendy Ruth Sherman, Deputy Secretary of State.

    The army chief arrived in the US on September 30 and met with UN officials in New York.

    General Bajwa is heading a delegation that will stay in the US for another couple of days, diplomatic sources said, terming the visit an important one that portrayed “robust relations” between the two countries.

  • ‘Modi is not Manmohan Singh or even Vajpayee’: Bilawal Bhutto

    ‘Modi is not Manmohan Singh or even Vajpayee’: Bilawal Bhutto

    Foreign Minister (FM) Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari once again talked about India being a different country now and said a lot has changed since 2010, pointing out that the current Indian Prime Minister, (PM) Narendra Modi, is not like his predecessors.

    In his address at Washington DC-based think-tank, Woodrow Wilson Centre, the minister stated, “This is a very different India, Modi is not [former PM] Manmohan Singh or even [former PM] Atal Bihari Vajpayee. We want a manageable and responsible relationship with India”, adding that he was not surprised by India’s reaction to the United States’ decision to give $450 million to upgrade Pakistan’s fleet of F-16 aircraft. “Obviously, Indians are going to be upset, let them be, kiya karein (what do we do)”, he said.

    Last week, prior to PM Shehbaz’s United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session Bilawal said that, “India today is a changed India and is no longer the secular country promised by its founding fathers for all its citizens.”

    While responding to a question from the audience at the Woodrow Wilson Centre that some sections of the media are reporting that the “US schooled Pakistan” on maintaining ties with India and China, Bilawal dismissed the reports, saying “He [US Secretary of State Antony Blinken ] is an incredible human being and can never talk in such tone.”

    ‘Everything else can wait’: Bilawal urges China and US to work together

    At the international forum, the minister also urged the two world powers to cooperate and not fight with each other.

    “Let me be absolutely clear. We will not overcome climate change, we will not save our planet, if China and the US do not work together on climate,” said Bhutto-Zardari

    “Everything else can wait. Every other conflict. Every other dispute. We will all fight among ourselves if there’s a planet left to fight over,” he added.

    Earlier, US Secretary Blinken said that he had urged Pakistan to engage China on some of the important issues of debt relief and restructuring so that Pakistan can more quickly recover from the floods

    Addressing these remarks, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said that Beijing is already providing assistance to the flood victims and urged that other nations also do “something real and beneficial, instead of passing unwarranted criticism against China-Pakistan cooperation”.

    It is pertinent to mention that US is so far the largest donor to flood relief and rehabilitation funds. Washington has provided about $56 million to Pakistan since July.

  • ‘Here to tell Pakistan’s story to world’: PM Shehbaz arrives in New York

    ‘Here to tell Pakistan’s story to world’: PM Shehbaz arrives in New York

    After attending Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral in London on Monday, Pakistani Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif arrived in the United States (US) on Tuesday ahead of his address to the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) which is to be held on September 23 in New York.

    Talking about his trip, the premier said that he is in America to “tell Pakistan’s story to the world, a story of deep anguish and pain arising out of a massive human tragedy caused by floods”.

    “In my address at UNGA and at bilateral meetings, I will present Pakistan’s case on issues that call for the world’s immediate attention,” he said.

    PM Shehbaz is also scheduled to meet French President Emmanuel Macron and will attend the reception of the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres today.

    On Wednesday, the prime minister will meet International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and World Bank (WB) President David Mills.

    Other engagements of the premier include meetings with Malaysian PM Ismail Sabri Yaakob, UNGA President Csaba Korosi, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, the UN Secretary-General as well as Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai.

    During this visit, he reportedly may have a meeting with US President Joe Biden, however, as yet there is no confirmation of the meeting. Both PM Shehbaz and Foreign Minister (FM) Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari will attend the dinner reception hosted by President Biden for heads of state and governments of countries attending the General Assembly.

    The head of government will be in the US for five days from September 19- 24.

  • Today marks one year since Afghan girls were banned from attending school

    Today marks one year since Afghan girls were banned from attending school

    United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres took to Twitter to urge Taliban authorities in Afghanistan to revoke the ban on girls’ education that was implemented a year ago.

    He said, “Sunday marks one year since girls were banned from attending high school in Afghanistan. A year of lost knowledge and opportunity that they will never get back. Girls belong in school. The Taliban must let them back in.”

    “It is profoundly damaging to a generation of girls and to the future of Afghanistan itself”, said Markus Potzel, the acting head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). The UN has called the ban ‘tragic and shameful.

    According to UNAMA, more than a million teenage girls have been deprived of education across the county.

    Earlier this month, dozens of girls protested in an eastern Afghan city due to the closure of schools for girls.

    When the Taliban seized power in August last year, they did reopen high schools for boys on September 18 but banned secondary school girls from attending classes.

    Education Minister Noorullah Munir termed this act a “cultural issue”. He said that many rural people do not want their teenage daughters to attend school.

    Earlier this year, the Taliban said that schools for girls would be opened after March 21 with the caveat that girls and boys must be completely segregated in schools

    However, schools were opened for a small period of time and again were shut down

    At the time, the Ministry of Education said that the schools would be closed until a plan was drawn up in accordance with Islamic law and Afghan culture.

    Despite the fact that the international community has on multiple occasions made the education of girls a key demand for any future recognition of the Taliban administration, the group has barred Afghan girls and women with certain restrictions including covering themselves from head to toe and not to travelling alone.

  • ‘Six months’: Murad Ali Shah gives estimate on when flood waters will drain

    Sindh Chief Minister (CM) Murad Ali Shah said that the government is working on rehabilitating people and the province’s drainage, irrigation network. According to him, it will take “three to six months” to drain the water from flood-affected areas of the province as in “some areas, there is at least eight to 10 feet of water”.

    While speaking to the media in Karachi, the chief minister talked about the damages and loss of assets. He said that “12.5 million people are affected by the disaster and around 350 billion rupees’ losses to the farmers are being reported in the province.”

    He revealed that even in places where the floodwater is receding, “the situation is not such that people can return”, highlighting that Pakistan had received unprecedented rainfall this year.

    It is pertinent to mention that Sindh is the worst-hit province so far after biblical floods wreaked havoc across the country. Sindh had the most deaths and injuries. Out of the 1,396 fatalities countrywide, 578 people have died in Sindh province alone.

    Moreover, CM Shah said that the province is facing a shortage of tents and medicines and he had raised the issue with the United Nations (UN) chief Antonio Guterres during his recent visit to Sindh.

    “The whole world has to come together to combat climate change,” he said, adding that Guterres had also called on the world to “pitch in” to help Pakistan navigate the crisis.

    Earlier, the UN chief on his visit to Pakistan’s flood-affected areas said that he has “never seen climate carnage on this scale”.

    At a press conference in Karachi on Saturday after witnessing the worst of the damage in southern Pakistan, he said, “I have seen many humanitarian disasters in the world, but I have never seen climate carnage on this scale.”

    Guterres also strongly urged international creditors to introduce a new mechanism ‘Debt Swap’ for flood-devastated Pakistan.

  • Punjab CM Pervaiz Elahi increases financial assistance for flood victims to Rs10 lac

    Punjab CM Pervaiz Elahi increases financial assistance for flood victims to Rs10 lac

    Chief Minister (CM) Punjab, Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, has increased financial assistance for families of deceased victims from Rs. 0.8 million to 1 million (Rs 8lac to Rs10 lac).

    CM Elahi had a meeting with Provincial Minister Muhammad Muneeb Sultan Cheema in which they discussed the current political situation of the country and relief activities for flood affectees.

    Elahi was of the view that Pakistan has been greatly affected by climate change, with massive destruction caused by unusual rains and floods. For this purpose, the government has to take extraordinary measures, reports Geo Urdu.

    Commissioner Dera Ghazi Khan (DG Khan) said that Rs75,000 will be given for the loss of large animals due to floods.

    The aid for those who lost their cemented houses has been increased from Rs. 100,000 to Rs. 400,000. Similarly, the aid for those who lost their mud houses has been increased to Rs. 200,000 from Rs. 40,000.

    On Friday, Foreign Minister (FM) Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari presented a cheque of Rs15 million to PM Shehbaz as a contribution from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs towards the PM’s Flood Relief Fund.

    Last week, Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif announced that PM Flood Relief Fund will be audited by the Accountant General Pakistan Revenues (AGPR) and a private audit firm to ensure transparency.

    Devastating floods in Pakistan have wreaked havoc across the country, leaving a path of destruction and loss in their wake. More than 1,400 people have lost their lives, one-third of whom are children.

    Record monsoon rains and melting glaciers triggered the disaster. The United Nations (UN) and Pakistan have linked the extreme weather to climate change; some 600,000 people have fled their homes.

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  • ‘Matter of justice’: UN chief appeals to the world to support Pakistan

    ‘Matter of justice’: UN chief appeals to the world to support Pakistan

    United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Saturday, September 10, urged the international community to support disaster-hit Pakistan as the country needed massive financial help to overcome post-flood crises.

    “It is not a matter of generosity, but a matter of justice,” he said reiterating the United Nation’s commitment, strong support, and solidarity with the flood-affected populace of Pakistan.

    Guterres said that huge damages and losses were caused to human lives and properties. The Secretary General further said that the UN absolutely supported Pakistan and requested richer nations to generously help the country so that it could face the future challenges of climatic changes and save its people.

    He stressed that the international community must realize the serious impacts of greenhouse emissions as nature was striking back in the form of natural calamities.

    He continued that greenhouse gases had accelerated climatic changes and that nations with larger greenhouse emission footprints must understand these issues. Citing scientific estimates, the UN secretary-general emphasized that now was the right time to reduce greenhouse emissions.

    He said it was also a fact that they were living in a climatic changing era and have to make efforts to rebuild communities and to enable countries to resist and face future disasters that could be wrought by the natural calamities.

    Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb, provincial ministers, and the relevant authorities were present on the occasion.

    Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah gave a detailed briefing on the damages and loss of lives in the province.

    He said during the current monsoon season, different districts of the province had received unusual rainfall never witnessed in the past.

    He said that 30 districts of the province were affected, displacing about 12 million, adding that a total of 578 people lost their lives. A total of 3 million houses were destroyed and crops grown on an area of about 3.3 million acres were damaged while 500,000 livestock had been swept away.

    Earlier, the prime minister along with the UN secretary general and the federal ministers took an aerial review of the flood-affected areas of the Sindh province.