Govt of Balochistan, UN work closely together to achieve Sustainable Development Goals
- February 27, 2017, 11:09 pm
- National News
- 292 Views
QUETTA Feb 27 (PPI): Department of Planning and Development Balochistan in collaboration with the Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations have organized an OneUN Provincial Steering Committee meeting in Quetta, Balochistan on Thursday, February 23, 2017.
In the OneUN programme, United Nations Organizations in Pakistan work closely together to increase their effectiveness and efficiency to support the Government of Pakistan and Balochistan and other provinces in achieving national and provincial development priorities.
Members of the OneUN Provincial Steering Committee are the Secretaries of all GoB Line Departments and the Provincial Heads of the UN agencies in Balochistan. The purpose of this 6 monthly meeting is to provide strategic guidance and advice to the UN programmes on how to optimally support the Government of Balochistan.
In his opening remarks, Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) Balochistan Mohammad Umar Babar, emphasized that Balochistan has changed in the past years and that developments have slowed down due to unfortunate attacks and unrest. ACS expects that as a result of the cooperation of GoB Departments with specialized UN agencies the livelihoods of the people in Balochistan will improve.
Neil Buhne, UN Resident Coordinator for Pakistan, said that the UN has worked in partnership with Balochistan for a long time, and considers the UN to be part of Balochistan. He mentioned that Quetta is the third largest UN community in Pakistan and that a lot of progress has been made in aligning the activities of the UN and the GoB Line Departments with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the UN. Achieving the SDGs is a prime goal for Pakistan.
Mujeeb Ur Rehman, Chief Foreign Aid, P&D presented the UN activities per SDG. He stated that 70% of the population in Balochistan still lives below the poverty line and by achieving the Sustainable Development Goals food in security will be reduced and the nutritional status of the population will be improved. During the discussion recommendations were made on how to improve the performance and outcomes of the various UN programmes.
The Provincial Steering Meeting was closed by Francisco Gamarro (Deputy FAO Country Representative in Pakistan) who said that “the Government of Balochistan should be in the drivers’ seat, using specialized advice and support of the UN whenever requiredâ€, in particular to develop effective strategies and policies with the Government.
