UNITED NATIONS, Jun 15 (APP): Pakistan has urged United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to step up its efforts to address the needs of children in humanitarian crises, including natural disasters, conflicts and situations of foreign occupation.
Speaking in the UNICEF’s Executive Board meeting, Pakistani delegate Hadiqa Qureshi also urged international donors to provide sustainable and adequate funding to UNICEF to enable it to fight the unprecedented impacts on children during the Covid-19 pandemic and those stemming from conflicts and climate change.
The Executive Board reviews UNICEF activities and approves its policies, country programmes and budgets. It comprises 36 members, representing the five regional groups of member states at the UN. Its work is coordinated by a Bureau, comprising the President and four Vice-Presidents, each officer representing one of the five regional groups.
“Despite all the challenges the world is facing today, we note with appreciation how UNICEF has responded to both human-made crises and natural disasters,” Ms. Qureshi, third secretary at the Pakistan Mission to the UN, told the Board.
A prime example, she cited UNICEF’s help to Pakistan during its recent climate-induced floods. UNICEF, with its field offices and four operational hubs, functioned as a frontliner in the rapid needs assessments and lead sectoral coordination in the WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene) Programme, nutrition and education sectors and child protection.
Due to COVID, climate change and conflicts, the Pakistani delegate said nearly 50 million children have been pushed back into extreme poverty, increasing their total number to over 400 million.
“Our children are not just the present but our future; the future we all aspire to make better children must therefore be at the center of our strategy — today or tomorrow — to achieve growth and equity in all the world nations,” she added.