Country facing threats to security, economy: Shahnaz

Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Social Sector Shahnaz Wazir Ali has said that Pakistan is going through a difficult period facing two pronged threats of security and economic crisis. "We have lost much too much due to terrorism; we have lost our revered leader; we have lost our brothers, sisters and our children," she said while speaking as Pakistan's Representative to Unesco Executive Board in Paris.
According to a message received here on Thursday she conveyed deep sense of grief and shock at the tragic death of the Ambassador of the Czech Republic, and other foreign nationals in the recent act of terrorism in Islamabad.
"We are not mercenaries in the fight against extremist elements, but rather, we are the victims of extremist movements, she said adding that war has been thrust upon us." She said that Pakistan today has three million Internally Displaced People fleeing from random attacks to life and property. This large scale displacement is severely straining our economic and social resources. But we have resolved not to surrender to violence and extremism, she added.
Shahnaz said that the government would stand by its people and protect the rights and liberties of all its citizens. "We will not surrender our freedom and our sovereignty. We will not retreat in fear from those who threaten the lives of Pakistanis," she added. As in other parts of the world, she said that Pakistan has been severely impacted by the global economic crisis.
She said while the government has mounted the largest ever safety nets for about 3.4 million families, our resources are severely strained placing our development efforts at risk. Women and children are the hardest hit.
Despite the imperatives of this situation, we have protected investments in education and health in order to achieve the MDGs. Shahnaz said that the modest progress made so far in the achievement of EFA goals reflects that the convening partners have been successful in their advocacy campaign and it is now time to provide infrastructure facilities to cope with the demands generated by advocacy. It is time for the international community to commit to their pledges so the huge financing gap in EFA is narrowed down, she added.