The government of Denmark would spend $28 million on its two-year development programme in Pakistan under the Danish International Development Agency (Danida). The Danida Pakistan programme was formally launched here on Thursday in the presence of representatives from civil society, media, diplomats and UN agencies. Joint Secretary UN and Paris Club, Economic Affairs Division, Muhammad Asif was the chief guest.
The objective of programme is freedom from poverty and freedom to change. The $28 million Danish development programme framework consists of three major components. The first component involves; Stabilisation and Early Recovery of border areas with Afghanistan. Under this component, DANIDA granted UNICEF Pakistan $11 million for provision of education to children affected by the crisis in Khyber Pakhtunkhaw and FATA. The assistance will contribute in rebuilding 473 schools that have been entirely or partially destroyed during the conflict.
To further support the development and democratic process in the conflict area, Demark has pledged $7 million to the Multi Donor Trust Fund (MDTF) which will be working towards the restoration of damaged infrastructure and disrupted services in KPK, Balochistan and FATA.
The second component of the programme, $7 million is for support to the civil society where DANIDA in joint collaboration with local partners will support initiatives that work towards developing good governance, human rights and gender equality. The third is the Global Stabilisation Fund, which carries overall focus on security and justice sector reform. Under this component, Demark has committed $2.2 million to UNO on Drugs and Crime. The objective is to improve border control and the criminal justice system in Pakistan.
Danish Ambassador Wolffhechel in his address said DANIDA officially initiated its development programme in Pakistan in August 2010. The size of the assistance for development projects was increased from $8 million to $28 million for year 2010-2012, he added.
He said that being a development partner of Pakistan, Denmark had been helping government of Pakistan in providing better services to people to make their living more productive. He said the size of DANIDA's development program was 0.9 per cent of total GDP of his country. Identifying media as one of the most important tools in educating on the subjects of democracy and human rights, ambassador said almost 50 per cent of the civil society programmes focus on media development initiatives.
Mohammad Asif appreciated the DANIDA contribution towards the development of the country. However, he expressed the hope that the provincial government of KPK, FATA and Balochistan would be involved in building and rehabilitation of the schools. He further said that like 25 other countries where DANIDA had been executing its projects in direct collaboration with governments, same practice would soon be carried out in Pakistan as well.
Ms Esther Lonstrup, the development counsellor and DANIDA representative for the Pakistan Programme, shared a detailed overview of the DANIDA Pakistan programme and its programme partners. She said DANIDA had been working not only for the welfare of people globally but in its own interest. Our interest of peace and stability would prevail world-wide.
She said initially the Danish development agency will focus on five priority areas. These included freedom, democracy, human rights, growth and employment, gender equality, stability and environment.
One of the DANIDA programme partners, Ahmed Bilal Mehboob, Executive Director PILDAT, presented an overview of the state of democracy in Pakistan. He said democracy in Pakistan was relatively strong at present but it had to take its permanent roots. Ms Tasneem Ahmar presented paper on the importance of mainstreaming women in media to achieve gender equality and women development in Pakistan. Ali Saleem, Country Director of Search for Common Ground (SFCG), presentation was on the role of media in conflict resolution.
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