Media Update: United Nations Pakistan, 11 September 2020

THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

MESSAGE ON UNITED NATIONS DAY FOR SOUTH-SOUTH COOPERATION

12 September 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic is devastating lives and livelihoods around the world. It poses the greatest risks to developing countries and to vulnerable people and communities.

As we mark this year’s United Nations Day for South-South Cooperation, we are highlighting the power of the Global South to support and advance sustainable development, even during these challenging times.

Southern countries are demonstrating the spirit of South-South cooperation, equal partnership and global solidarity during the pandemic, by collaborating in science, technology and innovation, delivering medical supplies, providing financial resources, sending health workers and experts to bridge gaps in capacity, and sharing best practices.

South-South and triangular cooperation must also have a central place in our preparations for a strong recovery. They can never replace official development assistance, or the responsibilities of the global North set out in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda and the Paris Agreement. But we will need the full contributions and cooperation of the Global South to build more resilient economies and societies, and implement the Sustainable Development Goals.

The United Nations is playing its part in supporting South-South and triangular cooperation through the pandemic, by fast-tracking financial allocations for developing countries as they cooperate with each other and with development banks and agencies.

As we look beyond the immediate crisis, the United Nations will continue to stand with the Global South.

Let us coordinate our efforts to scale up Southern development successes, share them widely through enhanced cooperation, build a strong recovery and achieve the SDGs by 2030.

Thank you.

***

UNHCR

PRESS RELEASE

 UNHCR steps up efforts to support flood-affected refugees and Pakistani communities

ISLAMABAD, 11 September 2020: UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, has stepped up efforts to support hundreds of Afghan refugee and Pakistani families affected by severe rainfall and flooding in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh provinces.

According to government’s estimates, more than 190 people were killed, and thousands of homes were washed away in flooding across the country.

The UN Refugee Agency is working with local authorities and partners to assist the most vulnerable families – badly affected by the flooding. Core relief items are being distributed to the affected Afghan refugees and Pakistani communities.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, UNHCR, Commissionerate for Afghan Refugees, (CAR) and refugee elders conducted a joint assessment. Emergency supplies such as tents, blankets, tarpaulins and kitchen sets are being provided to the most vulnerable Afghan refugee families in nine districts of the province.   

UNHCR has already handed over 2,000 blankets, 2,000 sleeping mates, 1,000 jerrycans and 1000 plastic sheets to the National Disaster Management Authority for onward distribution to Pakistani communities in Karachi and other parts of the Sindh province. 

“These emergency supplies will enable the vulnerable Afghan refugees and Pakistani communities to meet their immediate needs,” said Ms. Noriko Yoshida, UNHCR Representative in Pakistan.

Ms. Yoshida said that Pakistan has witnessed multiple challenges this year such as severe rainfall, flooding as well as the COVID-19 pandemic. “Our support and efforts are in solidarity with Pakistan and its people who have been hosting Afghan refugees for more than 40 years,” she said.

“In the same spirit, we also helped millions of Pakistanis during different emergencies in Pakistan in the past,” she added.

ENDS

Caption of the pictures: UNHCR team distributing core relief items to rain-affected Afghan refugees in Kohat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. (C) UNHCR/Jamal Khalid

Media contact

Qaiser Khan Afridi - +92 300 5018696 - afridiq@unhcr.org