“There was never a good war, or a bad peace”- Benjamin Franklin. With that being said, Pakistan gets applauded for its contribution in establishing solidarity and compassion, by hosting Afghan refugees.
The world, however, should follow in the footsteps of Pakistan in order to establish peace on a global level, said UN Secretary-General António Guterres, at the International Conference, Islamabad.
source: unnews
Pakistan Creating A Benchmark In Establishing Peace!
Since, 1979, Pakistan has been the top country to provide refuge to refugees from other countries, especially Afghanistan. “Even though major conflicts have erupted in other parts of the globe. Moreover, the refugee population has soared, Pakistan today is still the world’s second-largest refugee-hosting country,” said Mr. Guterres.
Besides that, the UN chief addressed Pakistan’s Foreign Minister, Shah Mehmood Qureshi saying: “Pakistan has provided the world with a global public good supporting Afghan refugees. Moreover, it’s time for the international community to assume its responsibilities, and to support Pakistan very meaningfully.”
Underlining the facts that, Pakistan alongside Iran has been hosting around 90 percent of the Afghan refugees. Despite the challenges Pakistan faced, the country has been using innovative technology to protect its refugees. This initiative, however, is considered a good practice. “We must recognize that international support for Pakistan is minimal compared to your own national efforts. As we look to the challenges ahead, the global community must step up,” added UN chief Guterres.
With that, he highlighted, Pakistan providing biometric registration, national education system access, health care, and economic inclusion.
Hope For Afghanistan
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi also shed light on the matter. Unquestionably, the solution to the refugee problem lied in Afghanistan as always. He added that: “More than 400,000 people were displaced within the country last year alone, by conflict, drought, and other natural hazards; and just 8,000 refugees were able to return home through the voluntary repatriation program.”
However, with these problems, refugees cannot be abandoned. Therefore, the work that is done voluntarily to repatriate the refugees by Pakistan and Iran is commendable. “Peace efforts leading to intra-Afghan negotiations will pave the way. But sustainable peace and security hinge on better integrating our work on humanitarian, development and peace efforts. Done right, this work can be a model for the rest of the world.” concluded the UN chief.
source: unnews
Fortifying The ‘Exertion Of Peacekeeping’
Besides that, it was also highlighted that Pakistan is the sixth-largest contributor of troops and police. There is more than 4,000 uniformed personnel serving in nine United Nations peace operations. Moreover, the country was the first one to endorse the Declaration of Shared Commitments on Action for Peace, short for A4P.
However, the A4P is not only limited to partnership amplification, but it also shed light on the role of women in peacekeeping missions. Nevertheless, the country had deployed its first-ever Pakistani Female Engagement Team in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
“Pakistan is a leader in championing women peacekeepers and an example for other troop contributors.” said the Secretary-General. Above all, this inspires countless other Pakistani women to work on vocational training, medical outreach and psychological support. Moreover, Mr. Guterres concluded about the women as peacekeepers by saying that: “They can do things that we, men, are not able to do – gain the confidence and create conditions for more effective action of our peacekeeping units.”
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