ISLAMABAD: In contrast to US mantra to Do More, the Danish government has jumped into stabilize Pakistan economically by launching its development program for Pakistan under the banner of Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA).
The government of Denmark is contributing USD-28 Million for democratic development, regional stability, human rights and gender equality. The programme will be a two-year program and the first phase of a long-term development cooperation between Pakistan and Denmark.
The DANIDA Pakistan program was officially launched at a prestigious ceremony hosted by Danish Ambassador, Uffe Wolffhechel on Thursday. The event was attended by large representatives from the civil society, media, diplomatic core and UN agencies. Muhammad Asif, Joint Secretary UN & Paris club, Economic Affairs Division, ministry of Foreign Affairs was the chief guest.
During his speech the Danish Ambassador, “Wolffhechel highlighted that the aim of the Danish development programme was to contribute to development and stability in Pakistan and support peace building in the region. The past few years have been extraordinary challenging for Pakistan. There have been challenges on security, political and economic fronts. These challenges have crucial implications for the country’s security as well as its economic development” said the ambassador.
Wolffhechel also said that was surely very difficult to achieve tangible development results without progressive economy. He said “To achieve a progressive economy, Pakistan needs to meet a lot of the current challenges, including achieving peace, justice and security for its 180 million people. Pakistan is no doubt facing a lot of challenges, which is why the government of Denmark has extended its support to work together with Pakistan in curbing these challenges through the support of development.
The USD 28 million Danish development program framework consists of three major components. The first component involves Stabilization and Early Recovery border areas with Afghanistan, which is multilateral channel that will support the Government of Pakistan in restoring infrastructure, services and livelihoods in the country’s conflict-affected border areas.
The second component of the framework program, USD 7 million is for support to the Civil Society, where DANIDA in the joint collaboration with local partners will support initiatives that work towards developing good governance, human rights and gender equality.
The third component – the Global Stabilization Fund- carries overall focus on security and justice sector reform. Under this component, Denmark has committed USD 2.2 Million to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.