‘Collective efforts must to address pandemic, climate change issues’

Islamabad : European Union (EU) Ambassador to Pakistan Androulla Kaminara Sunday said collective and focused efforts were required to address the international issues particularly COVID-19 and climate change.

She said while talking to this agency, the United Nations (UN) was the only platform to respond to global issues accordingly.

Since its inception the world body, she said, had provided all possible assistance to many countries during the conflicts and crisis times and it had also tried its best to bring the under-developed and developing countries at par with advanced countries.

Ambassador Kaminara said, “The EU is a strong supporter of multilaterism and believes that multilateral cooperation is key to peace, human rights and development.”

The EU and its member states, she said, were one of the biggest donors and providing almost a quarter in the total UN s funds for humanitarian support, fighting climate change, upholding human rights and conflict prevention and resolution.

To a query, she said the EU and UN agencies such as; the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the International Labour Organization (ILO), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) were extending their services in various sectors including education, food security, environment, counter-terrorism, and short and medium term response to the COVID-19 in Pakistan.

She said the EU had accounted EUR172 million, 30 percent of its total development budget for Pakistan.