UN spending $10m on nutrition in Balochistan
By Our Staff Reporter :
United Nations Resident Coordinator, Julien Harneis on Thursday said UN agencies were spending $10 million on nutrition and food security in Balochistan to mitigate the impacts of drought, floods, and COVID19. This is a short term strategy and planning to support the people within the next year, he said in an interview with the daily Quetta Voice the other day.
Children under the age of five years belonging to vulnerable communities would be supported in terms of nutrition, he stated. There would also be work on maternal health in Balochistan by the UN agencies. Locusts attacks, drought, floods, earthquakes pose a serious threat to the lives of people in the region, he mentioned.
UN Resident Coordinator visits different districts of Balochistan
The UN Resident Coordinator visited the Chaghi, Noshki, and Dalbandin areas of Balochistan and met with vulnerable communities and discussed their issues. Mr. Julien said the UN agencies were spending $10 million to support the people belonging to poor and marginalized families.
The European Union, FAO, and government projects worth 50 million dollars were aimed at improving livestock, agriculture, and water management sectors in different parts of Balochistan, he said. “This was medium, and long-term project to change lives of the people within the next five years”, Mr. Harneish stated.
“Depleting water table in Chaghi and Dalbandin is worrying”, Mr. Harneis stated. “We extend all possible support to the government to maintain the depleting water table”, he said.
Pakistan deserves appreciation for fencing the Pak-Afghan border
He said Pakistan’s government deserves to be appreciated for fencing the border with Afghanistan and it is good for Pakistan. However, this has created economic problems for the people living on both sides of the border. Through, a 10 million dollars program, we will also support some targeted communities living in the bordering areas with Afghanistan too, he added.
Mr. Harneis pinned high hopes to the return of peace in Afghanistan and said that it will be having far-reaching positive impacts on peace and development in Pakistan and the Central Asian States.
The UN Resident Coordinator stated that UN agencies were determined to support the government to cope with environmental issues, increasing child and mother mortality rates in the province.
The UN coordinator spoke at length about UN agencies’ commitment and the plight of the people in the region and assured that all-out efforts would be made to support the vulnerable communities.
UN spending $10m on nutrition in Balochistan
