Zubair Qureshi
Islamabad
The German government has made available 6.5 million euros to support two bilateral technical cooperation measures in Pakistan.
According to a press releases issued by the embassy of Germany in Islamabad, in times of crisis, solidarity is more important than ever! This is why the German government has come forward to mitigate socio-economic effects of Covid-19 on Pakistan.
Firstly, and in view of the challenges the world has to face due to Covid-19, Germany as part of #TeamEurope decided to upscale its support to local Pakistani governments in their fight against the pandemic.
Therefore, the German government has made available 0.5 million euros to promote activities that contribute to mitigating socio-economic effects of the pandemic on a local level.
The statement further says in these testing times it is more important than ever to focus on the vulnerable parts of society. Therefore, Germany will commit 6 million euros to support Pakistani communities which host Afghan refugees to improve local health and education services.
The projects will be implemented by the German development organization Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Ambassador Bernhard Schlagheck underlined on the occasion “Covid-19 has shaken the world unexpectedly – and we will continue to feel the socio-economic consequences of the virus for quite a long-time.
Expressing solidarity with each other during these trying times is the responsibility of us all. The pandemic highlighted the importance of access to health and education and stressed the necessity to support the weakest parts of society. Germany is looking forward to supporting Pakistan in its efforts to overcome the crisis and to build back better – fora more sustainable future, said Ambassador Bernhard Schlagheck.
Pakistan and Germany look back on several decades of successful bilateral development cooperation since 1961. The current portfolio encompasses more than 500 million euros in the areas of Renewable Energy and Climate Change, Sustainable Economic Development and Good Governance.