Islamabad: Danish Ambassador Ole E.Moesby has said that Denmark is strongly committed to extend support to Pakistan in its efforts to consolidate democracy and support social and economic development in the country.
”The Government of Denmark is seeking to extend its development cooperation with Pakistan, says Danish Ambassador Mr. Ole E. Moesby who along with a delegation visiting from Copenhagen met with Mr. Afzal Latif, Joint Secretary of the Economic Affairs Division (EAD)
During the meeting, the Danish delegation briefed the EAD on the current development program for Pakistan. “Denmark is an active member of the group ‘Friends of Democratic Pakistan’, and we believe that Pakistan -despite of the current challenges – holds great potential in converting the challenges to new opportunities, and this is where we believe we can jointly work together as partners” said the Danish Ambassador, Mr. Moesby.
The Danish Ambassador further said that “Pakistan has a very vibrant and dynamic civil society and media, who together are playing a strong role in promoting social and economic reforms required to further improve Pakistan’s socio-economic development. We would like to continue our partnership with the Government of Pakistan as well as the civil society to support Pakistan to achieve these goals in the years to come”.
Mr. Anders Baltzer Jorgensen, Technical Advisor of Danida, shared that the delegation’s visit was aimed at reviewing the new development program proposal for Pakistan for 2013-2016, and that the team had been meeting with various stakeholders to assess, which areas of interventions would benefit Pakistan the most in terms of social and economic development.
The Government of Denmark launched its first phase of development cooperation with Pakistan in 2010 under the banner of its international development agency (Danida).
The program has been focusing on providing quality education to children in conflict affected areas through UNICEF, reconstruction of infrastructure and delivery services in Fata, KPK and Balochistan through support to the Multi Donor Trust Fund.
Additionally, Danida is also working with the civil society in Pakistan within the areas of democratic development, human rights and gender equality.