Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has emphasized the critical need for cooperation between local and international stakeholders to tackle the multifaceted challenges of the province and pave the way for sustainable and inclusive development.
The Sindh government and the United Nations organized an event at a local hotel on Thursday to strengthen cooperation with international development partners, officials said. The event was hosted by Planning and Development Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah and was attended by representatives of the United Nations and international development partners, ambassadors and provincial government officials including Chief Secretary Asif Haider Shah and Planning and Development Board Chairman Najam Shah. attended.
The event focused on Sindh’s development priorities, including governance, infrastructure, public service delivery and climate resilience. In his opening remarks, Murad emphasized the urgent need to address the socio-economic disparities and environmental threats that hinder Sindh’s development. He cited the devastating 2022 floods, which inundated 70 percent of the province and displaced millions, as a wake-up call to strengthen disaster preparedness and management systems.
“Sindh faces significant challenges, but the opportunities for growth and development are equally immense,” Shah said, adding that by combining local expertise with international cooperation, the government has made the province a resilient, inclusive And can make it flourish.
He highlighted his government’s strategic priorities, including enhancing governance and transparency, rehabilitating critical infrastructure, mobilizing resources for job creation and community empowerment, and strengthening climate resilience and disaster management systems. .
He thanked development partners for their unwavering support and emphasized the importance of coordinating efforts to achieve common goals. Nisar and Najam gave a detailed briefing on the dangers of the province regarding climate change. Sindh has experienced four major floods since 2010 and severe drought in recent years, the 2022 floods alone affected more than 12.36 million people and caused an estimated loss of $11.57 billion, the event said. delivered
The Chief Minister emphasized the urgent need for infrastructure rehabilitation including 799 water supply schemes and 444 drainage projects as well as investment in climate resilient housing for 2.1 million flood-affected families.
He also spoke about the need to invest in education as 5.6 million children are out of school. The Chief Minister said that agriculture needs to be improved with crop varieties and water reservoirs should be constructed and renewable energy should be used and for this purpose several projects of solar, wind and waste to energy are under implementation.
The Sindh Climate Change Policy 2022, the Chief Minister noted, was a key framework for addressing climate challenges, but significant funding gaps continued to hamper its effective implementation.
International development partners had already pledged $5.67 billion to support 57 health, education and infrastructure projects, including $861 million in grants, the event was told.
It said the Sindh government has also mobilized local resources to provide interest-free loans for small businesses, with the aim of empowering 16,000 entrepreneurs across 12 districts. The Chief Minister highlighted the importance of fostering partnerships to scale up vocational training programmes, improve public service delivery and create effective and scalable interventions.
The talks concluded with a commitment to strengthen partnerships and coordinate efforts for a sustainable future. Murad expressed optimism about Sindh’s momentum and urged all stakeholders to turn challenges into opportunities. He said that together we can make Sindh a model of prosperous, resilient and sustainable development.