Pakistan urges global action to assist over 300 mln people under foreign occupation & climate impacts
UNITED NATIONS: Warning that the humanitarian crises facing the world pose existential threats, Pakistan has called for addressing root causes of the emergencies ranging from foreign occupation to climate action for the assistance and protection of millions of affected people around the globe.
“Conflicts have reached levels not seen since 1945, affecting nearly 308.5 million people in need of humanitarian assistance and protection,” Ambassador Usman Jadoon, acting permanent representative of Pakistan to the UN, told the General Assembly on Monday.
Speaking in a debate on “Humanitarian Assistance”, the Pakistani envoy commended the work of the UN aid agencies and personnel in dealing with humanitarian emergencies globally, especially UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, for it’s “unyielding determination” to conduct life-saving work in Gaza, despite the loss of 228 of the agency’s staff members since Oct 7 2023.
Pakistan strongly condemns the Israeli attempts to dismantle UNRWA’s operations in flagrant violation of the UN Charter, international law, provisional measures set by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the Court’s Advisory Opinion of 19 July 2024, he said, while voicing solidarity with the Palestinian people,
“UNRWA remains essential to protecting this right and delivering essential services to refugees across the region,” Ambassador Jadoon said.
“While the death toll is rising due to the daily atrocity crimes being committed by the Israeli regime against the innocent Palestinian people; hospitals, mosques, churches, schools and other purely civilian infrastructure have also not been spared.”
The Pakistani envoy called on all countries to act urgently to put an end to the crimes being committed by the Israeli occupation forces against the Palestinian people, and take measures aimed at reversing Israel’s unlawful occupation of Palestinian territory.
Noting that climate change was one of the exceptional challenges, Ambassador Jadoon referred to the recent drought, floods, cyclones, heatwaves, increased temperatures and other intense weather events that had devastating impacts, including on livelihoods, food insecurity, health outcomes, disease outbreaks and displacement.
Disasters disproportionately affected women and children, older persons, persons with disabilities, displaced persons, poor and other marginalized people, the least developed countries and countries experiencing protracted conflicts, and erode their resilience to future shocks, he said, highlighting the recent humanitarian emergencies Pakistan had faced from natural disasters and climate related events.
To meet the situation, Ambassador Jadoon called for strengthening the implementation of international humanitarian law and enforcement of Geneva Conventions must be ensured in conflict situations, including situations of foreign occupation in Palestine and and Kashmir.
He stressed the need for mobilizing resources for humanitarian assistance, with the involvement of international financial institutions using new and innovative financing mechanism.
Finally, he said, member States, the UN agencies and humanitarian organizations should scale up their efforts to prevent, mitigate and respond to disasters, including the humanitarian impacts of climate change, and accelerate adaptation and resilience-building efforts through humanitarian preparedness and response, strengthening early warning action systems and systemic risk reduction approaches.
“Without addressing these crises, we can neither protect our current generations nor will we be able to safeguard the well-being of our future generations,” the Pakistani envoy said.
“The clock is ticking and the time to act is now.”
