Qaiser Ahmed Shaikh apprecited the role of UN bodies in Pakistan in meeting with UNRC
Islamabad : Mohamed Yahya, United Nations Resident Coordinator (UNRC), called on Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs Qaiser Ahmed Shaikh. Geir Tonstol, representative of International Labor Organization, also participated in the meeting. The minister welcomed both guest on their arrival in ministry of maritime affairs. Discussion started from maritime sector, the minister said that International Maritime Organization (IMO) of United Nations and Ministry of Maritime Affairs are working collectively to address the issues of Pakistan’s maritime sector.
The minister added that Pakistan’s maritime industry is transforming to environment friendly model in order to achive the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) under United Nations Development Programs. Qasiser Ahmed Shaikh said that for this purpose we are focusing on aquaculture, electric and hybrid vessels and route optimization and digitalization. He further told that federal government and all provincial governments are focusing on SDGs because we are facing the issue of smog and other types of pollution, and we are very keen to improve our air quality index.
Talking about labor rights in Pakistan, the minister said that government is working to strengthen labor courts. He added that all federal ministeries including maritime ministry are paying their contract employees and daily wagers as per set international standards. The minister accepted that as a developing country we have issue of labor rights violation especially in far fluing areas. Qaiser Shaikh said that the provinicial labor departments are cooperating with International Labor Organization (ILO) in order to protect the rights of workers.
The federal minister commended on the role of office of UNRC during 2022 floods. He said that it was a very difficult time for Pakistan because 33 million people were affected from this natural disaster. He admired that UNRC really helped us during this time in terms of funding and human resources, and collectively we are still working to revive the flood affected areas
