LAHORE - Denmark has approved grant of US$ 1.6 million to help the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in North Waziristan and Khyber Agency.
Speaking at Meet the Press Program of Lahore Press Club on Saturday, Ambassador of Denmark in Pakistan Jesper Moller Sorensen said that the contribution, which would be provided through UNCHR, had a special focus on women and children. He said that his country had been expanding its activities in Pakistan in recent years.
“Since the summer of 2013, the Danish Embassy has been working to increase business ties between Denmark and Pakistan. Several new Danish companies are now engaged in Pakistan in various sectors, for instance in the energy and dairy sectors”, the Danish envoy said.
"Denmark has 40 years of experience in transitioning from a fossil-based economy to renewable energy. For instance, Denmark has become a global leader in wind energy. In 2014, 42 per cent of power in Denmark is generated by wind power. A major Danish wind company is now focused on the energy sector in Pakistan", he continued.
Jesper Moller said that the real potential for trade between two countries was higher than the current trade volume of around $425 million. He also underscored Denmark's significant development assistance. The current program has a total budget of US$ 50 million.
"A major chunk of our assistance is directed toward Fata, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. In the educational sector, where we focus particularly on primary education, we have seen positive results from our engagement, which is part of Unicef's country program. More than 165,000 girls and boys are now going to school due to the Danish funding,” he said.
He said that promoting gender equality and human rights were consistent features in all Denmark's development and humanitarian assistance programs. He informed that Denmark had actively been supporting gender equality and women rights programs in Pakistan since 2010.
“In collaboration with Oxfam and Pakistani partners, we recently launched a new gender initiative with a country-wide focus. Our support to work on gender equality is based on a rights-based approach that focuses on improving women's access to rights, to resources and to influence,” he said.
The ambassador said that Denmark would launch a new media support program and a culture program later this spring. He said that stability in South Asia was very important to Denmark.
“The Danish government has decided to continue support to stability and peace in the region. Within the next couple of weeks, we will have a team coming from Copenhagen to help us formulate the next phase of this program. We have established strong partnerships with several Pakistani partners, for instance the National Defence University. We will build on these experiences in the next phase,” he informed.
Speaking about terrorism and last month's terror attack on a school in Peshawar, he said that it was the most devastating act. “People of Pakistan have suffered more than any other nation in the world from terrorism. Denmark supports the people of Pakistan in its fight against terrorism,” he stated.