ISLAMABAD: Access to education for marginalised segments of society in Pakistan has increased significantly to 103,000 children during the past year, said a report by the United Nation titled Pakistan One UN Programme Ii Annual Report 2016, released on Wednesday. “Expanded access to education for 103,000 marginalised children and adolescents – 46% of whom are girls – offered vulnerable youngsters a chance to learn, including through Alternative Learning Programmes,” the report stated. It added that in the year, “improved flood forecasting and early warning capacities in 40 districts bolstered preparedness, as did UN support for a new National Disaster Risk Reduction Policy, Management Plan and School Safety Framework”. “Increasingly transparent electoral processes were heralded through GIS mapping of polling stations and training for 600,000 polling staff. Promoting women’s participation – as leaders and voters – was fundamental, as was our focus on decentralised governance, civil service reform, migration oversight and urban management,” it added. It said that legislative landmarks on women’s rights paved the way towards their full economic, social, legal and political participation – from Punjab’s Protection of Women against Violence Bill to Sindh’s Home-Based Workers Policy and Balochistan’s Protection against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act. “Marginalised groups gained a voice through trailblazing networks and collectives, like the Women Lawyers’ Association, Punjab’s Domestic Workers’ Union, Sindh’s Agricultural and Fisheries Union, an HIV Positive Female Network (POFEN) and Gender and Disability Electoral Working Groups.” According to the report, expanded access to HIV services improved the lives of people living with HIV – particularly women and transgender individuals. It said that 17,230 people accessed HIV-related services – 30% more than last year. “The risk of parent-to-child transmission was curbed thanks to a new Early Infant Diagnosis of HIV System, expanded Anti-Retroviral Treatment and improved capacity among health care professionals. Integrated Behavioural Surveillance in 23 cities provided an evidence-base for HIV policies.” Under the head of nutrition, it stated that UN agencies worked to tackle the root causes of malnutrition, curbing thousands of cases of stunting across Sindh by training Lady Health Workers, raising awareness and providing specialised nutritious food. “Some 2.4 million children and women were reached through the Community-based Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) initiative, while 280,530 students – nearly half of whom are girls – experienced better nutrition and learning outcomes thanks to on-site school feeding.” It also stated that the security operations in FATA triggered the displacement of 1.6 million people. “In 2016, 227,300 families returned home. Similarly, of the 1.3 million Afghan refugees in Pakistan – the largest protracted refugee population in the world – 381,275 refugees and 250,000 undocumented Afghans returned to Afghanistan.” “Our results in 2016 belong to many contributors. On behalf of the UN family in Pakistan, I would like to thank our government counterparts at all levels, our civil society and development partners, and most of all, the people of Pakistan. As we celebrate our achievements, we reflect on the work that lies ahead. We are entering a new era. We must continue to work together, placing the maxim of “leaving no one behind” at the heart of our sustainable development efforts – for the sake of people, planet and prosperity for all,” said Mr Neil Buhne, the UN resident coordinator in Pakistan. “This year witnessed the dawn of the 2030 Agenda, whose Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a clarion call for transformation – a pledge to transform lives and protect our planet. The government of Pakistan has heeded this call, embracing the SDGs as Pakistan’s own development goals. As a UN team, we are supporting the government to localise these goals, so that they truly transform the lives of all Pakistanis and the environment in which they live. By delivering together as “One UN”, we achieved greater efficiency and greater impacts,” he added. Published in Daily Times, July 27th 2017.