The Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) have signed an MoU to collaborate on many initiatives to promote the economic empowerment of marginalized people and make progress towards achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Pakistan. Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawri, President ICCI, and Abdullah A. Fadil, UNICEF Representative Pakistan signed the MoU during a ceremony held at ICCI.
Speaking on the occasion, Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry lauded the efforts of UNICEF Pakistan to address issues in health, education, child protection, skills development, climate change, nutrition, water, sanitation, hygiene and social protection and other fields. He assured that ICCI would support UNICEF in its initiatives to advance children’s rights and economic empowerment of neglected segments of society. He said that ICCI would mobilize its members to support UNICEF and facilitate partnerships between ICCI members and UNICEF in areas of interest for the well-being and welfare of poor people.
Abdullah A. Fadil, UNICEF Representative in Pakistan thanked ICCI for signing the MoU and added that UNICEF Pakistan would like to strengthen its cooperation with ICCI to undertake joint initiatives in the areas of education, youth entrepreneurship, climate change, and others. He said that UNICEF will provide technical support to ICCI in sensitizing the business community for better protection of children’s rights and bringing out-of-school children to the formal education system.
ICCI and UNICEF will advocate jointly for the formulation of conducive policies and regulatory frameworks for creating an enabling environment to promote business and investment activities, empower marginalized people of society, and improve their living standards.
Engr. Azhar ul Islam Zafar Vice President ICCI, Khalid Iqbal Malik Group Leader, Zafar Bakhtawariformer President ICI & Secretary General UBG Pakistan, Ms. Josiane Khoury Partnerships Manager UNICEF, Faseeh Ullah Khan, Maqsood Tabish, Raja Muhammad Imtiaz, Sheikh Muhammad Ejaz, Ch. Muhammad Ali, Khalid Chaudhry and others were also present on the occasion.
Sub Editor: Arslan Majeed