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ISLAMABAD, 16 December 2022 – UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, on Friday welcomed a contribution of US$5.6 million from the Government of Switzerland. This contribution will be directly aimed at addressing the education and livelihood needs of refugees and host communities in Pakistan, over a four-year period.
In a unique venture, Swiss Development Cooperation South and Swiss Humanitarian Aid have joined forces in coordination with the Swiss State Secretariat for Migration to pilot multi-year funding and combine development and humanitarian funding sources – with UNHCR Pakistan being the first recipient of such blended funding.
The Swiss contribution is concentrated on refugee and Pakistani children and youth, in order to ensure their right to quality education, participation, protection and improved prospects for life and work. This includes improving school infrastructure, removing financial barriers to school attendance and supporting children at risk of dropping out, including girls and children with special needs, to access quality education.
Through this partnership, which will be implemented in the provinces of Balochistan, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, as well as Islamabad, UNHCR will also seek to build capacity and create opportunities for Afghan refugees and host communities to achieve self-reliance, through vocational and business training and support to start-ups. , which will serve men and women for life.
“The signing of the funding agreement between UNHCR and Swiss Development Cooperation comes at a time of unprecedented need for refugees and host communities in Pakistan, requiring innovative, comprehensive and international collaborative action,” noted UNHCR Representative in Pakistan Noriko Yoshi. “This four-year initiative provides efficient, effective and predictable support to programs that have the power to change lives.”
Livelihoods and education programs also help host community members as part of an international effort under the Afghan Refugee Solutions Strategy to increase contributions to communities that have generously shared their resources with refugees for decades.
“It is essential that after 40 years of accepting refugees, Pakistani communities continue to see international contributions to the local services and people who have generously hosted refugees all this time,” noted Mr. Georg Steiner, Ambassador of Switzerland to Pakistan.
THE END
Media contact:
Kaiser Khan Afridi, UNHCR spokesperson, +92-300-5018696
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