The UN System welcomes the opportunity to participate in the Pakistan Development Forum 2001. The level of representation by the Government of Pakistan at this gathering is a strong indicator of the importance which the Government places on its relations with the donor community. These problems have a human face. The country is confronted with an acute problem of unemployment and underemployment. High population growth compounded by the inability of its economy to generate more employment opportunities and discrepancy between supply and demand of skilled human resources exacerbate this problem.
Poverty is on the rise in Pakistan.
In 2000, the Government of Pakistan began to consult its development partners on the preparation of Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper. The UN group also argued that results could only be achieved when poverty reduction initiatives are backed up with core investment in people that remains immune from other competing priorities of the Government. The efforts of the Planning Commission to provide a twenty-five year vision for poverty elimination withPlanning Commission goals, targets and instruments, are commendable. The UN welcomes the adoption of a rolling planning approach as evidenced in the Three-Year Plan and Poverty Reduction Strategy. However given the recent track record, the we found that some of the targets adopted in the vision 2025 are highly ambitious and may be difficult to achieve.