UN summit: Asif says sustainable development cannot happen while tragedies like Gaza being perpetuated

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has said that no sustainable development can be achieved until tragedies like Gaza are “perpetuated by the developed world”.

In his address at the UN’s Summit of the Future in New York, the minister said that the adoption of the ‘Pact for the Future’ is “an expression of our collective determination to respond to the global challenges of security and development that threaten the present and future generations”.

As per Gaza’s health ministry, since October 2023, over 40,000 people have been killed in the territory in the war between Israel and Palestinian group Hamas.

Moreover, more than 94,000 people have been wounded in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023.

Meanwhile, Asif further said that for more than 100 developing countries, the pact offers an opportunity to revitalise development and to reform the unequal international financial and economic system.

In order to bridge the $4 trillion Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) financing gap, longstanding commitments to Official Development Assistance (ODA) countries must be fulfilled, and the Secretary General’s SDG Stimulus proposal must be implemented, the defence minister said.

“Fifty percent of the unused 2021 allocation of Sustainable Development Reports (SDRs) must be rechanneled,” he said.