CM for more collaboration with international partners to ensure sustainable development

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has emphasised the critical need for collaboration between local and international stakeholders to tackle the province’s multifaceted challenges and pave the way for sustainable and inclusive development.

Officials said the Sindh government and United Nations organised an event to strengthen collaboration with international development partners at local hotel on Thursday. The event was hosted by Planning & Development Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah and attended by representatives from the United Nations and international development partners, ambassadors and provincial government officials, including Chief Secretary Asif Hyder Shah and Planning & Development Board Chairman Najam Shah.

The event focused on Sindh’s development priorities, including governance, infrastructure, public service delivery and climate resilience. In his opening remarks, Murad underscored the urgency of addressing the socioeconomic disparities and environmental vulnerabilities that had hindered Sindh’s progress. He cited the devastating 2022 floods, which submerged 70 per cent of the province and displaced millions as a wake-up call for stronger disaster preparedness and management systems.

“Sindh faces significant challenges, but the opportunities for growth and development are equally immense,” Shah said and added that by combining local expertise with international support, the government could make the province resilient, inclusive and thriving.

He highlighted his government’s strategic priorities, including enhancing governance and transparency, rehabilitating critical infrastructure, mobilising resources for job creation and community empowerment, and strengthening climate resilience and disaster management systems.

He thanked development partners for their unwavering support and stressed the importance of aligning efforts to achieve shared goals. Nisar and Najam presented detailed briefings on the province’s vulnerability to climate change. The event was told that Sindh had endured four major floods since 2010 and severe droughts in recent years, with the 2022 floods alone affecting over 12.36 million people and causing an estimated $11.57 billion in damages.

The CM emphasised the urgent need for investments in climate-resilient housing for 2.1 million flood-affected families along with infrastructure restoration, including 799 water supply schemes and 444 drainage project.

He also spoke about the need for investing in education as 5.6 million children were out of school. The CM said agriculture needed to be improved with crop varieties and water reservoirs construction and renewable energy should be tapped and for that purpose several solar, wind and waste-to-energy projects were under way.

The Sindh Climate Change Policy 2022, the CM noted, was a key framework for addressing the climate challenges, but significant funding gaps remained hindering its effective implementation.

International development partners had already pledged $5.67 billion, including $861 million in grants, to support 57 projects across health, education and infrastructure, the event was told.

It was said that the Sindh government had also mobilised local resources to provide interest-free loans for small businesses, aiming to empower 16,000 entrepreneurs in 12 districts. The CM highlighted the importance of scaling up vocational training programmes, improving public service delivery and fostering partnerships to create impactful and scalable interventions.

The dialogue concluded with a commitment to strengthen partnerships and align efforts for a sustainable future. Murad expressed optimism about Sindh’s trajectory, urging all the stakeholders to turn challenges into opportunities. “Together, we can build Sindh that is prosperous, resilient, and a model for sustainable development,” he said.