KARACHI, Nov 30: The provincial annual review meeting of the Unicef-assisted activities in Sindh for the year 2004 was jointly organized by Sindh Planning and Development Department and the Unicef at a local hotel here on Tuesday.

Sindh Minister for Planning and Development Shoaib Ahmed Bokhari presided over the meeting. Among others, the meeting was attended by Dr Rafah Aziz and Raana Syed of the Unicef, additional chief secretary planning and development, additional chief secretary social welfare, secretary education, secretary planning and development and senior officers from the education, health, social welfare, local government and planning and development departments, besides representatives from key civil society stake holders.

Addressing the meeting, Shoaib Bokhari said that Sindh government was fully committed to improve the conditions of people in Sindh, especially children and women. He said several initiatives were in hand in different sectors, which were aimed to have a positive impact on social development indicators for Sindh.

He appreciated the support provided by the Unicef to the provincial government programmes for primary education, maternal and child health, safe water and environmental sanitation, child protection and empowerment of adolescents as well as planning, monitoring and evaluation.

The minister was critical that sometimes the support provided to different programmes by the UN agencies and donors did not result in any direct improvement for the beneficiaries.

He observed that there had been emphasis on achieving better results for children and women however, it was also important that the number of beneficiaries was monitored.

Shoaib Bukhari observed that number of beneficiaries achieved in 2004 was not too high. However, it was a beginning and it could be hoped that in future the number would increase.

He described Unicef's efforts in close collaboration with sectoral departments and regular sharing of information with planning and development department appreciable. It was important that key partners should be fully informed at each stage for achieving good results, he added.

In his concluding remarks, Shoaib Bokhari emphasized on the need for strict monitoring and coordination, production of results as planned, as well as expanding activities on a larger scale so that other areas can also be benefited.

Additional Chief Secretary Ghulam Sarwar Khero appreciated the support extended by the Unicef to the Sindh government in key social sectors including health, education, social welfare, planning and development, and local government.

He reiterated the government's commitment to continue working towards improving the condition of people, especially children and women. Representing Unicef, Dr Rafah Aziz thanked the government of Sindh for organizing the review meeting.

She especially thanked the Minister for Planning and Development, Shoaib Ahmad Bokhari for his presence, which she remarked was a clear indication of the commitment of Sindh government towards fulfilment of the rights of children and women in Sindh.

Dr Aziz informed the participants about Unicef support to the government through five-year countrywide programme cycles and said the current cycle covered the period from 2004 to 2008.

She also thanked the planning and development department for its efforts to coordinate the Unicef assisted activities in the province. Chief Economist Muhammad Ali Khashkhaly informed participants of the meeting that Sindh lagged behind in all social indicators as compared to other provinces. He said that there was utmost need to work together for improving the conditions.

He mentioned several opportunities which could help improve the conditions including Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, Education Sector Reforms and strengthening the routine immunization services.

He also mentioned the Sindh government's resolve to further strengthen the social sectors through better management, monitoring and involvement of civil society organizations.

Later, the representatives of education, health, social welfare, local government gave detailed presentations of achievements made during the year 2004 and proposed future directions for the next year.

During discussions, the participants emphasized the need for strengthening coordination among health, education and local government departments as well as increased involvement of the civil society in the development endeavours.

In her comments about the future plan, Raana Syed of the Unicef thanked all the line departments, civil society members for their support and highlighted the steps being planned for the next year. She told the participants that national review meeting with the federal government would be held in Islamabad on Dec 16, 2004. -APP