NEW YORK: Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal urged the UN on Tuesday to “champion” the issue of Ukraine-Russia war to protect the developing countries, including Pakistan, from the shocks of supply chain issues, which, he said, was delaying the progress of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In his virtual address to an event titled ‘Mobilising the private sector for the Sust­ainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs)’, the minister said that developing countries are facing extreme economic situation due to high commodity pri­c­es in the international markets.

High commodity prices have also created a financial burden for the private sector, curtailing their ability to finance SDG programmes, he added.

He also stressed the need for a relief package for the developing countries to enable the private sector to contribute towards achieving the SDG targets.

Published in Dawn, July 13th, 2022