DNA

Paris 8^th July, 2020 –  The Ambassador of Pakistan to France and Permanent Representative of Pakistan to UNESCO Mr. Moin ul Haque has called upon UNESCO to reject policies pursued by certain countries to exploit COVID 19 health crisis to stigmatize some ethnic and religious minorities in their countries in contravention of the principles and values of UN Charter and international humanitarian law.

This was stated by him while addressing the 209^th virtual session of UNESCO Executive Board conducted by UNESCO headquarter, Paris last week.

The Ambassador lamented the flawed and exclusionary policies of certain countries to curb the fundamental human rights of people and communities in a systematic and brutal manner.

He emphasized that the UNESCO members countries should continue to promote peace, tolerance and respect for diversity and universal human rights, and should strongly reject any form of racism, discrimination, stereotyping and prejudice.

He assured the UNESCO Executive board members that Pakistan would continue to play an active and constructive role through dialogue and collective action in the spirit of multilateralism to build mutual trust and collaboration to achieve UNESCO’s goals.