NEW YORK: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Pakistan government for its Ehsaas initiative, under which it will provide $200 million in 2020 for poverty alleviation programmes.
The MoU was signed by both parties in a meeting held in New York on Wednesday.
The signing ceremony, wherein Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Poverty Alleviation Sania Nishtar and Foundation’s President of Global Development Chris Elias inked the MoU, was witnessed by Prime Minister Imran Khan and Microsoft founder Bill Gates.
PM Imran Khan said Ehsaas is the biggest anti-poverty project, it has been planned with a great deal of attention to detail. I’m pleased that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will assist with a range of activities.#UNGA #UNGA74 pic.twitter.com/MFCeZBDqMO
— PTI (@PTIofficial) September 26, 2019
The pledge came when Gates called on Prime Minister Imran on the sidelines of the on-going 74th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session in the port city.
Under the terms of the agreement, the amount will be spent on 134 poverty alleviation projects across the country, undertaken as part of the “Ehsaas Programme”.
Speaking on the occasion, Khan said that the “Ehsaas Programme” was a big project in the history of Pakistan which will turn the country into a welfare state. He added that poverty alleviation was the top priority of his government from day one.
According to the premier, this program will help to achieve the sustainable development goals set under the UN. He also expressed his commitment to complete elimination of polio from the country.
