Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif has urged all the stakeholders to invest in empowering communities by building their capacity through provision of better health and educational facilities and an enabling environment to unlock their potential.

In his message on the occasion of World Population Day, being observed today, he said the Day draws our attention to the vast disparity between the requirements of increasing population and availability of resources as well as the need for affirmative policy actions to empower our communities and the people.

The Prime Minister said population remains at the heart of effective national planning and no country, howsoever resourceful, can deal with population explosion.

He said drawing a balance between population and resources is fundamental to the fulfilment of the needs of teeming millions.

Shehbaz Sharif said this year's theme "Unleashing the power of gender equality" is a powerful reminder of the imperative to empower our women, girls and men and end discrimination. Their mainstreaming in the national life will automatically help in achieving the development goals and increasing human productivity.

The Prime Minister said thanks to the multifarious factors such as climate change, geostrategic upheavals and dysfunction of markets, the countries are finding it hard to stay on course for achieving Millennium Development Goals.

He said we need to demonstrate greater political will to deal with the challenge.

Source: Radio Pakistan