ISLAMABAD: Ambassador of Ethiopia Dr Jemal Beker on Saturday spearheaded a clean-up drive at the Trail 5 in Islamabad, aimed at ridding the Margalla Hills of trash that poses a serious threat to the wildlife in the National Park.

The drive, jointly organised by the Ethiopian embassy, GhoomLay and Studio One, was launched as a part of the Ethio-Pakistan Fraternity under the Green Legacy initiative of the Prime Minister of Ethiopia Dr Abiy Ahmed.

Individuals from the all walks of life including government officials, diplomatic community, civil society, youth and media participated in the clean-up drive, which sought to strengthen Ethio-Pakistan relations by pursuing joint efforts for a better future for both the countries.

Talking to the media on the occasion, Dr Jemal Beker said the purpose of the gathering was to send the message that mass mobilisation of humans and financial resources were important solutions to solve contemporary challenges such as climate change.

He said: “Ethiopia is building a green economy by planting more than 40.5 billion seedlings of fruits, vegetable and fodder in the last five years that has created jobs and ensured food security in Ethiopia. The record-breaking plantation was undertaken under the Green Legacy Initiative which was inspired from Medemer philosophy of Ethiopian Prime Minister which advocated for mass mobilisation and alignment of the resources”.

“We have launched this Green Legacy Initiative in Pakistan as I personally went to all the cities of Pakistan and mobilising all segments of the society to mitigate the serious threat of climate change,” he said, urging the youth to be on forefront for such an important cause.

He expressed his gratitude to the Islamabad Wildlife Management Board, GhoomLay, and Studio One for partnering with the Ethiopian embassy on the humanitarian initiative.

Mr Beker also lauded the government of Pakistan’s commitment for working with Ethiopia to enhance bilateral regional and multilateral cooperation between the two countries in various areas such as economy, education, health, climate change, culture and technology transfer.

Chief Executive Officer of GhoomLay (Pvt) Limited Mohammad Haris thanked the Ethiopian embassy for partnering with his organisation and others to clean the Trail 5 Margalla Hills. He reiterated the commitment to continue initiatives for protecting environment in the federal capital and other cities.

Published in Dawn, September 1st, 2024