ngaging with one another to build mutual understanding and appreciation across our differences, the kind of dialogue which is at the heart of pluralism, must continue. There are important lessons to be learnt from the past year as the pandemic has transformed our societies and our institutions.

The struggle to survive brought some immediate results – many with more than short-term consequences. I will give just two examples. The-cut off of imported and subsidised fuel led to the massive cutting of trees and shrubs to provide heat during the bitterly cold winters. Herds of livestock, once a major export, were decimated for food in the absence of alternatives.

There was a time when male and female teachers could not get to the school because the students could not get to the school because they had no shoes to walk in the snow. And all through these terrible times of poverty, professional men and women did everything they could to sustain the educational system of Badakshan. I think therefore that it is appropriate that at the beginning of this speech I should pay My compliments