Business Recorder contacted several foreign missions and multilateral donor organizations through emails to seek their response on the UN decision as well as about a possible review in their policies with respect to restoration of Islamabad's status as a family station for their international staff.
Responding to the queries, World Bank (WB) spokesperson in Islamabad stated that the Bank will also revise its policy with respect to Islamabad's status. "Yes the World Bank will also follow the same", the spokesperson added.
A spokesperson for the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said that the Bank recently reclassified Pakistan Resident Mission's (PRM) duty station status for its international staff in view of improved security conditions.
Teresa Daban Sanchez, Resident Representative of International Monetary Fund (IMF), stated: "I do not have an answer for you yet...My understanding is that UN agencies are "free" to determine "when" they will implement this measure agreed at the level of the UN group".
An official of the European Union (EU) Mission for Pakistan said that Islamabad has already been the family station for its international staff for the last many years.
Véronique Wagner, spokesperson for the French Embassy said that Islamabad's status as family station has never been removed. "I think we are among the very few ones, on Western side, to have always worked on family station status in our embassy. So we continue on the same scheme with no modification, since we are already on that mode of family station", Wagner added.
A US Embassy spokesperson told Business Recorder that the embassy has no changes to announce at this stage. "The US Embassy regularly reevaluates the security situation in Islamabad and elsewhere in Pakistan. We have no changes to announce at this time".
Pakistan welcomed the United Nations' decision restoring Islamabad's status as a family station for its international staff, saying that the classification is a rightful acknowledgement of the turnaround in the security environment in Pakistan.
"Pakistan welcomes the United Nations' decision to restore the status of Islamabad as family station for its international staff, after a comprehensive review of the security situation," Foreign Office spokesperson Dr Mohammad Faisal said. "We look forward to working closely with the United Nations system in Pakistan, facilitating the valuable work that the UN officials carry out throughout the country and extending a cordial welcome to their families," he added.
After the 2008 bombing of a five-star hotel in Islamabad, various foreign missions, and UN and multilateral organizations had declared Islamabad's status as non-family station for security reasons.