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Sustainable Development Policy Institute Ninth Sustainable Development Conference Dec.13, 2006
‘Research knows no ethnic or geographic boundaries and joins all in the common pursuit of truth.’ This was stated by Dr. Atta-ur-Rahman, Chairman Higher Education Commission speaking as the Chief Guest at the Ninth Sustainable Development Conference ‘Missing Links in Sustainable Development: South Asian Perspectives’ organized by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute. Research, he said not only offers spaces for intellectual debate and discussion across continents, but also leads to greater progress and sustainable development. The Chairman elaborated that the Chancellors’ Committee headed by the President of Pakistan had opened its doors to funding to private sector universities which would also enable research organizations to submit projects to HEC for financial support. He hoped that research collaboration and linkages would bridge the policy gaps and the dearth of academic information. He said that Pakistan was fortunate to have 85 million youth below the age of 19, which represented a huge pool of creativity to be tapped and discovered. ‘Our country’s real wealth lies in our educated youth,’ he said while elaborating HEC’s extensive projects for the higher education sector. South Asian countries need to build bridges that would lead to solutions as they shared a host of common problems such as poverty and illiteracy, he said. Dr. Atta-ur-Rahman also launched SDPI’s anthology ‘At the Crossroads: South Asian Research, Policy and Development in a Globalized World’ at the occasion.
Giving an overview of the Institute, Mr. Shams ul Mulk, Chairman of SDPI’s Board of Governors highlighted some of the key milestones achieved during the year in the areas of sustainable industrial development, WTO negotiations and information and technology by SDPI. Quoting from Allama Iqbal, Mr. Mulk said that for South Asia, the agenda of sustainable development was long, and by no means easy. ‘But it is only arduous tasks and challenges that will lead to worthy destinations,’ he said.
The Executive Director of SDPI, Dr. Saba Gul Khattak acknowledged the support of CIDA, the Royal Norwegian Embassy and SDC for sponsoring the 3-day conference and requested Dr Ata ur Rehman to consider supporting independent not-for-profit research institutions of the country working to keep their independence and contribute to national priorities. ‘If Pakistan wishes to be proud of its contribution and if South Asia has to have a collective sense of identity and solidarity, then it is important for research institutions to work together and to achieve in the realm of ideas and imagination a future that would foster peace and pride in the region. Such work and thinking will have to be cultivated rather than killed,’ she said.
During the plenary session renowned Indian publisher Urvashi Battalia spoke on ‘Interrogating Peace: Perspectives from the Margins,’ and stressed the need for a more inclusive process of peace negotiations and conflict resolution that bring both men, women and minorities to the table. Citing the case of the peace process in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, India and Pakistan she said that in order to have a meaningful peace, the pain and suffering faced by people as a consequence of war – the loss, absence, injustice and arbitrariness which lie within the twin realms of the material and the emotional need to be addressed. Otherwise peace cannot be built or sustained, she stressed.
In the session on ‘Myths and realities of deforestation in Northwest Pakistan: implications for sustainable forest implications,’ Mr. Babar Shahbaz from the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad said that the local people did not cut trees for economic purposes because the main livelihoods of the people were met through the national and foreign remittances. Mostly, the communities use the forest resources for fuel wood, timber, fodder and medicinal purposes. “There is need to streamline forestry extension services in the area by further strengthening the existing community based and non governmental organizations, so that the local people are involved in the reforestation activities. Ineffective forest management strategies and bad governance are mainly responsible for forest degradation, he said. He also informed the audience that the timber mafia was more powerful than the forest department in the areas of NWFP and Baluchistan. Dr. Urs Geiser from the University of Zurich, Switzerland said that there was a need to address the issue of forest degradation at local level. Forest policies were largely donor driven and idealistic and hence failed during the implementation phase, he said. Dr. Abid Suleri from SDPI shared that local people are perceived as enemies of the forests by the authorities and called for the need to bridge the gap between the forest department and local communities. Mr. Bashir Wani from the Ministry of Environment chaired the session.
In the session on Regional Trade Agreements and Conflict Mitigation presenters shared their views on strengthening regional trade in the face of the current impasse of trade negotiations at the multilateral level. Mark Halle from Canada highlighted that current trends of trade and aid were powerful conduits of finance and influence, and that trade and aid priorities of rich countries had a profound impact on the society, economy and stability of developing countries. Shaheen Rafi Khan from SDPI warned that if leaders revert to the SAARC mandate and developed shared commitments, it would result in interdependence that would spill over to sustainable peace between neighbors.
Mr. Hettiarachchi from the University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka proposed that Sri Lanka could be an enabler of South Asian regional integration given the strengths of Sri Lanka's economy and its friendly relations with neighbors. While Rajesh Kumar from Kanpur, India debated whether or not the popular "China Model" could be applied to Indo-Pak relations and argued that given the deep rooted political Indo-Pak conflict this model would not be applicable. Developing Trade between India and Pakistan remained hostage to India and Pakistan military rivalry, Mr. Murshed from the University of Birmingham, espoused. Mr. Akbar Zaidi said that although boundaries drawn by blood could not be ignored, economic cooperation should be encouraged in order to move towards sustainable trade development and peace. Gen.Talat Masood chaired the session.
Dr. Rafi Khan in the session on ‘Forest Degradation, resource rights and livelihoods: The institutional context’ asserted that the econometric analysis confirmed that eco zones, rather than poverty or relative poverty levels is consistently the best estimator of resource dependence. The paper on ‘Situating Law: Adivasi Rights and the Political Economy of Environment and Development in India’ by Ajit Menon attempted to examine the complex manner in which adivasi (tribal) rights to land are marginalized and diluted. Dr. Rucha Ghate’s paper ‘Ensuring “Collective Action” in “Participatory” Forest Management’ highlighted the need to conceive more complex arrangements in which forest areas are protected under the joint management of multiple institutions, rather than to oscillating between a simplistic model of ‘state’ or ‘village community’.
In the session on ‘Policy Trends and Development on Access to Genetic Resources and Benefit Sharing’ chaired by Syed Mahmood Nasir, Director of Biodiversity, Ministry of Environment, Thiranthie Udakumbura from Sri Lanka discussed the Sri Lankan perspective on ABS and Prior Informed Consent, their legal status and implementation challenges. Mr. Abdul Hafeez from The Network recommended the need to rethink Pakistan’s national ABS regime and establishing a broad participatory process by involving stakeholders in decision-making. Ms. Mehnaz Ajmal from SDPI discussed the gender dimensions in ABS mechanism. Mr. Niraj Shrestha from Nepal stressed that stakeholders and local communities must be given their due share by their respective governments in genetic resource sharing and Mr. Rasheed Anwar called for the formation of a database of traditional knowledge on genetic resources. All the sessions were followed by broad question and answer discussions.
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