The government is in the final stages to launch
National Food Security Council (NFSC) to address the issue of food insecurity.
State Minister for National Food Security and
Research Moazzam Khan Jatoi at three-day Annual Sustainable Development
Conference (SDC) said government was pursuing National Zero Hunger Programme to
address hunger and malnourishment in Pakistan.
However he differed to the food insecurity figures
of the country and said these were estimated a bit high.
He informed social safety net programmes such as
Benazir Income Support Fund have been institutionalised through legislation to
ensure their sustainability.
Conference titled ‘Sustainable Development in
South Asia, Shaping the Future’ is looking at future of sustainable development
in South Asia. Delegates from South Asian countries as well as from 15 other
countries around the world are participating in the conference.
Dr Abid Suleri Executive Director SDPI said
effective research and evidence-based studies helped in finding out the
effectiveness of government policies.
Food security is not ensured by food production,
which is commonly considered as benchmark for food security, and universal
access to food and its consumption should be priority agenda’s for the states
in the region, he added.
Food security is not ensured by food production,
which is commonly considered as benchmark for food security, and universal
access to food and its consumption should be priority agenda’s for the states
in the region, he added.
The panelists discussed ‘integrated food security
phase classification (IPC)’, a special situational analysis tool, developed by
WFP, which is being used to measure food security in Pakistan.
Kaija Korpi from FAO Italy, Erminio Sacco from
Bangkok, Maria-Bernardita from Philippines and Saheb Haq from WFP Pakistan also
spoke.
The session concluded with consensus IPC has the
potential to be a highly useful tool for determining the level of food
insecurity in Pakistan. While there are some shortcomings in IPC framework,
these can be addressed in collaboration with Global Support Unit, which is
working diligently to address those issues.
On ‘Climate change triggers migration’ Feryal
Gohar said absence of women voices in mainstream government policies created
barriers in reaching out to government in times of environmental crisis.
Shafqat Kakakhel member Board of Governors SDPI
said much hope hinges on the upcoming CoP19, which would be held in Warsaw next
year.
Lena Lindberg Country Director UN Women said
migration undermined economic growth, threatened social stability and widened
gender and poverty gaps.
Women are forced to work on farms when their men
migrate for better economic opportunities, as a consequence of an environmental
disaster.
Dr Giovanna Gioli from Germany said plight of
women in migrant households was worsened by factors including social
discrimination, lack of education and land rights.
Stephen Commins talked on the role of institutions
in providing justice to affectees of environmental crisis.
Zahida Rehman deliberated on how women could use
innovative and indigenous strategies to cope with natural disasters, especially
in the absence of government.
During the session on ‘Future of Global Governance
and Development” the panelists shared how increased accountability,
inclusiveness and representativeness at all levels is important for the global
governance to work.
Johannes Blankenbach from USA said unilateral
policies were not effective in the new world order and there was need to go
beyond transnational boundaries to tackle global challenges of development.
Dr Hans Frey said soon the concept of national
boundaries might dilute due to technological advancements while giving rise to
global citizenship. Nadeem Ahmad said global systems such as UN were loosing
credibility in South and called for removing imbalances in UN system and also
to reform global economic and financial structures to make them more adaptable
to the needs of developing world.
Stephen Commins from University of California said
globally MDGs could not deliver as they were based on international power
imbalances and argued that global governance should offer accountability
mechanisms.
Dr Sunil Dasgupta from University of Maryland
commented move from G-8 to a greater G-20 was an indicative of increased
representation of South in the decision making at the global level.
Mome Saleem and Shakeel Ramay from SDPI said way
forward for South Asia was to rise above the existing intra-regional conflicts
and have a common voice at the global level particularly on the need to make
the global system more inclusive.
On Civil-Military Imbalance and its Policy
Implications, former DG ISPR Major General (retd) Athar Abbas said internal
weakness of the state invited aggression and provided opening to external
interferences.
He said military rule was always
counter-productive in long run, adding continuity of democratic process and
practices were essential to develop institutions and society.
Bishnu Upreti from Nepal said instead of following
western paradigm on civil military relations, the region should construct a
local framework on the basis of common understandings and close interaction
with all stakeholders to achieve stability, peace and democracy.
Talking of Indian context for military
operations, Dr Sunil Dasgupta said execution of military operations in India
was determined by factors including, civil government, public support for using
force and military preparedness.
Dr Saeed Shafqat said South Asia was a politically
fragile and conflict prone region where civil military relations were highly
contextual and process oriented.
On Third Wave of Democracy in South Asia, Dr Talat
Mehmood from Social Science Research Centre Germany said the third wave of
democracy has strengthened the democracies around the world, however the
quality of democracy was another question.
He cited Bertelsmann Transformation Index, which
states with the ranking of 110th out of 128, Pakistan is among the least
democratic states in the world. Professor Jon Breman from The Netherlands said
equality was the societal frame for democracy.
Criticising west he said although the west has
adopted process of equality but unfortunately at the stake of de-democtrising
other regions of the world. Abdul Wali of PIDE Islamabad deliberated Pakistan
was an extremely un-democratic country, where dysfunctional and inept democracy
prevails due to imbalances in power structure.
Criticising west he said although the west has
adopted process of equality but unfortunately at the stake of de-democtrising
other regions of the world. Abdul Wali of PIDE Islamabad deliberated Pakistan
was an extremely un-democratic country, where dysfunctional and inept democracy
prevails due to imbalances in power structure.
The speaker pointed out the factors destabilise
the situation for their interest threatening the national security.
Team Leader Awaz and eminent social activist
Haris Khalique said politicised social movement and redistribution of resources
were essential for participatory, equitable and inclusive development in the
region.
Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa said local
government system introduced in year 2001 was the first time when democratic
set-up was made at the gross root level, where people had their say in
democratic process. Nihal Rodrigo former Secretary General SAARC Sri Lanka said
China’s development owes to its willingness to learn from small countries and
that’s what is needed by South Asia region to learn from others.
Shama Dosa from Canada said 9/11 was one such
manifestation, which re-fuelled the constant debate between the orient and the
occident and the subject and the other.
She said feminists required a paradigmatic shift
of being self-critical and conscious of the choices they make, if they were to
bring a change in society.
Dr Nathalène Reynolds visiting Fellow said
surprisingly in year 2209, 57 percent of Swiss voters approved the initiative
proposed by the populist right to make the construction of minarets illegal.
Nida Karmani said Muslim women’s networks around
the world was sign of dynamism and was challenging the dominant construction of
the ‘Muslim woman’ as oppressed and passive.
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