Forthcoming: SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT in the TIMES OF COVID-19
Forthcoming: SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT in the TIMES OF COVID-19
Being jointly published by SDPI and Sang-e-Meel
To purchase a copy, please contact Ahmed Salim Resource Center at (051)2278134.
Blurb : The COVID-19 pandemic took the world unawares with the developed, emerging and least developed countries equally prone to its contagion. But has it really been the ‘Great Economic Equalizer’ many have claimed? How has it impacted the last decade of action with regard to the Sustainable Development Goals, especially in South Asia? How has it affected different vulnerable groups such as students, small businesses, daily wagers, and sectors such as health, education, Information & Communication Technologies (ICTs) in countries like Pakistan and India?
How did day-to-day social relationships change and what effects has that had on mental health and well-being? Most importantly, has the way nation-states govern changed from being economic-centric to becoming more human security-centric?
Vibrant nations turn challenges into opportunities. Have governments and businesses across the world, particularly in South Asia found new ways of working? What are the areas where Pakistan’s policymakers need to invest more to recover and improve? What are some of the best practices thought leaders need to focus on from the public and private sector to keep the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda on track, while ensuring economic, food, water, health, education, and human security for citizens?
The authors in this volume try to answer the above questions by specifically focusing on issues related to green policymaking; regional connectivity and collaboration; economic growth, social protection, healthcare; ICTs; education; water governance; and community resilience.
To purchase a copy, please contact Ahmed Salim Resource Center at (051)2278134.
Book Blurb: The letter ‘e’ has become a significant addition to how we do business today: whether it is transferring money through e-cash or doing business through e-commerce; paying bills via e-banking; taking online classes sitting at home during COVID-19; accessing services and products through applications (apps) on the smart screens of our digital gadgets; or e-governance, the technological opportunities of the Fourth Industrial Revolution are endless, but so are, the perils. This anthology highlights that South Asia, in general and Pakistan, in particular needs to bridge the digital divide by bringing in communities at the peripheries of development into the cyber sphere. Advances in ICT, machine learning, biotechnology, AI, IoT and their convergence require well-thought, evidence-based hard regulation and soft policy initiatives. This also means a paradigm shift in public policy from a focus on efficiency-based skills to a knowledge-based skills model.
Corridors of Knowledge for Peace and Development is SDPI’s principal contribution to policy-relevant, timely, and reliable research and analysis on key global sustainable development issues. Offering a big picture view through the eyes of leading policy and academic stalwarts from South Asia and beyond, the book addresses issues such as human capital; social exclusion; poverty alleviation; 4IR; unfair laws and legal systems; fiscal rules and regulations; transport corridors; a changing climate; ultra-nationalism; human rights and violence against women.
This collaborative effort of some 30 authors from 10 countries seeks to demystify these issues and chart a way forward, while explaining, as clearly as possible, the most pressing policy questions and the different policy positions that define them.
Our hope is that those actively involved in such debates - as thought leaders, change agents, and strategists - will be able to draw on the penetrating reflections and learnings to help generate new ideas that spur action towards the common goal of achieving sustainable development and regional connectivity for the economies, ecosystems and communities of South Asia and beyond.
71 years into Pakistan’s independence, this book with its renowned and aspiring constellation of scholars makes it clear that the Partition of 1947 was a revered and historic starting point which set the guiding principles for this state and it is those very principles that the country and its people need to re-focus and return to. The authors agree that while Pakistan’s democracy may be struggling in the face of many challenges, it remains alive, vibrant, diverse and perseverant. Some of the reflections, recommendations, aspirations and ideas of Pakistan’s present and future thought leaders included in this book include:
South Asia, once a political wasteland of the past is an incubator of change today, the stagnant economic conditions of the pre-independence era for nearly all SAARC countries have now transformed into an economic dynamism that is impossible to ignore.
Dr Abid Qaiyum Suleri
The existing asymmetric power relationship between the military and the civilian sectors needs to be reversed. Pakistan can become a democratically governable state by rebuilding vibrant, agile and effective institutions of democratic governance.
Dr Ishrat Husain
Pakistan must go beyond setting up task forces, implement deeper structural reforms, scale up social safety nets, have more effective vertical and horizontal federal-provincial-local fiscal arrangements, fully leverage regional cooperation for enhanced seamless and multimodal transport and IT connectivity, and sharpen Pakistan’s response to climate change.
Dr Shamshad Akhtar
The weak performance of Pakistan’s economy has occurred in the context of a broad atrophy of the country’s institutional framework and lack of transition to institutional democracy. The absence of a genuine reform constituency in the country – one that is aware, politically mobilised and sufficiently large – is a critical hurdle in the path of reforms.
Mr Sakib Sherani
The tax policies formulated and the administration of taxation in Pakistan is patchy and needs the creation of an agency that would collectively oversee the work being done by the federal and provincial governments to enhance coordination and cooperation among them.
Engr Ahad Nazir, Mr Abbas Maken, and Dr Vaqar Ahmed
Like Malala Yousafzai, Pakistan is home to many social workers and human rights activists, usually operating in difficult circumstances. Indeed, their dedication and courage would turn them into icons of feminism the country could be proud of, were it not for the lack of media coverage.
Dr Nathalène Reynolds
The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) is an international treaty of the United Nations which comprehensively addresses women’s rights within all aspects of life, while providing opportunities to each state to address its shortcomings.
Ms Bandana Rana and Ms Victoria Perrie
Focusing on short-term gains over governance and deteriorated human
longer ranging Sustainable Development Goals have weakened and social development conditions. Thus, Climate-Compatible
Development in Pakistan is achievable by combining both generic capacities, determined by health, governance, political rights, literacy, and economic well-being; and specific adaptive capacities, determined by risk management activities and early warning systems in a way that can also enhance the agency of people.
Dr Maaz Gardezi and Ms Sana Illahe
In order to address rising climate risks and environmental degradation, there is a need to develop integrated coordination systems, like Climate Smart Villages. While building large dams has become a political issue, investing in small dams can become a possible solution for drought.
Mr Ghamz E Ali Siyal, Mr Syed Mohsin Ali and Dr Mahreen Zahara
Pakistan has made good progress in Information and Telecommunications, but when compared with other developing states, the country is seriously lagging behind. Rationalisation of taxes on ICT goods and services and other regulatory measures could enable Pakistan catch-up with its peers.
Dr Manzoor Ahmad
For digitalisation of Pakistan’s economy, it is the Government which must lead the way by increasing its own use of IT to encourage private businesses, and increase the size of the domestic market of digital products and services. It should also develop a comprehensive Cyber Security Strategy together with an implementation plan.
Mr Parvez Iftikhar
To understand rural-to-urban migration, in terms of the contemporary push and pull factors in semi-arid regions of Pakistan, there is need for immediate attention for overall agriculture sector development, including climate resilient and agriculture smart policies to lower the push factors of migration in rural areas.
Mr Ghamz E Ali Siyal, Dr Imran Khalid and Ms Ayesha Qaisrani
Book blurb by Sarah S. Aneel
Sustainable Development: Envisaging the Future Together
Jointly published by SDPI and Sang-e-Meel and launched on 5 December 2017.
This anthology coincides with Pakistan’s 70-year independence celebrations and SDPI’s 25 years as a research and advocacy organisation. The journey of both has been similar and monumental. From a country with a negligible industrial base, Pakistan’s economy is now worth nearly USD 300 billion. Opening its doors as a small think-tank struggling to survive with unpredictable and meager funding avenues, SDPI is now ranked and recognised internationally as the 15th Top Think Tanks in Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
The book is a canvas, not just of ideas about where Pakistan needs to go in the next decade to realise the United Nations ‘great’ sustainability agenda under the Sustainable Development Goals, it is also an honest assessment of serious challenges the nation faces such as religious and gender discrimination, climate change and debt restructuring.
But Pakistan is not alone.
If anything, the volume also tells the story of other neighbouring countries, like Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, which are battling their own demons of conflict, envisaging their people’s determination towards the shared dream of a peaceful, inclusive and well-governed civilisation.
The authors help deepen our reflection on how ‘policy’ can be linked with ‘practice’, how to grapple with the foreboding reality of climate change in a country and region which has witnessed far too many weather-related calamities in the recent past and of late, and review the role of monetary institutions and regional blocs. They ponder the architecture of peace in countries hit by war and internal strife, and take stock of how this region treats its minorities.
SDC-SAES anthology titled \"Securing Peace and Prosperity\" jointly published by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) and Sang-e-Meel was launched at the inaugural of SDPI\'s Nineteenth Sustainable Development Conference on 6 December 2016. It can be obtained from SDPI\'s Ahmed Salim Resource Centre from Mr. Ali Aamer: aliaamer@sdpi.org
It can also be downloaded by clicking on the link given above.
Book Blurb: The Sustainable Development Goals, role of governments in providing visionary and accountable leadership, women empowerment, inequitable access to water resources and how it can lead to both conflict and cooperation, monetary policies and how they impact inequality and can either reduce or increase poverty, the complex trinity between energy, climate and the environment in a multisectoral context, are major concerns of development practitioners and peace activists everywhere.
This book aims to unpack the key elements of the peace-sustainable development nexus, and examine it in totality at the micro, meso and macro levels. Organised into four parts, namely, A Panoramic View of Sustainable Development in South Asia; Securing Economic Sustainability; Water Governance; and, Dynamics of Social Justice, the authors bring in country perspectives from Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, USA and the UK. One of the key lessons this collection offers is that monetary policies that provide social protection and ensure access to basic services to the disadvantaged and marginalised groups, beyond their human and ethical value, contribute directly to sustainable economic growth, political stability, peace and security.
Jointly published by the
Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) and Sang-e-Meel, it was launched at SDPI’s Eighteenth Sustainable Development Conference in December
2015.
There is no shortage of publications
and anthologies on sustainable development where academics share their research
and policy proposals. So what could possibly make this compilation of essays,
speeches and scholarly papers unique?
For the first time, in the history
of our 68-year old country, this book has brought together the views, policies
and ideas about sustainable development of the crème de la crème of Pakistan’s leadership – from the
country’s sitting President and Federal Minister, former Ministers and a former
State Bank Governor – with discourse of the country’s activists, economists,
philosophers, journalists, and student researchers. It is this convergence, and
sometimes clash of interesting, unusual and potentially transformative ideas between
leaders in the echelons of power with practitioners and scholars that offer
valuable insights into charting new pathways for bringing about positive shifts
in South Asia that makes up the mix of this book’s chapters.
This volume is not constrained by
national boundaries either. Climate change, development, ecological, education,
energy, food, gender, health, planning, trade and water challenges from neighbouring
Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India and Nepal are juxtaposed with those in Pakistan,
sub-Saharan Africa, European Union and Central Asia.
It
is here that we travel from regional to local stories – from the great Himalayan mountainous region
to the Indus-Brahmaputra-Ganges Delta; from arid nomadic deserts to the Rhine
River; from education challenges in a small district in Nepal to the struggles
of the landless in a village in East
Bengal; from the efforts of women entrepreneurs in India to the barriers
faced by women in Muslim societies due to gender inequality sanctified in
religious tradition; from the economic impacts
of post-2014 Afghanistan on bordering regions in
Pakistan to the health threats to dental professionals. Each one singular and
yet with a commonality of perspective: to
make the world a fairer, better and more just place for the ‘enhancement
of peace, social justice and well-being, within and across generations.’
This evidence-based anthology comprising of 16 thematic chapters is unique because it has something to offer people from all walks of life. South Asian Policy Makers, especially those within Ministries of Trade and Commerce, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministries of Water, Power and IT, will find the book useful as it addresses the interface between economic and political agendas in building peace through regional cooperation on water and energy problems of South Asia and bilaterally as a whole. It also extends the discussion to include challenges and instruments that other dyads and regions have experienced and are employing to build peace. Local Government Officials can look at the more meso and micro realities that impact their economies, especially in terms of basic services delivery to citizens from Pakistan, India, Nepal and Bangladesh. For Policy Practitioners in Pakistan, this book seeks to break from the common rhetoric and focuses the debate on what is possible economically and what is necessary politically to move discussions forward about education and languages. For University Researchers, this book provides a tool box of examples that university lecturers on literature, gender studies, religion and climate change can incorporate into curriculum to broaden the scope of studies for students to more than just what is covered by Euro and Amero centric studies. Last but not least, South-based Students will gain a sense of what realities exist across the South and what has/has not worked for various regions - again, building capacity and directing a sense of vision as to what models are working and which ones need refinement.
Sustainable Development in South Asia: Shaping the Future
Despite the intrinsically political nature of most sustainable
development challenges facing the world today, most theories, deliberations,
research and even implementation linking sustainability to development
primarily follow apolitical and linear policy processes. Bringing together a range of subjects - from civil military
relations, role of public and private sector in development, food and climate
security, religious freedoms, and feminism after 9/11- this book ?Sustainable Development in South Asia:
Shaping the Future?uniquely
examines the reasons why national governments, together with international aid
agencies, have been unable to provide real and binding solutions to the myriad
of problems standing in the way of emerging South Asia economies.
Paradigms of Sustainable Development in South Asia
Over the past five to six years, there has been
much debate, discussion and argumentation about the multiple crises the world
has been grappling with, forcing governments and other institutions alike to
critically evaluate systemic concerns linked to local, national and global
institutions and structures. This book showcases research conducted by
academics from the North and South that tries to provide unique and fresh
perspective about how some of the challenges South Asia faces can be tackled
using innovative, local and ‘redefined’ initiatives and ideas. The purpose of
this book is to share the lessons learned, advice and recommendations from
advocates in the field of economics, environment, public policy, social
sciences and beyond.
Section 1 on New Directions in Energy Sustainability and
Climate Changeexplores transformative advances in energy
sciences given the complex challenges posed by climate
change to modern technology requiring researchers to delve into unfamiliar
territory such as hydrogen energy especially in a country like Pakistan. While
fuel cells and a hydrogen infrastructure can together pave a sustainable energy
future for the country, the state has to play a critical role in encouraging
and funding R and D in alternative energy. The feasibility of bringing state forests under a community based, participatory
institutional framework for effective management of forest resources for Uttarkhand State in Himalaya, India,is discussed at length in
chapter two. The third chapter draws linkages between climate
change and food security from the perspective of farmers from Afghanistan,
Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan, and recommends establishment of food bank,
knowledge sharing and investing in climate resilient agriculture.
Section 2 on Sustainable Livelihood Options and Local Communities
first discusses the case of Sri Lankan fisher community and provides indicative insights into the tensions between local and migratory
fishermen based on perceptions of inequality and identity, manifesting themselves
in competition for a rapidly declining resource. The case identifies several
creative and alternative practices for peaceful co-existence. The
next two chapters on Nepal look at the political economy of existing land distribution in the country that has caused social
exclusion, injustice, inequity and disparity leading to skewed power relations;
and the inspiring story of remote Nangi village where
installation of a wireless fiber (wi-fi) project has left remarkable impacts on
lives of the local populace from online selling and buying portals; virtual
educational classes to an operational tele-medicine clinic supplementing the
lack of medical facilities in the village.
Section 3 on Readapting Forest Managementdeals with the historical and legal nuances of forest ownership in Swat
district of Pakistan contested by both the state and the people. Based on
archival record, statutory and oral sources, the paper calls for immediate and
urgent action to resolve the crisis of ownership before it escalates into
potential conflict. Highlighting Nepal’s community forestry model, the second
paper in this section discusses five
innovative interventions for implementing REDD+ including community based monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV); creating forest
carbon additionality and permanence; establishment of a Forest Carbon Trust
Fund; formalised distribution of REDD+ payment to local communities; and
initiation of institutional and biophysical bundling.
Section 4 on Interrogating Religious and Gender Identities
first traces the historical trajectory of a religiously and legally defined
citizenry in Pakistan. It argues that Pakistan’s political elite
instrumentalised Islam as a means of forging an all-inclusive national identity
in a state marked with religious plurality and ethnic diversity, by creating
distinctions between Muslim and non-Muslim citizens of the country. The chapter on Palestinian women’s movement recommends that the movement needs to find
strategies that maintain the connection between achieving Palestinian national
rights and women’s rights, which has the potential to create conditions
conducive to reaching women in all sectors of Palestinian society, not just the
elite and educated. For women to benefit from both collective and individual
rights, stable democracy and economy as well as a robust civil society is
crucial.
Section 5 on Integrating Policy Processes with Trade and Development first explores an empirical study of consumer welfare impact of SAFTA
on Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. It highlights the need of trade policy reforms at the regional level in
South Asia in order to fuel growth of trade
relationship, resulting in better trade facilitation measures, procedural ease
and economies of scale in the transport sector, better returns and rents from
investments in trade infrastructure and additional incentives for private enterprises
to explore regional markets. The next chapter in this section shares finding of
a Policy Community Survey that points out that while policy makers in South
Asia have a positive view of the quality of policy making processes,
research-based evidence is often hard to get, and its usefulness and quality questioned.
The study suggests that think tanks should work to build more trust with policy
actors in government, and ensure that their findings are easily accessible,
relevant and hi-quality over time, in a region where post MDG development
agendas continue to unfold in highly dynamic political, economic and social
contexts. Through the lens of reflexive governance, the final chapter of this
book focuses
on the emergence of new kinds of institutions, strategies, processes and interactions in
the local governance system in post conflict rural Nepal. It shows how
differently positioned people enact, subvert, and resist local governance and
development projects; and, how local governance transpires through ordinary
people’s participation, networked arrangements and articulation of local state
authority and civil-society.
Sarah S. Aneel
Peace and Sustainable Development in South Asia: The Way Forward
Publishers: SDPI
and Sang-e-Meel
Pages: 306
Price: PKR 1200
Peace
and Sustainable Development in South Asia: The Way Forward,
jointly published by SDPI and Sang-e-Meel, was launched at the inaugural of the
Fourteenth Sustainable Development Conference in December 2011. The anthology
consists of 12 peer-reviewed and edited papers that were presented at SDPI’s
Thirteenth Sustainable Development Conference in December 2010.
The world has seen deep-rooted and relentless
socio-economic or ecological changes over the last five decades. However, the global
North and South are still a long way from achieving the objectives of just and
equitable sustainable development. This anthology presents thematic research
cases from Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan which propose that since local
communities often bear the greatest brunt of adverse financial and
environmental changes, it is through them and their local institutions that
mechanisms to deal with and integrate their concerns into policy making should
come about.
Human beings have
fundamentally altered the world’s ecosystems and the continuous
escalation of greenhouse gas emissions is ever more likely to cause irrevocable
and cataclysmic effects. Shafqat Kakakhel reviews the financing of climate
change-related actions at COP16 and points out that developing countries
acquiesced in the flawed framework contained in the Cancun Agreements, while
Javeriya Hasan explores energy conservation by encouraging energy efficient ‘green’
buildings in Pakistan’s domestic sector.
Aneel Salman
advocates for a shift in state-centric approaches towards mainstreaming,
strengthening and empowering local institutions and communities to build
resilience in combating Pakistan’s environmental and climate change challenges,
while Prakash Tiwari proposes that in order to help backward communities in
attaining economic growth and food security in the Himalayas, critical natural
resources should be institutionalised at the grass-root level. Looking at
agricultural land acquisition by foreign investors in Pakistan, Antonia Settle
concludes that in order for meaningful development to be achieved, significant
political participation must be fostered, which can only arise through
substantial equality between citizens (to which land reform is mandatory) and
access for all to quality education.
Faisal H. Shaheen
suggests that more resources should be allocated in urban Pakistan to mobilising
individuals and communities for initiatives such as rain water harvesting and
storm water management. Badiul Alam Majumdar and John Coonrod share details of
a unique social mobilisation programme about hygiene, sanitation and water supply
in Bangladesh when traditional top-down, service delivery approaches fail.
The state of the
environment and markets also depends on the peace and security situation within
(and outside) a country’s borders. Bishnu Raj Upreti concludes
that ethnic federalism
is not suitable for Nepal’s multiethnic society where none of the groups are in
majority, while Anita Ghimre believes that it is important to acknowledge the
agency, heterogeneity and orientation of IDPs in South Asia so that they can be
used as agents of sustainable development in the rural villages. Ayesha Salman
shares the story of a Pakistani woman to highlight the devastation that can be
caused by religious discrimination and emphasises that religious moderation can
only come through early childhood education and awareness.
To
obtain a copy of the book, please contact Ali Amer at aliaamer@sdpi.org
Fostering Sustainable Development In South Asia: Responding To Challenges
Fostering Sustainable Development in South Asia: Responding To Challenges was launched on 21 December, 2010 at the occasion of Thirteenth Sustainable Development Conference . It is jointly published by the Sustainable Development Institute and Sang-e-Meel Publishers and has been edited by Ayesha Salman, Sarah Siddique and Uzma T. Haroon. The anthology has eleven chapters on a diverse range of topics authored by some of the most renowned names in their field such as Saba Gul Khattak, Lubna Chaudhry, Karin Astrid Siegmann and Bishnu Upreti. This anthology reflects a plethora of views and research findings expressed by scholars and researchers on the most pressing concerns faced by South Asia today. The dilemmas and difficulties faced by internal and external actors in ensuring pro-poor governance are pervasive and complex and require in-depth knowledge of issues that have been highlighted and discussed in great detail in this anthology.
The various layers that exist in the quest to unravel the multi-faceted nature of these issues is contextualised by the 6-F crisis that faces this region, that of food; fiscal; fuel; frontiers; functional democracy; and fragility of climate. This anthology captures the diverse opinions of the speakers and focuses on key issues, which are the foundation for positive change with regard to pro-poor governance and human security. The range of topics covered include the energy crisis, the financial crisis, food security, the problems and biases faced by researchers, climate change and women empowerment. The papers encourage and provoke thought and debate on questions such as how can the environment be made more sustainable when it comes to climate change and pollution? How can we make the best use of natural resources? What are the root causes of conflict and how can we alleviate this growing problem? How can food security be ensured? How can democracy be strengthened in order to face the challenges by South Asia? What role can education play towards sustainable development? How can education be improved in the country? Can women be empowered through the use of information technology? These and many other questions will be asked and solutions suggested in SDPI’s anthology in the hope that it will engender further discussion and spark positive change in ensuring sustainable development.
Peace and Sustainable Development in South Asia: Issues and Challenges of Globalization
Peace and Sustainable Development in South Asia: Issues and Challenges of GlobalizationPeace and Sustainable Development in South AsiaJointly published by the SDPI and Sang-e-Meel, the latest SDC anthology was launched at the Twelfth Sustainable Development Conference on 21 December 2009. This anthology aims to familiarize the reader with various dimensions of sustainable development in the context of “peace and globalization”. The volume contains selected papers (after a thorough peer review and editing process), presented during the Eleventh Sustainable Development Conference (2008) of the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI). It addresses a diverse range of issues such as food security, climate change, natural resources management, cost of conflicts in South Asia, conflict resolution through trade, rewriting history, energy sharing, etc.
These papers are not just the reflection of the authors’ perspective but also carry in them the opinions of fellow panelists and conference delegates. The anthology reflects the mission of the SDPI, as a project of this organization; this is our attempt to bring together students and researchers, policy makers and donors, participants local and foreign, on one platform, to strive hard for strengthening and disseminating the independent research and voices of wisdom for sustained peace and development.
Publishers: SDPI and Sang-e-Meel
Price: PKR 1,200 — Pages: 399
Sustainable Solutions: A Spotlight on South Asian Research
Sustainable Solutions: A Spotlight on South Asian Research was
launched on 1 December 2008 at the occasion of the Eleventh Sustainable
Development Conference. The anthology comprises eleven chapters based on
peer-reviewed papers presented at the Tenth SDC in December 2007.
Publishing the anthology is a year-long process in which the papers go
through a systematic review process and the ones that get approved are
edited and published in the anthology.
The anthology deals with research on real
life problems ranging from misconceived historical perspectives in South
Asia, threatened livelihoods, policy-led disaster management,
challenges and opportunities offered by trade liberalization and
globalization, and the neglected role of women in coping with the
challenges of non-sustainable development is presented to give the
reader an idea of the complexity and interdependency of these issues.
Whether research can play a role in offering
solutions to the challenges faced by sustainable development is a
much-debated question. While some argue that the research-policy
disconnect renders most research findings useless, others contend that
the theory-practice disconnect is the reason for policy failure. Yet
another school of thought believes that unless means of implementation
are not clearly defined at the research level the policy is bound to
meet failure. They feel that ensuring implementation is a policy
formulator’s task, and s/he should identify the means to turn theory
into practice.
It is in this context that policy researchers
at the Tenth Sustainable Development Conference, ‘Sustainable
Solutions: A Spotlight on South Asian Research’, deliberated not only
the predicament of formulating the right research questions, but also
took the opportunity to discuss the political economy of research
itself, i.e., is it supply or demand driven? What is meant by
sustainable development and who are its stakeholders? Why researchers
are not able to diagnose the problems correctly or why after having
diagnosed the problem cannot suggest the right solution owing to various
socio-political and/or economic constraints.
Missing Links in Sustainable Development (SD): South Asian Perspectives
This anthology aims at identifying the missing links in Sustainable
Development for South Asia and proposes fillers for these. Questions
addressed in this anthology include why benefits of globalization have
failed to trickle down to the region\\\'s vast population and calls for a
process of global economic integration that benefits the marginalized.
Based on seventeen chapters and three
sub-themes: Gender and Human Security, the Economics of Globalization,
and People\\\'s Rights and Livelihoods, the research papers look at
channels that exclude women from access to resources, such as land,
decent work, and human security, and suggest how these structures can be
changed. Many sound ideas about tackling deforestation, compliance,
sustainability and livelihoods problems in the fisheries sector have
been proposed. This anthology digs below the surface of issues such as
the connections between conflict in the public sphere and its
intensification in the private sphere, of how globalization can benefit
gender equality and women\\\'s empowerment in South Asia, and the role of
trade and aid in peace and progress, and suggests steps towards change.
At the Crossroads: South Asian Research, Policy and Development in a Globalized World
A collection of twenty-three research papers read at the Sustainable
Development Policy Institute’s Eighth Sustainable Development Conference
held in Islamabad, this anthology examines the multiple facets of
sustainable development in the context of South Asia. Following five
major themes-gender issues, livelihoods, WTO and governance, health and
environment, and peace and human rights-academicians, activists and
policy-makers from South Asia and other parts of the world, discuss
issues of sustainable development in an era of globalization, and debate
how these problems and issues can be dealt with effectively at various
levels based on prior experience of successful policy intervention
elsewhere.
The anthology is a joint publication of the
SDPI and Sama Editorial and Publishing Services, Karachi. This is the
seventh anthology being published in the series of Sustainable
Development Conference anthologies.
Troubled Times: Sustainable Development and Governance in the Age of Extremes
This anthology results not simply from a selected set of SDPI
conference papers but from a commitment to honor our friend and
colleague, the late Omar Asghar Khan. Omar’s outstanding contributions
to sustainable development and civil society in Pakistan are well known.
We are all familiar with his courageous, principled stands on social
and environmental issues, especially his support for the dispossessed,
including the causes of labor, shelter, women, deforestation, large
dams, and education. In his own words, “…the end for me is to see that
our socio-political structures are made more workable, made more just
economically and socially.” (personal interview, 2000).
The idea of putting together an anthology in
honor of Omar Asghar Khan came soon after his untimely demise. Our
challenge was to put together a regional conference to debate many of
the issues for which Omar had created the space for debate and
reflection through practical work at the grassroots level and policy
work at the government level. Omar continues to live with us and through
us because we share many of his ideals. While we continue to feel the
void of his presence in our everyday lives as well as at critical
junctures, Omar has not really died because his ways will continue to
provide inspiration to many who are concerned with economic and social
justice.
In this regard, the SDPI Conference was a
befitting tribute and acknowledgement of Omar’s work as it explored the
key questions: Does sustainable development open up possibilities of
meaningful change in existing South Asian economic, political, and
social structures? Many of the papers assert that these realities do not
always compete with each other, nor are they contradictory. They
demonstrate that despite its criticism, sustainable development agendas
have engaged everyone—policy-makers and theorists—in all fields. This
has led to the emergence of multidisciplinary approaches in researching
SD and the pursuit of multi-pronged strategies for actualizing
sustainable development. Such attempts have succeeded in some areas and
failed in others. Given this picture, can civil society in the South
negotiate the sustainable development paradigm to address the
intersections of structural violence and conflict-generated violence,
even as we seek effective initiatives to counter and survive this
violence? How do we visualize sustainable democracy in the light of our
lived realities, even as we rethink the linkages between development and
trade?
This collection of essays, ranging from
serious academic writings to think pieces and transcribed presentations
is not a standard practice. However, we felt it was important to include
voices even if they did not strictly adhere to a predetermined cod for
such work. Thus the book has two major sections that address development
issues from a Southern perspective. Indeed, this is a common thread
running through them.
The essays are divided into two broad themes.
The first concerns the environment sector specifically while the second
focuses on broad social policy issues emanating from within and outside
the region. Environmental issues are integral to the sustainable
development agenda; as such they cannot possibly be divorced from
economics and politics. The different subsections within this broad
theme examine the environment poverty nexus, and issues ranging from
forest policy, water management to sustainable industrial development
and trade as well as the Southern concerns about international
environmental negotiations.
The second theme, captured in the second
section of this book, relates to broad social policy issues that impact
the lives of people in South Asia. This section examines the dynamics of
globalization, poverty, and their impacts on livelihoods, women,
changing labor markets as well as the need for conditions of peace and a
change in the mindsets of people. Such a change becomes critical if the
violence that is part of South Asia’s everyday life and that also has
complementarities in the processes of globalization has to be
instituted. Without such changes and their complex interconnections,
sustainable development would remain a dream.
Sustainable Development: Bridging the Research/Policy gaps in Southern Contexts
The two-volume book results from the SDPI’s concern for translating
specialized multi and transdisciplinary research into effective policy
measures in the global South. For this purpose, SDPI organized its 6th
Sustainable Development Conference titled, “Sustainable Development:
Bridging the research/policy gaps in Southern Contexts,” in December
2003 where researchers, academicians, creative writers, theorists,
activists and policy-makers from different regions of the world met in
Islamabad to debate and discuss issues such as translating research
produced in the third world contexts into effective policy for
sustainable development, sustainable development as a question of
reorienting research/policy connection, and claiming and putting value
into the fragmented and disparate work that speaks to and about the
third world.
The two-volume book is an end product of
the above mentioned conference papers that were reviewed and approved
for publication. The book was launched at the occasion of the SDPI’s
Seventh Sustainable Development Conference on December 8th 2004 by
Maj.(retd) Tahir Iqbal, Minister for Environment at the Holiday Inn.
Sustainable Development and Southern Realities Past and Future in South Asia
This anthology results not simply from a selected set of SDPI
conference papers but from a commitment to honor our friend and
colleague, the late Omar Asghar Khan. Omar’s outstanding contributions
to sustainable development and civil society in Pakistan are well known.
We are all familiar with his courageous, principled stands on social
and environmental issues, especially his support for the dispossessed,
including the causes of labor, shelter, women, deforestation, large
dams, and education. In his own words, “…the end for me is to see that
our socio-political structures are made more workable, made more just
economically and socially.” (personal interview, 2000).
The idea of putting together an anthology in
honor of Omar Asghar Khan came soon after his untimely demise. Our
challenge was to put together a regional conference to debate many of
the issues for which Omar had created the space for debate and
reflection through practical work at the grassroots level and policy
work at the government level. Omar continues to live with us and through
us because we share many of his ideals. While we continue to feel the
void of his presence in our everyday lives as well as at critical
junctures, Omar has not really died because his ways will continue to
provide inspiration to many who are concerned with economic and social
justice.
In this regard, the SDPI Conference was a
befitting tribute and acknowledgement of Omar’s work as it explored the
key questions: Does sustainable development open up possibilities of
meaningful change in existing South Asian economic, political, and
social structures? Many of the papers assert that these realities do not
always compete with each other, nor are they contradictory. They
demonstrate that despite its criticism, sustainable development agendas
have engaged everyone—policy-makers and theorists—in all fields. This
has led to the emergence of multidisciplinary approaches in researching
SD and the pursuit of multi-pronged strategies for actualizing
sustainable development. Such attempts have succeeded in some areas and
failed in others. Given this picture, can civil society in the South
negotiate the sustainable development paradigm to address the
intersections of structural violence and conflict-generated violence,
even as we seek effective initiatives to counter and survive this
violence? How do we visualize sustainable democracy in the light of our
lived realities, even as we rethink the linkages between development and
trade?
This collection of essays, ranging from
serious academic writings to think pieces and transcribed presentations
is not a standard practice. However, we felt it was important to include
voices even if they did not strictly adhere to a predetermined cod for
such work. Thus the book has two major sections that address development
issues from a Southern perspective. Indeed, this is a common thread
running through them.
The essays are divided into two broad themes.
The first concerns the environment sector specifically while the second
focuses on broad social policy issues emanating from within and outside
the region. Environmental issues are integral to the sustainable
development agenda; as such they cannot possibly be divorced from
economics and politics. The different subsections within this broad
theme examine the environment poverty nexus, and issues ranging from
forest policy, water management to sustainable industrial development
and trade as well as the Southern concerns about international
environmental negotiations.
The second theme, captured in the second
section of this book, relates to broad social policy issues that impact
the lives of people in South Asia. This section examines the dynamics of
globalization, poverty, and their impacts on livelihoods, women,
changing labor markets as well as the need for conditions of peace and a
change in the mindsets of people. Such a change becomes critical if the
violence that is part of South Asia’s everyday life and that also has
complementarities in the processes of globalization has to be
instituted. Without such changes and their complex interconnections,
sustainable development would remain a dream.
Pakistan: To the Future with Hope
The options for developing states appear to be dwindling as they try
to find a way out of the maze of poverty, social insecurity, depleting
resources, intense economic competition and tough global laws to protect
the environment. Such a situation limits the possibilities for a very
large segment of the world’s population from entering the next
millennium with great expectations.
It is quite likely that endemic famine and
misery which have targeted large areas on the globe during the present
century, will also creep into the nest, and be probably much more
widespread.
But this does not necessarily mean that the
third world is doomed, in spite of the bleak scenario social scientists,
agricultural experts, and planners have been painting. There are other
prescriptions too, like biodiversity and population control.
To the Future with Hope, a collection of
seminar papers that deal with answers to the challenges of tomorrow,
opens a window on the world of possibilities for developing states to
prosper without paying too heavy a price for it.
The Conference on Green Economics which was held jointly by the Sustainable Development Policy and the Heinrich-Boll Foundation in Islamabad from September 12 to 14, 1995 advocated sustainability as a concept for the development of the Third World states without overly draining their resources. Appropriately titled as Green Economics, the conference which was attended by economists, environmentalists and specialists from several countries dealt with almost the entire spectrum of issues that fall within the scope of economy and environment. Much of the thrust of the speakers was on the perceptible environmental and economic decline in Third World countries, but there were also others who saw hope in the enduring ability of people to face up to the challenges.
The three day meeting of experts also sought to send a message to the those who govern in the Third World that the expediency of development need not be at the cost of generating new problems in the process. There is no instant fix-it to overcome poverty and under-development in countries except through the application of policies that are aimed at working within the strict limitations imposed by the available resources. This also implies good governance and reducing non-development expenditure to make the developmental process meaningful.
If you wish to obtain the above publications, please contact:
Mr. Ali Amer aliaamer@sdpi.org
Peace and Sustainable Development in South Asia: Issues and Challenges of GlobalizationPeace and Sustainable Development in South AsiaJointly published by the SDPI and Sang-e-Meel, the latest SDC anthology was launched at the Twelfth Sustainable Development Conference on 21 December 2009. This anthology aims to familiarize the reader with various dimensions of sustainable development in the context of “peace and globalization”. The volume contains selected papers (after a thorough peer review and editing process), presented during the Eleventh Sustainable Development Conference (2008) of the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI). It addresses a diverse range of issues such as food security, climate change, natural resources management, cost of conflicts in South Asia, conflict resolution through trade, rewriting history, energy sharing, etc.
Sustainable Solutions: A Spotlight on South Asian Research was
launched on 1 December 2008 at the occasion of the Eleventh Sustainable
Development Conference. The anthology comprises eleven chapters based on
peer-reviewed papers presented at the Tenth SDC in December 2007.
Publishing the anthology is a year-long process in which the papers go
through a systematic review process and the ones that get approved are
edited and published in the anthology.
A collection of twenty-three research papers read at the Sustainable
Development Policy Institute’s Eighth Sustainable Development Conference
held in Islamabad, this anthology examines the multiple facets of
sustainable development in the context of South Asia. Following five
major themes-gender issues, livelihoods, WTO and governance, health and
environment, and peace and human rights-academicians, activists and
policy-makers from South Asia and other parts of the world, discuss
issues of sustainable development in an era of globalization, and debate
how these problems and issues can be dealt with effectively at various
levels based on prior experience of successful policy intervention
elsewhere.
The two-volume book results from the SDPI’s concern for translating
specialized multi and transdisciplinary research into effective policy
measures in the global South. For this purpose, SDPI organized its 6th
Sustainable Development Conference titled, “Sustainable Development:
Bridging the research/policy gaps in Southern Contexts,” in December
2003 where researchers, academicians, creative writers, theorists,
activists and policy-makers from different regions of the world met in
Islamabad to debate and discuss issues such as translating research
produced in the third world contexts into effective policy for
sustainable development, sustainable development as a question of
reorienting research/policy connection, and claiming and putting value
into the fragmented and disparate work that speaks to and about the
third world.
The options for developing states appear to be dwindling as they try
to find a way out of the maze of poverty, social insecurity, depleting
resources, intense economic competition and tough global laws to protect
the environment. Such a situation limits the possibilities for a very
large segment of the world’s population from entering the next
millennium with great expectations.
