Sixth Sustainable Development Conference
11-13 December, Holiday Inn, Islamabad
SDPI
Press Releases
Day one December 11, 2003
ISLAMABAD: A two-pronged strategy was needed that aimed at achieving
a high growth rate and specifically targeted the poor for sustainable
development. The Minister for Finance Shaukat Aziz stated this while
speaking at the inaugural session of three-day Annual Sustainable
Development Conference organized by the Sustainable Development
Policy Institute (SDPI) here toady.
He said that the real challenge for Pakistan was
the population explosion that leads to any and all policies and
work to fail. “We need to evolve recommendations as to how
to bridge the gap between policies and research for sustainable
development”. He appreciated the presence of individuals,
researchers and academicians coming together from all over the world
to share ideas, thoughts and views in order to learn and benefit
from each other. He elaborated how healthy macro economic changes
had occurred over the past four years leading to greater economic
sovereignty, arresting fiscal deficits and attacking the balance
of payments. He also said that this conference was one event that
would help build linkages between various countries to combat issues
such as poverty and war.
Introducing the conference with a plea for the
inclusion of passion in the work that researchers and academics
did, the Executive Director of SDPI, Dr. Saba Gul Khattak, briefed
about the SDPI and the conference, stressing the overarching concern
for truth and its connections with knowledge and justice. She said
that the next three days of the conference would prove critics wrong
and highlight that the complex interconnections between the realities
of peoples’ lives and their representation was possible; that
one could actually work towards a better society only through better
understanding and analyses grounded in realities. Former chairman
WAPDA and chairman SDPI’s Board of Governors, Shams ul Mulk,
gave the historical background of the Conference elaborating on
the past five conferences. He stressed the need to remember that
there were some issues and areas where ‘failure is not an
option and trying to answer questions such as how the bridges with
policy could be effectively laid down without compromising on research,
and the kind of research that should be produced, were important.’
Renowned media expert Dr. Mehdi Hassan chaired
the session titled “Mass Media and the National Press”
said that that the media had the role of a watchdog and of a mirror
for effective democracy. US based journalist Rehan Ansari while
presenting his paper on “Corporate Media and the Ethnic Press-the
case of the Urdu Press in New York-post 9/11” highlighted
the fact that the attacks on the civil liberties of the Pakistani
immigrants in New York by the US law enforcement authorities was
not reported by the US corporate media but was well taken up by
the Urdu press coverage. Ayesha Haroon, an Islamabad based journalist
during her presentation on “Media, Policy and Advocacy”,
developed the linkage between media, policy and advocacy. She highlighted
the many pressures on developing countries including limited resources
over widest number of people in the shortest possible time, media
as a tool of information and advocacy takes an important role for
effective policy implementation. Shafqat Munir while presenting
on “freedom of information: the right to know”, said
the two components could be linked and achieved through free press,
independent judiciary and functional democracy. Mukhtar Ahmad Ali
commenting on the presentations said that the citizens’ access
to information, held by the government and corporate entities, subject
to minimal exemptions is crucial for the freedom of information.
During his presentation he compared different south Asian countries
with regard to freedom of information laws.
Mr Ondre Yucer Resident Representative of UNDP
chaired the session on Globalization and WTO: Post Ministerial Debriefing
Session, said that for a number of good reasons Nepal has become
the member of WTO. Multilateral trading system has its own advantages
and disadvantages. Pradeep Mehta, from India while talking on Singapore
issues said that although these are often referred as a sole reason
for the collapse of Cancun but the truth is that agriculture was
the reason for collapse of the talks. Tahir Hasnain while presenting
his paper Fair Trade after Cancun; Agriculture remains the Test
Case, said that since inclusion of agriculture in multilateral trading
system, the success of talks mainly depends upon consensus in agriculture
negotiations. Dr Abid Suleri of SDPI made his presentation on Implementation
Issues, from Uruguay to Cancun, and said that implementation issues
are longstanding on the agenda of WTO. Developed countries are not
ready to take them as an agenda although it has always been part
of the ministerial agenda. Qasim Niaz while rapping up the session
thanked the SDPI for arranging such events, which could bring policy
makers and researchers together.
Panelists in the session entitled “State,
Violence and Migration” shared stories of Partition that brought
out the need to work and focus on promoting the harmony that existed
between the Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs before the violence and bloodshed
that overtook the subcontinent, the need to follow stories of peace
rather than violence. Talking to the session Imtiaz Ahmad from Bangladesh
said that ‘Despite living in the 20th century, we are still
living in the days of Partition, it is still alive today’.
Chandrika Parmar from India discussed how the state tends to pervert
and manipulate the memories of the masses feeding them pieces of
history that are based on falsehood. ‘Scars’, she said
‘heal, but memory is re-lived and replayed from one generation
to the next.’ Rukhsana Qamber, from QUA played songs from
the 1965 war sung by Noor Jehan that inspired our soldiers to battle
and lay down their lives in the name of patriotism. One of the panelists
recommended the need for South Asians to adopt a methodology, terminology
and concepts that were unique and specific to the historical contexts
of this region.
The session on Education and Identity began with
a presentation by Ahmad Salim (SDPI) on historical falsehoods in
Pakistani textbooks. He asserted that since 1947, the state has
failed to support the cause of a scientific and secular approach
to history. The most significant problems in the current curriculum
and textbooks include inaccuracies of fact and omissions that conceal
historical facts. The result of this is that historically inaccurate
facts, and even outright concealment of information has taken place.
Rubina Saigol, an educationist asserted that knowledge in India
as well as Pakistan was moving towards a hardening of communal and
sectarian identities. She cited specific examples from textbooks
in both countries to demonstrate how the production of knowledge
was being manipulated in favor of dominant ideology. Contradictions
and complexities are glossed over, ignored and this results in a
narrative that portrays ‘us’ as good and ‘them’
as bad. The dominant classes in these countries have managed to
train the children of the non-privileged classes to become cannon
fodder, willing to lay down their lives in Jihad, or to propagate
Hinduvta. Tahir Kamran elaborated on the problem of identity in
the educational discourse of Pakistan. He presented a historical
appraisal and pointed out that text and reference books used in
the academic institutions of Pakistan present contrasting and at
times confusing images, made of tradition and modernity. Ajmal Kamal
deconstructed several passages that had been censored. His exercise
pointed to the fact that a text had to be made politically and ideologically
acceptable for inclusion in a textbook.
Talking on the session “Governance and Decentralization: Democracy
in Pakistan” Foqia Sadiq Khan presented her findings which
show that the new institutional innovations such as the “musalihat
anjuman” and Insaf Committee were not in place, as people
were not clear about their role and authority. Farrukh Moriani presented
a case study of Sindh while talking about “Issues in Devolution”.
While giving an overall picture of the decentralization process,
he highlighted opportunities and constraints in the devolution plan.
Sajid Kazmi and Ali Rind also focused on Sindh by presenting a case
study “Impact of Devolution on Manchar Lake”, which
highlighted aspects of environmental degradation and food security
issues for the residents.
Speakers at the session “International
Relations: Ir/relevance of Social Sciences in South Asia”
explored various dimensions of the topic. Dr.Itty Abraham said that
the history of relationship of South Asian intelligentsia with the
state is very complicated. Dr. Shaheen Sardar Ali was of the view
that social science in South Asia is focusing on economics and development
and it has the capacity to challenge the status quo while giving
voice to the voiceless and have-nots. Another speaker Talat Mahmood
said that innovative activity is linked to knowledge, generating
inputs through what has become known as the knowledge of production.
S. Akbar Zaidi, the discussant of the session while commenting over
the speakers presentation said that it is very shocking that many
among us know Hamza Alavi but a few have tried to study and explore
his theories. Dr. Masuma Hasan winded up the session with the comments
that social scientists do not have access to policy-makers, which
is the basic cause of gap between research and policy, as well as
its implementation.
Day Two December 12, 2003
On the second day of the
conference, during the session on Peace and Security in Nuclearised
South Asia, Dr. Haider Nizamani from University of British Columbia,
Canada presented findings of his research on peoples’ perceptions
and national security in Pakistan. He said that people’s perception
of national security is quite different from the one presented by
the Government. Where the Government finds possession of nuclear
weapons essential for Pakistan’s security, a significant majority
of the people surveyed said that best way to ensure Pakistan’s
security is to improve socio-economic conditions and improving relations
with India. He concluded by saying that in Pakistan assertions on
national security discourse from people and analysts are full of
contradictions, there is wide spread apathy on the issue and activists
scholarships needs to creatively the bridge the gaps between people’s
perceptions and policy makers policies to make the system more accountable.
Dr. Ayesha Siddiqa Agha said one would have to
come up with new criteria and identify new variables to establish
the link between defense and development. An exercise in this regard
was carried out in Latin America used food consumption as a variable
to establish the link between defense and development. She said
in Pakistan this task is even more difficult because of military’s
greater economic activities. Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy while giving a
brief history of nuclearization of South Asia said that this region
is moving from first phase of nuclearization to the second phase.
First phase saw making, testing, and production of nuclear weapons.
The second phase is acquisition of necessary technology to make
full use of the first phase. This includes acquiring and developing
anti-ballistic missiles (ABM). He stressed that SA was entering
into a period of great instability and the only way to avoid any
disaster would be to completely de-nuclearize South Asia. Dr. Itty
Abraham from India and Karamat Ali in their concluding remarks while
appreciated the recent peace moves from India and Pakistan stressed
on greater peace initiatives from people of the two countries.
Two consecutive sessions were held on National
Environmental Quality Standards (NEQS). The first session was chaired
by Dr. Parvez Hassan, Chairman NEQS Implementation Committee, Pakistan.
During the session, discussants Dr. Noman Qadir and Mr.Azher discussed
difficulties faced in implementation of NEQS such as lack of education,
training, infrastructure and testing facilities and suggested extension
of financial assistance to the industry. Another session on the
same topic was chaired by Engg. Asif Shujah Khan, Director General
Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency. Rita Pandey from India
stressed the need for effective enforcement of regulation that needs
to be well-targeted and focussed. Dr. Mehmood Khwaja clarified the
problems associated with SMART- One Software. He explained that
SMART-One was based on the earlier NEQS which were consequently
revised and updated in SMART –Two version. Dr. Khwaja proposed
the creation of SMART Cooperation Centers (SCC) with cooperation
and partnership among the Government, universities, R&D institutions
and industry through minutes of understanding among Ministry of
Education, Higher Education Commission, Ministry of Science and
Technology and the Ministry of Environment.
The evening concurrent session, chaired by Ajmal
Kamal, on Education and Medium of Instruction, addressed the issue
of whether or not to use the ‘mother tongue’ as the
medium of instruction in primary schools. Dr. Shahid Siddiqui, pointed
out that the studies from UNESCO advocated the use of mother tongue
as the medium of instruction to ensure better understanding of the
subject matter by the primary school pupils. Dr. Ali Ahmed Rind
presented the Sindh prospective by elucidating the plight of the
Sindhis, whose mother tongue has a great history and rich culture,
compared to Urdu, yet is not used a medium of instruction in Sindh
today. Dr Rind explained that before partition, the British rulers
did promote the use of Sindhi as the official language in those
offices where there was direct contact with the masses. However,
after independence, subsequent governments of Pakistan changed their
education policies from using Urdu and then English as the medium
of instruction, all of course to the determent of the Sindhi populace
at large, indirectly resulting in the high illiteracy rate. Dr Ahsan
Wagha, described ad nauseam, the historical roots of languages of
the subcontinent, particularly Urdu and Hindi, concluding that,
unlike Kashmiri, Seraiki and Sindhi, which had its roots in Sanskrit
(and indigenous language of the subcontinent), Hindi and Urdu had
a more Persian and Urdu touch to it. Mr. Wahid Buzdar was of the
opinion that mother languages must and should be preserved to ensure
that the riches and diversity of the land and its people prevails.
Mr. Shafqat Mirza, however, had a different opinion, when he talked
about the use of Punjabi as the medium of instruction. He suggested
that comprehensive research work should be conducted by institutions
like the SDPI, to ascertain whether using mother tongue as a medium
of instruction indeed enhanced the ability of Pakistan to move towards
sustainable development, poverty alleviation, higher literacy and
overall emancipation of the people. In conclusion, the discussant
and chair agreed that in choosing which language to use as a medium
of instruction, it would inevitably be at the expense of another
language. Therefore, what is absolutely essential is that research
work in terms of the value of using mother tongue as a medium of
instruction in Pakistan, must and should be investigated and that
all languages of Pakistan must be given due importance in the education
sector.
The second session on the relevance of Social
Sciences had an interesting and invigorating discussion. The first
speaker was Dr. Iftikhar Hasan talked about the social science research
done by government-funded institutes, the lack of focus and relevance
of PhD research being conducted in Pakistani universities and the
efforts of the Higher Education Commission to boost social science
research. Kelly Teamey from King’s College, University of
London presented her on-going PhD research on discourse analysis
of empowerment and education in Pakistan. Nighat Saeed Khan, Director
of ASR Resource Centre, Lahore emphasized on producing knowledge
rather than compiling information in donor-funded reports. She lamented
the fact that there are very few academics of repute living in Pakistan
or abroad. S. Akbar Zaidi commented on the session and he was of
the opinion that knowledge should be produced for the sake of knowledge
rather than being oriented to “problem-solving.”
Day
Three December 13, 2003
On the third and last day of the conference
Saturday, experts and researchers from across South Asia and the
rest of the world demanded that the policymakers should link the
findings in the policy-making process to alleviate poverty, ensure
sustainable development and promote peace in the region.
During the session on “Population, Environment
and Development” Ali Abbas Qazilbash from SDPI presented his
paper on increasing trend of suicides in Pakistan. He said that
there is an urgency for establishing an effective youth policy,
which would facilitate a strong link between the public and private
sectors, which in the long run would lead to the implementation
of an effective livelihood program. This is seen as the first step
in curbing the alarmingly high suicide rate. Former provincial minister
for education Shaheen Atiqur Rehman referred to the importance of
universal primary education as a goal for all, irrespective of gender.
She said that it is believed that since the majority of the women
work in the rural areas of Pakistan, investment in women’s
education would no doubt have a positive effect on the rural economy.
Dr Shafqat Shehzad said that Pakistan has an unacceptably high rate
in infant and child mortality; the main culprit identified has been
the low level of female literacy rate. Although other factors were
identified, lack of data availability rendered a more conclusive
answer.
Mr. Urs Geiser from Switerland chaired the session
on Civil Society and Advocacy. Ms Sana Haroon from SOAS, UK, deliberated
upon the different roles of the mullah in the early 20th century
in the north west frontier tribal areas and elaborated various roles
performed by them. The mullah enjoyed authority vested in him by
tradition of piri mureedi system. She distinguished the administered
or settled areas of the province from the tribal area and mentioned
that throughout the colonial era, the raj purposely maintained a
demarcation between its authority and its frontiers. The authorities
of British India managed the tribal areas with the help of political
agents. She didn’t want to sound derogatory, she said, calling
the religious leader a mullah, but it was and is a common title
assigned to him historically.
Dr. Majeed Rajput, chief National Health Policy,
GOP, chaired the session on “Population, Health and Poverty”.
Dr. W G Somaratne from Sri Lanka said that comparative analysis
of gender and development issues in South Asia shows that gender
inequality retards economic growth and poverty reduction. Dr. Eaisha
Tareen from UK emphasized the importance of qualitative research
by saying that “for the development of effective public policy
the voices of the public needs to be heard”. Dr. Mohan Rao
from India said that reproductive rights represent a marriage between
multinational feminism and intellectual debt.
The session on Natural Resource Management, which was chaired by
former chairman WAPDA, Mr Shams-ul-Mulk, said that quality of information
is directly related to quality of decision. In the 20th century,
poverty was the price of ignorance, bit in the 21st century; it
might not be sufficient. Faisal Haq Shaheen of SDPI said that increased
reliance on inputs, mechanization, industrialization, market liberalization,
export-oriented government policies and depressed commodity prices
are the factors responsible for taking away agriculture from the
hands of the masses under the control of multinational corporations.
Dr Ghulam Akbar said that involving communities in the management
of natural resources is a very recent case in Pakistan, so it would
take some time to judge its results.
The session on Trade and Sustainable Development
was chaired by former Foreign Minister Sartaj Aziz. Adil Najam from
Tufts Univesity, USA, emphasized the need to build clarity, to build
capacity and to build an interest in a southern agenda for trade
and environment given the reality of linkages between trade and
environment. Mr. David Boyer of IISD, Canada, spoke on the ability
of the Trade Knowledge Network (TKN), to build developing countries’
expertise, around key sustainable development issues of agriculture,
market access, investment and environmental goods and services issues.
Shaheen Rafi Khan of SDPI emphasized on the need for South Asian
standard takers to organize around the SAARC Chambers of Commerce
and Industry in meeting the challenges of accrediting regional standards
setting and certification bodies. Annie Dufey from Chile stressed
that there was a need for the nations to decide on defining environmentally
sensitive goods and services for liberalization or protection under
national regimes.
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