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Seventh Sustainable Development Conference
8-10 December, 2004, Holiday Inn, Islamabad
Troubled Times: Sustainable Development and Governance in the Age of Extremes
Media Coverage December 11, 2004
December
6-7, 2004
December 9,
2004
December 10,
2004
December 11,
2004
People's Participation in Governance Urged
Dawn Islamabad
December 11, 2004
By Our Staff Reporter
Participants of an international conference on
Friday pledged to make concerted efforts to put people ahead in
governance at all levels by securing their rights to sustainable
development. The 7th Sustainable Development Conference, organized
by Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), concluded here
at a local hotel. Some 150 delegates from 18 countries participated
in the conference.
Questions about governance and sustainable development
were taken up at several inter-related levels: in the context of
Third World countries; in terms of the relationship with first world
institutions, and within and between Third World countries. SDPI
Executive Director Dr Saba Gul Khattak said it was imperative to
understand and respect dissent. She said it was a matter of great
concern that despite globalization, room for dissent and alternative
thinking was shrinking.
SDPI Board of Governors Chairman Shamsul Mulk
stressed that recurrence of mistakes and lapses committed in the
past must be checked for prosperity and better future of children.
Earlier, during the session on "Governance and Electronic Media",
panelists felt that there was a massive communication gap between
citizens and local governments despite efforts made by the Governance
and Media Cell of the National Reconstruction Bureau.
It was also stressed that awareness about the
local bodies system could only be created with the involvement of
local media. Syed A.Siraj, chairperson of Department of Mass Communication
at the Allama Iqbal Open University, said gratification approach
had brought about fragmentation in the society, leading to "information
pollution".
In the session on "Pakistan's Energy Future:
Is Nuclear Energy the Answer?", Chief Economist Dr Pervez Tahir
said nuclear energy made up only 0.9 per cent of the overall electricity
generation. He said with a GDP growth rate of eight per cent, shortage
of power was expected in the coming years. He said nuclear energy
was not harmful to environment compared to conventional thermal
power plants because of absence of toxic emissions of carbon dioxides
and sulphur oxides. In response, Dr A.H. Nayyar and Fahd Ali from
the SDPI presented their study on the economics of nuclear energy
that showed that nuclear energy was more expensive than conventional
thermal energy. They said cost of nuclear energy was 10.5 cents
per unit compared to 8.2 cents per unit cost of thermal energy.
Nuclear energy is, hence, not an affordable response to energy deficit,
they said. Surendra Gadekar, from Anumukti, India, said even if
theoretically, nuclear power plants were supposed to be safe, a
catastrophe might occur because of defects in the construction or
lacks of sufficient safety measures. His research showed that nuclear
energy was very harmful to health. Numerous accidents had occurred
in India. Moreover, he noticed a much higher incidence of deformations
and cancers in a village next to a power plant than in other villages
in the same area.
Mehmood A. Khwaja of the SDPI discussed "Extended
Producer's Responsibility in Pakistan" and reiterated the principle
of "Producer Take Back" in order to support waste reduction
and recycling. He emphasized that it was the manufacturer's primary
responsibility to reshape his product and pay the price for recycling
by managing product prices. M. Irfan Khan, assistant professor at
the Allama Iqbal Open University, reviewed issues related to water
governance and suggested a number of options to improve efficiency
in water usage. Cai Kui from Yunnan University, China, suggested
an environment construction strategy based on the improvement of
poor communities' livelihood, and increasing community and government
participation.
Sustainable Development Conference: SDC Pledges to Put People First
Daily Times, Islamabad
December 11, 2004
The 7th Sustainable Development Conference (SDC),
organised by a Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI),
concluded on Friday with a pledge to put people ahead in governance
at all levels by addressing their rights to development and ensuring
their access to resources and livelihoods. This was the crux of
various papers presented on governance in troubled times. Some 150
delegates from 18 countries participated in this conference. The
conference brought together theorists, researchers, creative thinkers,
writers, activists, policy makers, academics to debate the second
phase of globalisation — a world that is more interdependent.
Dr Saba Khattak, executive director of SDPI, concluded
the 7th SDC by reaffirming that it was imperative to understand
and respect dissent and the ability to listen. She said that it
was a matter of great concern that despite the creation of a more
global world, spaces for dissent and alternative thinking were shrinking.
Shams ul Mulk, the chairman of SDPI’s board
of governors, warned the price of ignorance in the 20th century
had been ignorance, but that the 21st century would prove to be
even more unforgiving and demanding. He stressed that for a prosperous
future, it was essential to rectify the shortcomings of the previous
century. The conference was concluded with the viewing of an intense
and soul-searching documentary titled ‘Adil Najam’s
Pakistan’.
Earlier, during the session on “Governance
and Electronic Media”, panellists felt that there was a massive
communication gap between the citizens and the local governments
despite efforts by the National Reconstruction Bureau (NRB) to rectify
this by creating the governance and media cell. It was urged that
awareness about the local body system could be raised by the involvement
of the local media involvement.
Syed A Siraj, chairperson of the department of
Mass Communication at the Allama Iqbal Open University, said “We
are living in a three-minute culture, where the gratification approach
had brought about fragmentation and segmentation in the society,
leading to information pollution.”
In a session on “Pakistan’s Energy
Future: Is Nuclear Energy the Answer?” Pervez Tahir, chief
economist of the government of Pakistan, said that nuclear energy
was responsible for only 0.9 per cent of the electricity produced.
With a GDP growth of 8 per cent, a power shortage is expected in
the coming years. He said that nuclear energy had environmental
advantages as compared to conventional thermal power plant because
of the absence of toxic emissions of carbon sulphur oxides. But
on the other hand, the investment cost was very high and the construction
time extensively long, he added.
AH Nayyar and Fahd Ali from SDPI presented their
study on the economics of nuclear energy that proved nuclear energy
was more expensive than conventional thermal energy. They stated
that the levelled cost of nuclear energy was 10.5 cents per unit
as compared to 8.2 cents per unit for thermal energy. Nuclear energy
hence was not an affordable solution to the energy deficit.
Surendra Gadekar, from Anumukti, India, explained
that even if theoretically, nuclear power plants were supposed to
be safe, in India or in Pakistan a catastrophe might occur because
of defects in construction or lack of sufficient safety measures.
His research shows that nuclear energy was very harmful for health.
He said that numerous accidents had occurred in India and he had
noticed a higher incidence of deformations and cancers in a village
next to a power plant than in other villages in the same area.
At a session on “Gendered Violence in the
Subcontinent” Kiran Ahmed, from SDPI, pointed towards lack
of commitment among policy makers, political parties and donor agencies
to deal more proactively with the issue. Masooma Qizalbash, from
the NGO Rozan, said that problems of honour killing must be analysed
historically in terms of poverty, girl-child education, gender empowerment,
reproductive health rights, socio-economic equity and the role of
men. Dr Faqir Hussain, from the Law and Justice Commission, was
of the view that the state must act wisely in meeting the challenges
faced by its people. “Laws made in haste face challenges such
as those being faced at present by the Hudood laws and ordinances.”
he added.
SDC Calls for People’s Role in Decision-making
at All Levels
Nation, Islamabad
December 11, 2004
By Lamia Zia
The 7th Sustainable Development Conference (SDC),
organised by Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), concluded
here Friday with a thought provoking documentary on the history
of Pakistan and a pledge to strive for people’s role in decision-making
at all levels.
This was the crux of various papers presented
on multiple themes around governance in the troubled times. Some
150 delegates from 18 countries participated in this conference.
Questions of governance and sustainable development were tackled
at several inter-related levels in the contexts of purely third
world; in terms of the relationship with first world institutions;
and within and between third world.
SDPI Executive Director Dr Saba Khattak concluded
the conference by reaffirming that it was imperative to understand
and respect dissent and the ability to listen. She said that it
was a matter of great concern that despite the creation of a more
globalised world, spaces for dissent and alternative thinking were
shrinking.
Shamsul Mulk, the Chairmain of SDPI’s Board
of Governors, warned that the price of ignorance during the 20th
century had been ignorance, but the 21st century would prove to
be even more unforgiving and demanding. He stressed that for the
prosperity of the future and our children it was essential that
the lapses and shortcomings of the previous century were redeemed
and rectified. The conference was concluded with the viewing of
an intense and soul-searching documentary titled “Adil Najam’s
Pakistan”.
Earlier in the day, during the session on ‘Governance
and Electronic Media’ panelists felt that there was a massive
communication gap between citizens and the local governments despite
efforts by National Reconstruction Bureau (NRB) to rectify the same
via creation of its Governance and Media cell. It was strongly urged
that awareness regarding the local body system could only occur
with a strong local media involvement. Syed Abdul Siraj, Chairman,
Department of Mass Communication, AIOU, said that we are living
in a three-minute culture, where the use and gratification approach
had brought about fragmentation and segmentation in society, leading
to information pollution.
In a session on ‘Pakistan’s Energy
Future: Is Nuclear Energy the Answer?’ Pervez Tahir, Chief
Economist, Government of Pakistan, said that nuclear energy represents
only 0.9 per cent of the electricity produced. With a GDP growth
of 8 per cent an important power shortage is expected in the following
years. A.H. Nayyar and Fahd Ali from SDPI presented their study
on the economics of nuclear energy that proved nuclear energy is
more expensive than conventional thermal energy. Surendra Gadekar,
from Anumukti, India, explained that even if theoretically, nuclear
power plants are supposed to be safe, in India or in Pakistan, a
catastrophe might occur because of defects in the construction or
lacks of sufficient safety measures. His research shows that Nuclear
energy was very harmful for health.
Mehmood A. Khwaja from SDPI discussed about extended
producer’s responsibility in Pakistan and reiterated the principle
of producer take back in order to support waste reduction, reuse,
recycling and composting. Ram Charitra Sah highlighted the Nepalese
regulatory mechanism, its strength and weakness, compliance of existing
environment acts and regulations. Bharati Chaturvedi compared the
provisions within the Indian SWM Rules with the actual functioning
at the ground level, and fleshed out the divergence between the
two, showing how governance is impacting the environment, particularly
recycling which was playing a vital scavenging role in urban India.
M. Irfan Khan from AIOU presented a review on issues related to
water governance and suggested a number of options to improve the
governance of water sector leading towards improving water use efficiency
in the country. Cai Kui from Yunnan University, China, suggested
advocating for an environment construction strategy based on the
improvement of poor communities’ livelihood, and increasing
community and government participation.
In the session on ‘Gender Violence in the
Subcontinent’ Kiran Ahmed from SDPI pointed towards lack of
commitment among policy makers, political parties and donor agencies
to deal more proactively with the issue. Masooma Qizalbash from
Rozan, said that problems of honour killing must be analyzed historically,
in terms of addressing poverty, girl-child education, gender empowerment,
reproductive health rights, socio-economic equity and the role of
men.
Dr Faqir Hussain from the Law and Justice Commission, was of the
view that the state must act wisely in meeting the challenges faced
by its people as laws made in haste face challenges such as those
being faced at present by the Hudood laws and ordinances.
In the session on ‘Food Security’
Dr Abid Suleri from OXFAM/SDPI stressed the highlighted that 51
per cent rural population of Pakistan is food insecure. Due to the
scale of the prevailing crisis in the food sector of Pakistan, issues
have to be tackled immediately at the highest level of decision-making.
Jehangir Khan Khalil, FAO, added that around 19 per cent of the
total population of Pakistan were malnourished, and that in the
last 10 years, the rate of malnutrition had remained constant.
Ustad Raees Enthralls Audience
The News, Rawalpindi/Islamabad
December 11, 2004
The Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI)
provided a melodious break in between its three-day Sustainable
Development Conference on 'Troubled Times: Sustainable Development
and Governance in the Age of Extremes on the second day by organising
a musical evening with violinist Ustad Raees Ahmad Khan. Over the
years, Raees has mastered the strings and is fast moving to become
a maestro. He proved with the mellifluous tunes that the violence
should be replaced with violin, wars and weapons with love and flowers
and gunfire with music. It is only through peace and harmony that
sustainable development and better environment could be ensured.
The violinist performed mostly old tunes that
still enthral not only the people who were in their youth or childhood
from 1940s to 1960s but also the young generation their craze for
the disco and pop music notwithstanding. Raees assisted by Ijaz
Hussain on 'tabla' kept the audience absorbed well over midnight.
The organisers had also arranged a vocalist but he could not reach
the venue till the end of the function. The instrumentalist performed
many popular tunes.
Zobia Khanum also sang a few songs. Ziaur
Rahman from SDPI and Umma also used their vocal chords in between
performance of Ustad Raees. ‘Ho gai aadhi raat, ab' ghar janay
do' from Nagan was his last item where the audience provided tempo
with claps, as he captivated the young and old generations alike
with the charm of his melodies.
SDC Ends with Call for Best Governance Practices
The News, Rawalpindi/Islamabad
December 11, 2004
Theorists, researchers, creative thinkers, writers,
activists, policymakers and academicians from across the world at
the 7th Sustainable Development Conference concluded here Friday
called for sharing the best practices in governance and development
in the second phase of globalisation realising the fact that now
the world is more interdependent.
Organised by the Sustainable Development Policy
Institute (SDPI), the conference brought together some 150 delegates
from 18 countries who urged the need for putting people ahead of
the policymaking and governance at all levels by addressing their
rights to development and ensuring their access to resources and
livelihoods. Addressing the closing plenary, Dr. Saba Khattak, executive
director of SDPI, reaffirmed that it was imperative to understand
and respect dissent and the ability to listen. She said it was a
matter of great concern that despite the creation of a more globalised
world, spaces for dissent and alternative thinking were shrinking.
Shamsul Mulk, the chairperson of SDPI's Board
of Governors, warned that the price of ignorance during the 20th
century had been ignorance but the 21st century would prove to be
even more unforgiving and demanding. For the prosperity of the future,
he stressed, it was essential that the lapses and shortcomings of
the previous century were redeemed and rectified. The conference
concluded with viewing of an intense and soul-searching documentary
made by Adil Najam.
Earlier in the day, there were two separate
sessions on 'Governance and Media (Print and Electronic). Panellists
felt that there was a massive communication gap between the citizens
and the local governments, despite efforts by the National Reconstruction
Bureau to rectify the same via creation of its Governance and Media
Cell.
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