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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 6 &7, 2004
December
6-7, 2004
December 9,
2004
December 10,
2004
December 11,
2004
Scrutinising the age of extremes
The Nation Islamabad,
December 06, 2004
by Uzma T. Haroon
Today we are living in a world of extremes. On one-side of the divide are green pastures, skyscrapers and shopping malls and on the other, slums, poverty, sickness and conflicts. Our leaders profess that poverty has been reduced; there are more employment and livelihood opportunities, more food to eat, and education and health facilities for all. But then how is it that we read and witness a world that depicts a different picture?
The world is indeed a witness to deteriorating indices, increasing inequalities and disparities. These include disparities in incomes, shrinking sources of livelihood, increasing poverty, escalating conflicts, inter- and intra state violence, sham democracies and abuse of religion. In this context, issues of governance and sustainable development take on distinct significance. These issues are of particular importance to the South Asian region that has been affected by the global developments and heightened conflicts.
"Troubled Times: Sustainable Development and Governance in the Age of Extremes" is the over-arching theme of the Sustainable Development Policy Institute's (SDPI) Seventh Sustainable Development Conference (SDC) being held from December 8 to 10, 2004 at Hol1day Inn, Islamabad. The conference will provide a unique forum to scholars from South Asia and scholars from other regions of the world specializing on Asia to come and share their views and present analysis and recommendations.
The opening plenary of the 7th SDC will take place on December 8, 2004 at 9.30am at the Holiday Inn, Islamabad. The conference sessions will end at 6:00 pm every day. Dr. Ashis Nandy from the Centre for the study of Developing Societies (CSDS), India will present the keynote address titled, “The Idea of the South Asia”. Federal Minister for Environment Major (Retd.) Tahir Iqbal has been requested to launch the two-volume book jointly published by the SDPI and the Oxford University Press. The title of the book is “Sustainable Development: Bridging the Research/Policy Gaps in Southern Contexts”. It is based on the scholarly papers presented at the SDPI's previous SDC held in December 2003.
A galaxy of prominent scholars, researchers, writers and academicians will be attending the conference. Some of the names include Dr Ashis Nandy from the Center for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), India; Dr. Adil Najam from the Tufts University, USA; Prof. Ian Talbot from the Coventry University, UK; Muneeza Shamsie, writer and critic from Karachi; Prof. Azra Razzack, Central Institute of Education, India; Prof. Yvette C. Rosser, University of Texas at Austin, USA; Dr Peter Coyte, University of Toronto, Canada; Dr Najma Najam, Fatima Jinnah University, Rawalpindi; Prof. Cai Kui, Yunnan University, China; Stefan Schntte, Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit, Germany; Ritu Menon, Women Unlimited, India; Munima Sultana, The Financial Express, Bangladesh; Dr Siripen Supakankunti, Chulalongkorn University,
Thailand; Prof. Christina Oesterheld, University of Heidelberg, Germany; Prof. Pippa Virdee, Coventry University, UK; Ameena Saiyid, Oxford University Press, Pakistan; Anne Austen, DFID, Pakistan; Prof. Sikander Mehdi, Karachi University; Bharati Chaturvedi, CERAG, India; and many others.
The conference will cover some 23 sub-themes ranging from WTO and the regional agreements; violence, displacement and the issue of identity; the role of fiction writers: health care finance and delivery: communal harmony in South Asia; security dimensions; environment and pollution control; democracy in the Subcontinent; Pakistan's energy future; Afghan refugees; to women in media; governance issues in print and electronic media; curricula and textbooks; human trafficking; resource rights and sustainable development; gendered violence in the Subcontinent; sustainable livelihoods in South Asia; food security; farmers rights; and endangered cultural heritage.
The 7th SDC will provide a forum for sharing and exchanging dialogues on sustainable development and governance with practitioners and policy makers. It will examine the interface and relations between various dimensions of sustainable development and governance.
The speakers will discuss how problems and issues in South Asia can be dealt effectively at various levels based on prior experience of successful policy interventions. Questions of governance and sustainable development will be 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.
The conference will question whether there is sound governance around development and whether this is ensuring just development? Whether there is more sharing of resources including natural, and institutional? Is there a strengthening of regional and international institutions? Or is it a world of extremes - a world that is extremely rich but with unparalleled inequalities of income and access to resources with the marginalized becoming even more marginalized.
The forum will also provide a lively interaction between the scholars and the audience. The conference is open to all and the audience is encouraged to raise questions and debate issues after the presentations by the speakers.
Conference on Development, Governance Tomorrow
Dawn Islamabad
December 07, 2004
A three day conference on sustainable development and governance, which begins here on Wednesday, will examine the world of extremes with deteriorating indices, increasing inequalities and disparities in incomes, shrinking livelihoods and increasing poverty and conflicts in the South Asian region.It will provide an opportunity to scholars, academicians, researchers and writers from South Asia and other regions of the world to share their ideas and experiences.Dr Ashis Nandy from the Center for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), India, will present the keynote address on, "The Idea of South Asia", said a press release issued here Sunday. The opening session of the conference, organized by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) on "Troubled Times: Sustainable Development and Governance in the Age of Extremes" will be addressed by the Minister for Environment Maj (retired) Tahir Iqbal as chief guest.- Our Reporter.
Sustainable Development Moot to Open Tomorrow
The News Rawalpindi/Islamabad
December 07, 2004
by Our Correspondent
The 'Seventh Sustainable Development Conference of the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) on 'Troubled Times: Sustainable, Development and Governance in the Age of Extremes' will open here on December 8. The conference, which will conclude on December 10, is open to all. Federal Minister for Environment Major (r) Tahir Iqbal will address the opening ceremony as chief guest at 9:30 a.m. while Dr, Ashis Nandy from the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSPS), India, will present the keynote address on 'The Idea of South Asia.
The conference will examine the world of extremes with deteriorating indices, increasing inequalities and disparities in incomes, shrinking livelihoods and increasing poverty and conflicts in the South Asia. It will provide an opportunity to scholars, academicians researchers and writers from Sooth Asia and other regions of the world to share their papers.
The scholars have been invited from Bangladesh, Chile, China, Germany, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Sri, Lanka, Thailand, the Philippines, Europe and America apart from different cities of Pakistan. Some 30 panels will be organized during the three-day conference. Three panels will run concurrently in three different halls of the venue. The sub-themes of the conference include globalisation; livelihoods; food security; health; environment; resource rights; media and governance; gender based violence; conflict and security; human trafficking; voice of fiction Writers; and South Asian discourse on education.
The speakers will debate a number of issues pertaining
to the over arching theme. They will question whether there is sound
governance around development and whether this is ensuring just
development? Whether there is more sharing of resources, including
natural and institutions? Or is it a world of extremes - a world
that is extremely rich but with unparalleled inequalities of income
and access to resources - with the marginalized becoming even more
marginalized.
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December 06, 2004