SDPI Press Releases

“South Asia is a fragile land where poor past practices and policies have had environmental consequences. As we plan for the future, we must all consider the impact of our environmental activities on our continent.” This was stated by the Federal Minister for Environment Major ® Tahir Iqbal at opening of three-day 7th Sustainable Development Conference (SDC), organized by a Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), here on Wednesday.

Some 150 delegates from18 countries are participating in this conference. The Conference has brought together theorists, researchers, creative thinkers, writers, activists, policy makers, academicians from across the region and world to debate the second phase of globalization—a world that is ever more interdependent. Questions of governance and sustainable development are being 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.

Federal Minister launched the book titled Sustainable Development: Bridging the research/policy gaps in Southern Contexts, at the plenary of SDC, acknowledged SDPI’s outstanding record of academic and scientific leadership in the area of sustainable development. The book, he said was proof of SDPI’s concern for translating specialized multi and trans-disciplinary research into effective policy measures in the global South. The book has been jointly published by the SDPI and the Oxford University Press.

He assured that sustainable development was at the heart of the Government's approach, with systems and processes being put in at the highest level to enable us to apply an integrated, whole-of-government approach to environmental problems. ”The Ministry fully realizes that the environment is an equal partner to the triple bottom line, and so is doing everything it can to ensure that it has a key place at the table in our Government's decision-making.” he said.

Dr. Ashis Nandy from the Center of Developing Societies (CSDS), India, in a thought-provoking keynote address shared that “South Asia is the only region in the world where most states define themselves not by what they are but by what they are not …the region can be called a collective of very reluctant states, which are afraid to say that positive self-definition will take them far.”

He discussed how the usage had frozen a cultural region geographically and allowed the Indian state to hijack the right over Indian civilization, forcing other states in the region, be they Pakistan, Sri Lanka or Bangladesh, to seek new bases for their political cultures and disown crucial aspects of their cultural repertoire.

Giving the example of SAARC he said that when our political leaders talk of SAARC, they have in mind a compact within the format of the global nation-state, and not within the format of the cultural system within which they have survived for centuries. This, he felt, is the reason that leads to fear and paranoia of anything that might push South Asia towards a people’s SAARC- free exchange of news, books, information, ideas, literature, art, films and above all free circulation of free thinking human beings.

Dr. Saba Khattak, Executive Director of SDPI welcomed the community of likeminded thinkers, activists, intellectuals, policy makers from all across the world, bonded not only by friendships, humor, hope, shared experiences in different professional contexts, but also by ideas and visions for a future. She shared how choosing the conference theme had been both easy and difficult owing to the frustration that despite complex debates about the situation on the ground regarding sustainable development and governance nexus, little had actually changed at the macro level, be it Vision 20/20 or the Millennium Development Goals.

“Given the neo-liberal economic policies and political formations that have characterized the world recently, where is the politics of the possible… is it possible to solve the issues that we face either in a segmented manner? Must we look at everything sectorally? Or, is it possible to comprehend and resolve issues in all their complexity? In deed, is it possible for us to even lend some sense or logic to our dirty and sordid realities, that have politics and contested histories, with no linear logic running through them?” were few of the questions she posed.

The Chair of SDPI’s Board of Governors and Ex-WAPDA chairman, Shams ul Mulk gave an overview of SDPI’s past, highlighted some of its current work and activities, and took a brief look at the Sustainable Development Conference series and its significance. He informed the audience about the Institute’s strong research program and its involvement in over fifty research assignments, in collaboration with regional and international partners. He also highlighted SDPI’s raising awareness efforts on globalization and WTO agreements; farmer’s rights, discriminatory laws against women, Cement plants licenses, change of Master Plan of Islamabad, Freedom of information Act, Save Murree Hills initiative and curriculum revision during the year.

He discussed SDPI’s involvement in South-South as well as North-South partnerships and collaborations with like-minded research institutions and academia, expressing how such an approach was likely to have more credibility with the policy community, especially where regional and global issues were concerned. ‘North-South and South-South associations can help dispel misperceptions and identify converging interests that lead to win-win situations.’

Conference’s session on Violence, Displacement and the Issue of Identity –1947 was that ‘identities change’ and to move forward as a democratic nation that prospers through its relations with its neighbours, one needs to re-identify ourselves. Both Ian Talbot and Pippa Virdee of Coventry University, UK, signified the importance of commonality of the experiences on both sides of the border and emphasized the need to focus on revealing, class and gender as significant dimensions of the Partition as opposed to just religion. Ishtiaq Ahmed of Stockholm University, Sweden, pointed out that it was religion that continues to dominate the political scene in both countries.

“Maybe if we analyzed our histories in the context of communities as opposed to religious groups, we would be able to work through our differences and abandon the feelings of ill will that we have been harboring towards each other for so long.” the panelists felt.

In the panel on ‘Trade and Sustainable Development: A Southern Agenda’ Dawood Mamoon from the Institute of Social Studies, Netherlands, pointed out through his study that the processes of international trade were negatively biased towards the wages of unskilled labor as opposed to the wages of skilled labor. He warned that this meant that human capital accrued through trade contributes to exacerbate inequality, thus leading to welfare distorting outcomes.

Yousaf Haroon of PTCL academy said that Pakistan had liberalized its telecom sector but the issue of the digital divide remained a bottleneck for access to necessary means of governance. He blamed reduction in tariffs for putting more burdens on the domestic industry and users.

Shaheen Rafi Khan from SDPI argued that there was a need for the South to develop an agenda for multilateral trade negotiations such that a convergence between Northern and Southern positions could be found. Dr. Khan analyzed various agreements under WTO and identified two principal negotiating premises for the South: persisting with sustainable development and injecting realism in their approach knowing that Northern MNCs were driven by profit motives. The Conference will continue for next two days.

Press Release - Day 2, December 9, 2004

“Pakistan has moved away from its historic stance on threat perception and there was a need for Pakistan to redefine national security in a much broader context than at present.” Senator Mushahid Hussain stated this at a panel “Exploring the South Asian Security Dimension: Military, Economic and Human” at the second day of three-day 7th Sustainable Development Conference (SDC), organized by a Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), here on Thursday.

Mushahid Hussain stated that Pakistan has moved away from its historic stance on threat perception, which was India centric to realizing that the most significant threat is internal. He also argued that there was a need for Pakistan to redefine national security in a much broader context than at present. He suggested that military security was overemphasized and there was a need to focus on economic and human security also.

Ejaz Haider from the Friday Times, said that Pakistan’s security culture had developed structural problems because of an over emphasis on ‘military security.’ He shared that the civil military imbalance and the inconsistent political system had shaped Pakistan’s security culture.

Moeed Yusuf from SDPI analyzed various academic and policy proposals on Kashmir presented between 1949-50 and 2004 and highlighted that an analysis of expert opinion suggests that in order to arrive at a sustainable solution of the Kashmir problem five issues must be part of the Indo-Pak negotiating agenda. These included autonomy to the entire Jammu Kashmir, softening of the Kashmiri boundary, force reduction in the State, granting a formal role to Kashmiris in any negotiations, and involving international actors besides UN in the efforts to attain peace.

Talking on the aspect of human security, Dr. Adil Najam from the Fletcher School of Diplomacy, USA argued that the insecurities of the two countries were far more profound at the human level than the state level. He shared that the state as well as inter-state insecurities were likely to be dealt with much better through tackling the human dimensions of insecurity than the military dimensions.

Dr. Najma Najam from Fatimah Jinnah Women University pointed that the psychological dynamics of depression, learned helplessness and apathy can be effective tools to analyze and understand the increasing violence exhibited in the absence of tolerance for differences of opinion, religion, caste, creed and gender.

Panellist Swarna Rajgopalan from India on the panel “The Experience of Democracy in the Sub-Continent” suggested reinterpreting religious texts and secularising them. Rehan Ansari said that both the states, Pakistan and India had created fear to legitimise their actions and use of force against their own people in Kashmir and South Waziristan. E. Sridharan from India focused on the relationship between democracy and the Hindu- Muslim conflict in India and examined the pattern of representation of Muslims in the Lok Sabha. He shared that there was no clear link between representation and communal violence and that it depended on the extent to which the civil society was polarized. Dr. Farzana Bari talked about gender quotas and democracy in Pakistan and looked into the extent to which these quotas have really empowered women.

In the panel on “Women and Media: Problems and Prospects”, which was chaired by parliamentarian Sherry Rehman, panelists strongly called for a self regulatory non-governmental media ethics commission like those along the lines of Sweden and UK to monitor both insensitive reporting and ensure implementation of a gender sensitive code of ethics. Tasneem Ahmar from Uks concern that the code had received little attention from the government and major press councils. Beena Sarwar shared that in Pakistan, women journalists have specifically contributed to an increase in the reporting of issues relating to violence, particularly Karo-Kari (so-called ‘honor killings’), besides education, health, sports, entertainment and economics.

Hussain Ahmed Khan in the session on “Violence, Displacement and the Issue of Identity –Post Partition Pakistan” said that the feudal lords in south Punjab have used Sufism and Islam to strengthen their control over the region. Dr. Saba Gul Khattak form SDPI stressed that the Wana operations had given rise to issues like identity, citizenship, displacement and loss of homes and livelihoods that were not finding a place in the public discourse. She said that there was need to debate the Wana operations in Pakistan in view of the larger masculinist policy background.

Session on “Communal Harmony in South Asia: Success Stories” Dr. Ashis Nandy from India said that 27 percent of the people survived due to unconditional help and protection extended by the enemy party during the communal riots at the time of partition in 1947. There are many Muslims who were saved by Hindus and Sikhs and many Hindus and Sikhs saved by the Muslims. Nirmali Wijegoonawardana from University of Colombo, said that even opening up of roads running across territories of enemy communities can ends up in communal harmony and peace. Prof. Sikandar Mehdi of Karachi University said that violence at the time of partition was a tragedy in Sindh but that was a short-lived phenomenon. He said that communal disharmony after the partition particularly between the Mohajirs and other ethnic groups in Karachi was the direct consequences of military rules and dictatorships as dictatorship always pave way for disharmony. He however said that communal harmony in rural Sindh is still persisting and Hindu minority is living in peace with the majority Muslim communities.

During the session on “Health Care Finance and Delivery: International Perspective”, Paul Rueckert from Germany, Peter Coyote from Canada, Hasbullah Thabrany from Indonesia and Siripen Supakankunti from Thailand shared the comparative analysis of their national health care services and said that the provision of health services should be the prime responsibility of all governments. The speakers analyzed the social aspects of economic health with the livelihood and poverty nexus. Kaiser Bengali summed up by stressing the need for economic analysis of health care and appreciated SDPI’s lead in bringing this issue forth. It was recommended that Pakistan should follow the German and Thai style of health care programs to ensure the health services to its citizens.

“The more the WTO agenda reflects Southern interests, the more USA and the European Union would resort to regional trade agreements, potentially marginalizing the developing world yet another time.” This was the conclusion at the panel on WTO’s Regional Agreements. Trade lawyer Huma Fakhar, emphasized the need for proper preparation and in-depth collaborative research for successful regional trade integration.

During the session on “Human Trafficking in South Asia”, Tristan Burnett from International Organization on Migration, Afghanistan, highlighted lack of reporting, inability of women to access the judicial system and insecurity as some of the major obstacles in countering trafficking in the country. Shahbaz Bokhari from SDPI aimed at exploring the nature and magnitude of trafficking in children in Pakistan for different exploitative purposes including worst forms of child labor and sexual exploitation. He mentioned poverty as the root cause found in victims of trafficking. Discussion generated at the end of the session reiterated on looking at the context of trafficking in Pakistan, also in taking firm actions in the form of strengthening of institutions and Advocacy needs.

Ewen Macleod of UNHCR Pakistan in a session “Afghan Refugees/DPs in Pakistan” suggested that future management of population movements should more appropriately be lodged within normalized regional and bilateral cooperation arrangements. Afrasiab Khattak pointed out that there was no legal framework in Pakistan regarding refugees, and this legal vacuum had seriously undermined the interests of refugees. Nancy Dupree of ACBAR, Pakistan commented that we tended to forget that refugees were not just numbers but real human beings and needed to be seen as such. The SDC will also go on till Friday.

Press Release - Day 2, December 9, 2004

The 7th Sustainable Development Conference (SDC), organized by a Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), concluded here today 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 multiple themes around governance in the troubled times. Some 150 delegates from18 countries participated in this conference. The Conference brought together theorists, researchers, creative thinkers, writers, activists, policy makers, academicians to debate the second phase of globalization—a world that is ever more interdependent. 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.

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 globalized world, spaces for dissent and alternative thinking were shrinking. Shams ul Mulk, the Chair 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 the citizens and the local governments, despite efforts by the 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 A. Siraj, Chairperson of department of Mass communication of Allama Iqbal Open University, said that “We are living in a three-minute culture, where the use and 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, GoP said that nuclear energy represents only 0.9% of the electricity produced. With a GDP growth of 8% an important power shortage is expected in the following years. He said that nuclear energy has environmental advantages as compared to conventional thermal power plant because of the absence of toxic emissions of carbon dioxides and sulfur oxides. But on the other hand, the investment cost is very high and the construction time extensively long. 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.

They stated that the levelized cost of nuclear energy is 10.5 cents per unit as compared to 8.2 cents per unit for thermal energy. Nuclear energy is hence a not affordable response to energy deficit. 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. Numerous accidents occurred in India. Moreover, he has noticed a very 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 from SDPI discussed Extended Producer’s Responsibility in Pakistan” and reiterated the principle of Producer Take Back in order to support waste reduction, reuse, recycling and compositing. Dr. Khwaja emphasized that it was the manufacturer’s primary responsibility to reshape its product and process and pay the price for recycling by managing product prices. 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 AIO University presented a review of 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. Ms. 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.
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 Rozan, said that problems of honor 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, GoP 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 faced the Hudood laws and ordinances.” he said.
In the session on “Food Security”, Dr. Abid Suleri from OXFAM/SDPI stressed the highlighted that 51% rural population of Pakistan is food insecure. Due to the scale of the prevailing crisis in the food sector of Pakistan, issues have to been tackled immediately at the highest level of decision-making. He stressed the need to include food security as a crucial aspect into public sector strategies that so far have been almost exclusively focusing on increasing food production. He lamented the lack of political will at national level to change strategies so that decision makers look at food security as a legal right, instead of just a matter of charity. Another panelist Sahib Haq reaffirmed this gloomy scenario and stressed that the fast urbanization taking place in many areas of Pakistan was leading to growing food insecurity. Jehangir Khan Khalil, FAO added that around 19% of the total population of Pakistan was malnourished, and that in the last 10 years, the rate of malnutrition had remained constant.

In the session on Gender in Multilateral Trading System the panelists concluded that trade policies were not gender neutral and affected the female labour population more than the male populace. Karin Astrid Siegmann, from SDPI warned that trade liberalisation such as the sale of public utilities to private providers of basic services would reduce female employment and access to basic services while increasing female workload. Hiramani Ghimire, from SAWTEE Nepal explained how social and family relations would also be affected due to this global phenomenon of trade liberalisation. Limited access to productive resources may even reinforce existing inequalities, he added. He pointed to the need of institutional reforms to address gender specific capacity failure.

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