(October - December, 2010) [13th SDC Special Bulletin]

SDPISustaina ble Develop ment P ol icy I nstituteThirteenth SDC Special BulletinVol. 17, No. 4, October — December 2010Thirteenth Sustainable Development Conference: 21—23 December 2010Peace and Sustainable Development in South AsiaThe Way ForwardIntroductionThe Sustainable Development Policy Institute(SDPI) held its Thirteenth Sustainable DevelopmentConference (SDC) from 21-23 December 2010 inIslamabad, Pakistan. This year’s Conference wastitled “Peace and Sustainable Development inSouth Asia: The Way Forward”. Over 100 delegatesfrom 12 different countries participated in theThirteenth SDC. Spread over three days, an audienceof over 1,500 came to listen to the 60 speakerswho presented their papers in 24 panels. Twokeynote addresses were presented at the openingand closing sessions respectively.SDC’s anthology titled, FosteringSustainable Development in SouthAsia: Responding to Challenges,based on previous year’s peer reviewedconference papers, waslaunched at the inaugural sessionalong with SDPI’s Annual Report.This special SDC Bulletin presents adetailed report on each of the session.spoke about the manipulation of conflict by policymakers in order to avoid internal reform, arguingthat a culture of peace must be cultivated and thatthis would support the wider reforms needed to securesustainable development. “In South Asia andmany other cases, the states themselves have usedthe instrument of ‘external enemy’ to perpetuate rivalryand deflect and curb inner peace and societalreforms,” he said addressing a hall packed with anengaged audience. Dr. Shafqat urged that SouthAsia needed a “cultural revolution” to “dismantle,disrupt and destroy the nexus of poverty, social injusticeand economic inequities”. He emphasizedOpening PlenaryDr. Abid Qaiyum Suleri, ExecutiveDirector of the Sustainable DevelopmentPolicy Institute (SDPI), openedthe plenary while the welcome addresswas given by Dr. Saeed Shafqat, Chairperson,Board of Governors, SDPI. The Chief Guestwas Mr. Javed Malik, Federal Secretary of the Ministryof Environment, Islamabad. The keynotespeaker was Ms Urvashi Butailia, Director ofZubaan Books, India.In his welcome address, Dr. Saeed Shafqatthe crucial relationship between peace and widerreform. “For peace, internal reform is a necessaryprecondition,” he stressed, arguing that expandingeconomic opportunity, improving social justice and,most importantly, pursuing the democratic processwere key to normalising relations in the region.In his address, Dr. Suleri spoke about the work

2CONTENTSIntroduction 1Sustainable Development and Peace:Respecting Religious Diversity 3Advancing Sound Chemical Management forSustainable Development and a Toxic FreeAsia—Session I 5Advancing Sound Chemical Management forSustainable Development and a Toxic FreeAsia – Session II 7Floods and Disaster Preparedness in Pakistan:Regional Solution toNational Problems 8Panel: The Water and Sanitation Challengein South Asia—Session I 10Panel: The Water and Sanitation Challengein South Asia—Session II 11Peace and Sustainable Development: TheRole of Think Tanks 13Climate Change: A Security Risk? The Caseof South Asia 15Responding to Climate Change in SouthAsia 16Financing Climate Change 17Water Resource Management: SharingPerspectives 20Federalism: A Challenge to Conflict Managementin Less Developed Countries/SouthAsia 22Neo-liberalising South Asia—Impacts ofStructural Adjustment: IMF and World BankProgrammes 23Imagine a New south Asia: 25 years ofSAARC 25Peace through Development? 26Poverty Reduction: Social Exclusion andSafety Nets in South Asia 27Ending Violence Against Women (VAW):The Unconventional Role of Men 29Revisiting the Indus Water Treaty for Peaceand Sustainable Development 31Regional Trade: The Way Forward 33Promoting Decent Work for VulnerableGroups in the Post Flood Situation 34Energy Governance in South Asia 36Role of Parliamentarians in Peace and SustainableDevelopment 37Reducing Emissions from Deforestation andDegradation (REDD): Impacts onSouth Asia 38The Relationship between Food Insecurity,Poverty, Militancy and Conflict 40Closing Plenary: H. U. Beg Memorial LectureEditor:Copy editing by:Formatted by:Uzma T. HaroonUzma T. Haroon andAyesha SalmanNasir Khanundertaken at SDPI over the last oneyear. He noted important researchfields, including food security, climatechange and energy governance,in which SDPI researchershad excelled in their contributions topublished research. The ExecutiveDirector discussed the difficult researchenvironment in which SDPIworked, and commended the effortsof staff in securing important newfunding for the Institute through theCanadian funded International DevelopmentResearch Centre. Dr. Sulerisaid that he looked forward to excitingnew possibilities for independentresearch that could be exploredwith this core grant to theorganisation.Dr. Suleri went on todiscuss the wider contextof sustainable developmentin South Asia andthe regional nature of theissues faced by SouthAsian countries. “One ofthe prerequisites for astable and prosperousPakistan is a sustainableAfghanistan and one ofthe prerequisites for Indiato top the league ofemerging economies is a sustainablePakistan,” he emphasized. Likewisehe noted, “NATO is unlikely toleave Afghanistan without peace anddevelopment in Afghanistan’sneighbouring countries.”Dr. Suleri said that the TAPI gaspipeline and the Pak-Afghan TransitTrade Agreement show a commitmentto collaborative initiatives onthe part of the international community,suggesting regional integrationis an important stepping-stone forsecuring peace across South Asia.Dr. Suleri cautioned that “civil societymust play an effectiverole in suggesting somehonourable exit strategiesand amicable solutionsto our respectivegovernments who arenot taking the necessarysteps to resolve thepending issues houndingSouth Asia partially becausethey are scared oftheir political opponents”.Mr. Javed Malik,Secretary for the Ministryof Environment, Islamabad,spoke of the hard realities in SouthAsia as well as of hope for a futureof collaboration between the differentcountries in South Asia. Mr. Maliksaid that while attending the CommonwealthGames in India, he wasstruck by the desires of ordinarypeople to move on from the perpetualconflict between South Asiancountries. Mr. Malik urged peace totake root across South Asia andnoted the economic deprivationfeeding militancy across the region.

Thirteenth SDC Special BulletinMr. Malik also spoke about the spectre of climatechange in South Asia, noting that regionalcountries were not well equipped to cope with theimpacts of climate change in the area, which wasconfronted with so many other issues simultaneously.“Sustainable development and peace are intrinsicallylinked,” he said.The keynote address was given by Indian feministand historian and founder of India’s first feministpublishing house, Ms Urvashi Butalia. Ms Butalia,whose interests lie in partition and oral history, gavea comprehensive account of how individuals at thegrassroots level were trying to catalyse steps towardspeace between Pakistan and India. Ms Butaliaspoke of individuals and groups stranded atone side or the other of the border between Indiaand Pakistan; of the polarities between rich andpoor in the region and of the consumption based societyin the West spreading to South Asia.Ms Butalia noted that at the grassroots level,the people were not interested in perpetuating afractured South Asia and were demanding that theirgovernments deliver on issues like climate change,sustainable livelihoods and food security. Shewarned, however, that climate change was nolonger an issue for the future, but a present reality:“The future is actually not some distant place,” sheasserted, adding, “It is here.”Reported by Antonia C. SettleSustainable Development and Peace:Respecting Religious DiversityChair: Dr. Lubna Chaudhry, State University of NewYork at Binghamton, USAGuest of Honour: Ms Marvi Memon, PML-Q MNA,PakistanSpeakers:Dr. Masood Ashraf Raja, Assistant Professor ofPostcolonial Literature and Theory at the Universityof North Texas, USAMs Ayesha Salman, SDC Unit, SDPI, IslamabadMr. Ahmad Salim, Senior Research Advisor, SDPI,Islamabad.Ms Urvashi Butalia, Director, Zubaan Books, India.Ms Humaira Ishfaq, lecturer at the International IslamicUniversity and Allama Iqbal Open University,Islamabad, PakistanPanel Organisers: Mr. Ahmad Salim, Senior ResearchAdvisor, SDPI, Islamabad; and, Ms AyeshaSalman, SDC Unit, SDPI, IslamabadDuring the Zia-ul-Haq regime, Islamic funda-mentalism had increased in Pakistan. Since thenthe space minorities within the public sphere wasconstantly being diminished. This opinion wasvoiced during a session on Sustainable Developmentand Peace: Respecting Religious Diversity byMr. Masood A. Raja, a researcher from the Universityof North Texas. He said that this fundamentalismhad links with the deregulation policies adoptedfor Pakistan and when the state failed in its redemptivefunctions, the private religious charities encroachedupon the civic functions of the state,which enabled them to shape and imbue the publicconsciousness of their beneficiaries with an exclusivistand chauvinistic view of the world. Moreover,when Afghan refugees entered Pakistan, the conceptof Jihad arose and its meanings changed fromstruggle to qitaal (killing).There are 400 Madrassahs in Pakistan producingpeople for this kind of Jihad. He said that thefundamentalist Islamic ideologies, that of Taliban forexample, created an “other” to activate and legitimatetheir own worldview, and in most of the casesthe minorities became an easy target for this processof “others”. In the case of the Taliban, the sameprinciples of exclusion were also extended to variousMuslim sects that may not be conventional tothe purist view of religion adopted by the Taliban.He added that literature and public media, throughconsistent acts of representation, had the power toreshape public thinking by giving a voice to thosewho had traditionally been silenced by the dominantreligious groups in Pakistan.Mr. Ahmed Salim, researcher from SDPI, saidthat in the twenty-first century, the media had becomeperhaps the most important tool of politicsand democracy that could be used both constructivelyand destructively. It could, and does, influencethe attitudes of peoples, politicians and other decision-makers.If used positively, it could create re-3

Thirteenth SDC Special Bulletinmarkable changes in balancing the state-citizen relationshipand the socio-political development ofvarious religious population groups. However, themedia in Pakistan had contributed more to heightenthe conflict among people, at times going too far inits speculation and negative projection of Pakistan’sreligious minority groups. He said that discriminationagainst minorities began at the state level exemplifiedby the time of Pakistan’s creation when MuhammadAli Jinnah suggested Pakistan as a secularstate and he had to face huge opposition. Mr. Salimfurther stated that in 1973 Islam was declared thestate religion. No non-Muslim can be the head ofstate or speaker of the assemblies and senate.Forced religious conversions were also present insociety but the state never felt the responsibility toaddress this issue and the media remained proMuslim on this issue. In 1974, the Ahmedia Communitywas declared non-Muslim. But the media did nothighlight these issues. He said that a biased mediapolicy could further heighten the conflict as it hasdone in the past. On the other hand, creating andmaintaining social tranquility by projecting unbiasedand truthful images of different societal segmentscould become a strong base for peace and progress.Print media in Pakistan, where it refers toPakistan’s minority communities and their social life,was marred by problems of religious, communal,economic and gender-based prejudice resulting infalse and partial reporting. He added that similarly,the international media’s onslaught against Islam,the projection of a negative image of Pakistan vis-àvisits minority communities, and the human rightssituation in the country had also adversely affectedPakistan’s image. This had been caused by a handfulof internal vested interest groups that had capitalisedon the opportunity to fan ethnic and religiousconflicts.He quoted the concept of a “mercenary army”which played a vital role in state power dynamics. Inthe seventeenth century, the world was been dominatedby “muscle” where the state had strong“manpower” in the form of an army whose serviceswere bought through “money”. With the advent ofknowledge, science and technological knowhow, anotherterm had been added to the power axis: the“mind”. However, the concept of dominance in a nation-statehad taken a new shape in the twenty-firstcentury. Now it was not just the old triad of muscle,money and mind, the “media” had also emerged asa prized new state tool to gain dominance, giving itan unparalleled power in statecraft, emphasized Mr.Salim, adding, this meant that the media could playa decisive role in political, social and ideological relationsof state and peoples. Recognising this pivotalrole, media had the ability to form positive publicopinion that allowed Pakistan’s minority communitiesto enjoy equality as citizens.Ms Ayesha Salman from SDPI opened thepresentation by quoting from Martin Luther King, Jr.who once said, “Nonviolence is a powerful and justweapon, which cuts without wounding and ennoblesthe man who wields it. It is a sword that heals. Nonviolencemeans avoiding not only external physicalviolence but also internal violence of spirit. You notonly refuse to shoot a man, but you refuse to hatehim.” She made the point that violence was not onlythe physical manifestation of hatred, but that itstemmed from the way one thought and that theonly way prejudices could be wiped out was if themindset of people and perceptions could bechanged. She then related the story of a woman(Zaib) who grew up in Pakistan and who had a Muslimfather and a Christian mother and she explainedthe different kinds of discrimination she faced becauseof her religious background throughout herlife. Ms Salman used the case study of this womanwhose life inspired her to write her first novel(forthcoming), to talk about the immense psychologicaland physical damage religious discriminationcould have on an individual as it did on Zaib resultingin her suicide at the age of 52. In her childhoodyears she was incessantly teased and berated atschool for being the product of a mixed religiousbackground and she was repeatedly asked whather beliefs were, she was attacked physically andshe was told she was a lesser human being becauseshe had “dirty” blood. Ms Salman’s movingdepiction of her life illustrated through various quotationsfrom excerpts taken from the novel aimed topersonalize an issue that she felt may be in dangerof becoming too “objectified”. She felt that despitethe thousands of deaths that have taken place dueto religious clashes many of us tend to becomeanesthetized to the issue. Ms Salman made the linkbetween Zaib and so many others that suffer simplybecause they “are born in the wrong religion”, endingher presentation with the words, “Ladies andgentlemen I will ask us to look within ourselves andask the question, how many Zaibs do we give birthto everyday and how many do we kill - with a gun, aderogatory look, a gesture or simply a few choicewords. Please let us stop what I call this‘demonization’ from growing, let us change the waythat we think.”Ms Urvashi Butalia from India presented some4

Thirteenth SDC Special Bulletinrecent writings from the subcontinent in English andin some of the local languages, to see how writersperceived and depicted the lives and concerns ofnot only religious minorities, but of others in the marginsof society. She said that during partition, the minoritiesfaced severe discrimination and even demandedseparate state as “Achhotistan”.She also turned her attention to the 'difference'and the change that is wrought when people whosevoices were otherwise marginalised, take on thepower of the word and produced their own literature- how does such literature shape the self of thewriter, how does it reach out to a wider readership,how does it change the very definition of literatureitself, she questioned. She quoted the work of Dalitwriters in India who had produced a unique blend offiction and fact, and had often been labeled as'faction' - offering conventional literary definitions anew way of changing their boundaries.Ms Humaira Ashfaq from the International IslamicUniversity, Islamabad, shared contributions ofthe writers from the minority community and alsopresented the problems they faced. Mostly, theyfaced discrimination not only for being part of a minoritygroup but on the basis of gender as well. Sheshared the works of Joshua Fazluddin, Nasreen AnjumBhatti and Nazeer Qaisar from the Christiancommunity, Bapsi Sidhwa from the Parsi community,Sobho Gian Chandani, Vali Ram Vallabh andmany others from the Hindu community, RajaTiridev Roy from the Buddists of Pakistan, Dr. SabirAfaqi and Professor Pritam Singh from the BahaiCommunity.MNA Ms Marvi Memon proclaimed a jihadagainst religious intolerance in Pakistan and reiterated.“We find massive discrimination and massiveintolerance,” she lamented, adding “and definitelythere is a huge area where the blasphemy laws arebeing misused.”Ms Memon said that the Madina Accord wasthe essence of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan andthat parliamentarians had a responsibility to ensurethat that the misuse of the blasphemy laws does notcontinue. “Anyone who has any courage to speakon this issue is shot down immediately,” she said,adding, “Whenever we want to talk about it we aretold not to touch it. I do want to touch it.”Ms Memon quoted Ayesha Salman by sayingwe must indeed consider the spread of religious intolerancea “demonisation” that must be curbed.She added that (as in the case of Zaib) there havebeen hundreds of suicides related to religious discrimination.Ms Memon added that ‘we will fight forBlasphemy laws, examining it within the parliament,in the streets (if needed) and fight for public interestlitigation’. When a question was raised that thesemay be her personal views but that her party did notshare her views, she said that she was also tryingto convince her party on these issues.Discussion: Dr. Jennifer Bennett commentedon the session saying that we need to work on differentlayers simultaneously to eliminate discrimination.She said that it was true that discriminationstarts at the state level of the state even by callingthe country, the “Islamic” Republic of Pakistan. Sheadded that Blasphemy laws should be re-examinedand ‘we should see things as a country and as anation in a unified manner’. Ms Tahira Abdullah emphasizedon ensuring the rights of the people. Dr.Ayesha Siddiqa asked what would happen if peoplestopped reading literature and literature was treatedas separate from politics? Ms Urvashi Butalia respondedthat literature could not be kept separatefrom politics, that the two would always be indeliblylinked. Literature, she said, has the ability to leaveits impacts on society as well as on politics. Dr.Masood Raja added that one could not have democracywithout literature because it was literature,which prepares the mindset of people for change.Mr. Ahmed Salim added that discrimination was notonly amongst religions but within Islam i.e. Shia andSunny Deeniyat being taught in Pakistani schools.He added that derogatory terms were used for minoritygroups, such as people often use the termEssai for Christians, which should not be used becausethey are Maseehi. Moreover, he added thatBlasphemy laws were made in the 1860s for thefirst time by the British government.Dr. Lubna Chaudhry concluded the session bythanking everyone for valuable input to the session.Reported by Robina GulnazAdvancing Sound Chemical Management forSustainable Development and a Toxic FreeAsia—Session IChair: Prof. Uzaira Rafique, Fatimah JinnahWomen University, Rawalpindi, PakistanDiscussant: Dr. Rashid Karim, Professor, IslamicUniversity, Islamabad, PakistanSpeakers:Dr. Mahmood A. Khwaja, Sustainable DevelopmentPolicy Institute, Islamabad, PakistanMr. Khuda Bakhsh, Department of Environmentaland Resource Economics, University of Agriculture,5

Thirteenth SDC Special BulletinFaisalabad, PakistanProf. Ms Kalkash Abubakirova, Kazhastan, Universityof International Business, Almaty, KazakhstanPanel Organiser: Dr. Mahmood A. Khwaja, SeniorAdviser, Chemicals and Sustainable Industrial Development,Sustainable Development Policy Institute,Islamabad, PakistanChemical management was a prime problembeing faced by governments in Asia. Over 50,000chemical substances with one million combinationswere being used daily in agriculture, industries andhouses. A strategic approach to InternationalChemical Management (SAICM) emphasized thatstrengthening knowledge and information, both fordevelopment as well as dissemination should be themain area of focus. Historical pollutions, storedwastes, growing toxic emissions from the stationaryand movable sources represent enormous threat tothe environment and people’s health. The system ofstate control over the environment and natural resourcesmanagement systems were still in the initialstages of development and require continuous improvement.These were some of the views expressedby the speakers in the session titled AdvancingSound Chemical Management for SustainableDevelopment and a Toxic Free Asia.According to Dr. Mahmood A. Khwaja, SeniorAdviser, Chemicals and Sustainable Industrial Development,SDPI, Islamabad, Pakistan, “Soundmanagement of chemicals is essential if we are toachieve sustainable development, including theeradication of poverty and disease, the improvementof human health and the environment, and the elevationand maintenance of the standard of living incountries at all levels of development.”He also said that the importance of engagingmajor groups and stakeholders as partners hadbeen gradually recognized by national governmentsas civil society could help implement their programmesbeyond the government’s own capacities,especially in Asia. Civil society provided the baselinedata, expertise, advocacy to foster accountability,raising public awareness, effective informationdissemination and formal and informal education atall levels.Dr. Abubakirova Kalkash, Professor at the Universityof International Business, Almaty, Kazakhstan,talking about chemical management with referenceto Kazakhstan said, “A significant portion ofpersistent organic pollutions (POPs) are found inpesticides, residues of which remain in the soil andplants for years. Industrial POPs are produced andused at the enterprises of energy generation, petrochemicaland chemical industry.” She further addedthat air pollution was mainly caused by emissionsfrom ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, power engineering,oil and gas industry and transportation.Mr. Khuda Bakhsh from the Department of Environmentaland Resource Economics at the Universityof Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan, pointedout that presently Pakistani farmers growing cottonwere facing severe problems of water availability,disease and pest attacks. Farmers make intensiveuse of pesticides to protect cotton crops from pestattacks. Out of the total plant protection chemicalsused in Pakistan, more than 58% were used in cottonproduction. Historical data on pesticide consumptionin cotton showed that pesticide use was7955 M tons during 1975-76, which had increasedmany times over the years (54406 M tons during2006-70; recording an increase of 584%). This intensiveuse was creating health and environmentalproblems. Pesticide applicators, farmers and cottonpickers suffered from pesticide residual effects.Studies indicated a substantial health cost to cottonpickers and other farm workers. Moreover, pesticidesalso caused contamination of water, havingadverse impacts on human and animal health.There was a dire need to introduce sustainablepractices/varieties for sustainability of cotton production,he stressed.Discussion: Mr. Shafqat Kakakhel, memberBoard of Governors, SDPI, commented that therehad been an extensive growth of chemical usage inPakistan. He emphasized that there was a need forregulating the use of chemicals and stressed thenecessity for the formulation of a consumer protectionbody and the federal level.Dr. Uzaira Rafiq, Chairperson, Department ofEnvironmental Sciences, Fatima Jinnah WomenUniversity, who was the chair for the session, con-6

Thirteenth SDC Special Bulletincluded by saying “Reduction at source is the firstway of control.”Reported by Anusha SheraziAdvancing Sound Chemical Management forSustainable Development and a Toxic FreeAsia – Session IIChair: Dr. Qasim Jan, Professor, University of Peshawar,and, Member Board of Governors, SustainableDevelopment Policy Institute, Islamabad, PakistanDiscussant: Prof. Imdad Ullah Mohammadzai, Instituteof Chemical Sciences, Peshawar University,Peshawar, PakistanSpeakers:Ms Anjum Rasheed, Department of EnvironmentalSciences, Fatima Jinnah Women University, Rawalpindi,PakistanMs Asma Younas, Environmental Science Department(ESD), Peshawar University, Peshawar, PakistanMs Fozia T. Minhas, Pakistan National Center of Excellencein Analytical Chemistry, University of Sindh,Jamshoro, PakistanPanel Organiser: Dr. Mahmood A. Khwaja, SeniorAdviser, Chemicals and Sustainable Industrial Development,Sustainable Development Policy Institute,Islamabad, PakistanDr. Qasim Jan started the session by appreciatingthe active participation of young researchers andPh.D. students as the future belonged to the younggeneration. He requested the participants to ask asmany questions as this was the best way to teachthe young researchers and students.Ms Anjum Rasheed, a Ph.D. scholar at the Departmentof Environmental Sciences, Fatima JinnahWomen University, Rawalpindi, Pakistan, presentedher paper titled “Toxicity evaluation of personal careproducts: Moving towards sound chemical managementin cosmetic industry”. In her paper she highlightedthe usage of many carcinogenic, hormonedisruptingand toxic chemicals used in the cosmeticindustry. She stated that some chemicals used inpersonal care products such as cosmetics, shampoosand perfumes had harmful health effects andacted as endocrine disruptors and may cause obesityand reproductive problems and developmentalharm. Mineral oils were used in skin moisturisers,which could be contaminated with cancer causingPAHs. Fragrance used in personal care productscould indicate the presence of up to 4,000 separateingredients of which many were toxic or carcinogenic.Her research showed the usage of many carcinogenic,hormones-disrupting and toxic chemicalsused in the cosmetic industry.She asserted that there was a need to preparea chemical management plan and regulations in thecountry so that some of the chemicals used in cosmeticsmay be banned and other toxic chemicals beregulated depending upon the level of toxicity.The import of the products that did not followthe regulations of chemical management must bebanned. Urgent action was required in order to raiseglobal awareness on the value of human health,which was more important as compared to the profitsthat were made due to the sale of these harmfulproducts.Ms Asma Younas, a Ph.D student at the EnvironmentalScience Department (ESD), PeshawarUniversity, Peshawar, Pakistan, was the nextspeaker to present her paper titled “Evaluation ofactivated carbon amendment for reclamation of aDDT contaminated site in Pakistan”. She is presentlyworking on remediation strategies for the DDTpolluted site in Nowshera, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.The DDT factory (which was functional from 1963-1994) was officially closed but the production andthe distribution of DDT polluted area of about 85 hahas soil contamination of up to 5,000 mg/kg in drysoil. She presented the environmental health problemsto human beings and other living beings likecarcinogen and bio accumulation in the food webeffects the reproductive system caused due to DDT.To reduce DDT exposure to the environment andhuman being, this contamination had to be remediatedas soon as possible. She emphasized on theremediation of the contaminated site by reclamationstrategy with the activated charcoal. Activated charcoalbelonged to the black carbon category, whichpulled highly toxic organic pollutants into sedimentsand soil by extremely efficient sorption. Activatedcharcoal had therefore proven to significantly reducethe bio availability of organic contaminants insolid matrices due to its high adsorption affinity, capacityand strength. Preliminary Tenax experimentsshowed a considerable reduction of DDT of theTenax desorbable fraction in the GAC amended soilcompared to the control soil. There was still furtherneed of consideration of environmental factors likesoil moisture and temperature before the remediationtechniques can be put into practice.Ms Fozia T. Minhas from the University ofSindh presented a case study titled “Removal of residualtoxic metals for cleaner environment through7

Thirteenth SDC Special Bulletinliquid membrane using calixarenes”. In this study,calixarene hexaester derivative had been proved tobe a successful carrier for the transport of Lead Pb(II) through BLM at ambient temperature. The masstransfer of Pb(II) had been analysed on the basis ofkinetic laws of two consecutive irreversible first orderreactions. By fitting experimental data, the activationenergy values for the extraction and re-extractionwere found at 56.33 and 14.79 kJmol-1 respectively.These values demonstrated that Pb (II) diffusionallycontrolled the process. Also, the transport behaviourof Mercury Hg (II) from aqueous solution through aflat-sheet supported liquid membrane had been investigatedby the use of calix. She suggested that themembrane technology could be employed in chemicalindustries by making some technical advancement,for treating effluents using fewer amounts ofexpensive carriers, and for recovery of valuable products.Discussion: Prof. Imdad Ullah Mohammadzai,Director, Institute of Chemical Sciences, PeshawarUniversity, Peshawar, Pakistan, as a discussant, appreciatedorganising of such a panel. The discussantsaid that the entire ecosystem is loaded with chemicalsand ‘we are born with chemicals and go to gravewith the chemicals’, he said. There are economic andsocial benefits of the chemicals but on the other handthe problems due to chemicals were global not local.For instance the CFCs were being produced somewhereelse, consumed at another place but affectingthe ozone hole at yet another place. The solution tothese problems was to create awareness, reduceconsumption and conduct research. “We do need asound chemical management system which is theneed of the hour,” he emphasized. He commentedthat Activated Charcoal Technology should be replicatedfor the extraction of other hazardous chemicalstoo.Dr. Qasim Jan, chair of the session, pointed outthat ‘surma’ commonly used to put in the eyes hadLead Sulphide and Antimony Sulfide was made locallyand was banned in North America. Moreover, inthe same way HgS Mercury Sulphide used in‘sindoor’ was a reason for rapid grey hair.While responding to a question from a participant,Ms Anjum Rasheed stated that there was nostandard of cosmetic chemicals. She explained thather study was not based on laboratory analysis butwas an assessment of the types of ingredients foundin cosmetics and then compared with the toxicchemicals that are banned or proven carcinogens.Dr. Uzaira Rafique from the Fatima Jinnah WomenUniversity supported her answer and said that therewere no standards available for cosmetics and thatthey analysed the concentration of different ingredientsand which were toxic and hazardous for humanhealth. Prof. Imdad Ullah Mohammadzai suggestedthat a standard was needed to compare chemicals incosmetics.Another participant asked about the side effectsof hair colour as these were in abundant use. Ms AnjumRasheed said that most of the hair colours hadlead acetate and which affected the central nervoussystem. The chair suggested that henna used for colouringhair should also be analysed as its rich redcolour must have some chemicals in it.Dr. Mahmood A. Khwaja added that he specificallyarranged this particular session for the university researchstudents. He commented that Ms AnjumRasheed’s work was basically an awareness raisingwork and it would lead to a stage where there wouldbe the reduction in the use of the chemicals. He saidthe Ms Asma Younas’ work would be a step towardsthe remediation of so many contaminated sites inAsia. The reclamation of land would be a blessing forthe people whose livelihood depends on agriculture,he said. Dr. Khwaja further said that in the same way,Ms Fouzia Minhas’ research addressed the removalof heavy metals. If the bench scale laboratories orpilot scale remained successful, it would help in removingthe other chemicals too.In the end, the chair thanked the speakers forsharing their knowledge and the participants for addingtheir valuable comments during the session.Reported by Farzana YasminFloods and Disaster Preparedness in Pakistan:Regional Solution to National ProblemsChair: Mr. Naseer Memon, Strengthening ParticipatoryOrganization (SPO), Islamabad, PakistanDiscussant: Mr. Navid Ahmad, Media Analyst, Islamabad,PakistanSpeakers:Dr. Edward Gonzalez, USAID, Lahore, PakistanMs Huda Sarfraz, University of Engineering andTechnology, Lahore, PakistanMr. Sanaullah Rustamani, Hyderabad, PakistanMs Javeriya Hasan, Sustainable Development PolicyInstitute, Islamabad, PakistanPanel Organiser: Ms Nazima Shaheen, ResearchAssociate, SDPI, Islamabad, PaksitanMr. Naseer Memon, Strengthening ParticipatoryOrganization (SPO), chaired the panel on Floods andDisaster Preparedness: Regional Solution to National8

Thirteenth SDC Special BulletinProblems on December 21, 2010 at the Conference.While presenting a paper on “Pakistan at a criticaljuncture: How an Integrated Community-led ReconstructionModel (ICRM), can help promote democraticculture and institutions in Pakistan”, Dr. EdwardGonzales from the USAID said that by adoptingthe ICRM, Pakistan could promote democratic participation,increase transparency and accountabilitymechanisms, thus directly addressing the pervasiveperception of government corruption. In this way, hesaid, not only can the physical infrastructure be builtbut also the social infrastructure, by influencing theflood reconstruction efforts through ensuring moredemocracy and transparency. He expressed his opinionthat different sectors had shown a high level ofscepticism regarding the capability of government tohandle the flood situation. Dr. Gonzales said that theICRM could be seen as the right approach to reducepublic scepticism besides helping in the promotion ofa democratic culture and social cohesion throughproviding a joint platform for interaction of local people,private sector, civil society and government institutions.This platform could increase the efficiency ofre-construction efforts through open communicationand constructive and democratic community dialogue.Ms Huda Sarfraz from the University of Engineeringand Technology presented her researchstudy on “Technology preparedness for disseminatingflood relief and rehabilitation information to localstakeholders online”. She recommended that therewas a need to localise flood related information interms of language so that it could be disseminated torelevant stakeholders more effectively. She proposedthe use of mobile phones for this purpose due to therapid increased use of mobile phones in recent years.She said that Information and Communication Technologies(ICTs) were usually deployed in the Englishlanguage while the use of local languages would increaseaccessibility and reach out to a much wideraudience. This was the main thought behind developingthe Punjab Flood Relief and Rehabilitation Websitewith her team. She explained that the site gaveinformation regarding statistics on infrastructure,roads and livestock damages. Besides this, the websitealso provided information on relief and rehabilitation.This information was also available through settinginteractive portals on the website.Mr. Sanaullah Rustamani, a journalist from Sindhprovince, presented his views on “Floods in Sindh:Analysis of missing links in the pre- and post-floodscenario”. He said that the government should focuson the compensations announced for flood affecteesincluding construction of low cost houses, plots, watancards and new infrastructure. He emphasized prioritisingthe reconstruction of damaged infrastructure.He also proposed that because of loss of landand other assets, the government should providefree seeds and other agricultural inputs to farmers.Landlords also owned the catchments area of theRiver Indus, called the Katcha area. Usually, theyconstructed their own embankments to irrigate theriver land, ultimately weakening the official embankmentsof the river. He said, those types of illegal encroachmentsshould be demolished. He also suggestedpumping out standing water immediately. Herecommended that the authorities should repair thedamaged irrigation system. Moreover, he pointed outthere was also a need to strictly monitor the damagedpoints especially during the monsoon season.Another suggestion was to initiate a joint venture betweenthe forest and irrigation departments to growmore trees. Stone pitching at vulnerable points ofembankments could be another option to lessen thedamage.Ms Javeriya Hasan from the SDPI gave a presentationon “Sustainable Flood Management Strategyfor Pakistan”. She highlighted that there was adire need to focus on structural measures to avoidthe institutional failures witnessed during the recentfloods. According to her, the role of the FederalFlood Commission was important in this regard. Shealso stressed on the paradigm shift from disastermanagement to disaster risk reduction. Moreover,she said that efforts were required for climate changeimpact assessment and investing in communities foradaptation. According to her, the main causes of the2010 flood were watershed in the catchments area,deforestation, absence of demarcation/flood zoning,incompetence, inadequate embankment designs, institutionalfailure, absence of dams and flood managementpolicy. The flood zoning could be done byconsidering the flood route, demarcation and settlements.She proposed that in order to improve theflood management policy, there was a need to focuson structural measures i.e., construction of dams andnon-structural measures including the reforestationand watershed management. A win-win solutionwould be to build dams for cheap and renewable energy,water storage, flood mitigation, irrigation, whichwould in turn decrease the vulnerability of downstreamregions. Flood zoning was another way forwardbesides reforestation. In addition, she also recommendedthe preservation of Himalayan glaciers,demilitarisation of Siachen by the Indian and PakistaniArmies and joint watershed management in9

Thirteenth SDC Special BulletinJammu and Kashmir by the governments of Indiaand Pakistan.Mr. Navid Ahmad, Media Analyst, presented hisviews as the discussant of the panel. He shared theview that there was a need to focus on systematicregistration of land records, as the existing system ofland registration lay with the Patwaris, which could betraced through NADRA. Another compulsion for provisionof compensation by the government was tohave Computerized National Identity Cards butaround 33% of the flood affectees were not registeredwith NADRA yet, so they could not be beneficiariesuntil their registration was done. Moreover,there was a need to focus on compensations for theagriculture sector regarding the loss of crops andalso seeds for growing new crops. Otherwise about15% of food shortages could occur in Southern Punjab.Another requirement was to focus on drawing upa proper record of the number of people that died dueto the floods. According to him, the district governmentdid not play any serious role during the recentfloods, instead the officials were more focused ondealing with foreign delegates and politicians. Similarly,there was no strong pressure from the civil societyorganizations and the media.During the question-answer session, one of theparticipants highlighted the fact that big dams werenot a sustainable way forward especially if environmentalimpacts and ecosystem damage were considered.While concluding the session, the chair said thatclimate change was a serious issue and reflected theworst floods that have been experienced in Pakistan’shistory. He made a number of points includingthe following. The situation became worse due to lackof a proper early warning system for floods in the affectedareas. The dams could be a better option tocontrol such a massive flood but controversies associatedwith building the dams were very old in Pakistanand had not been resolved. Perhaps the focuswould have to be on non-controversial dams insteadof controversial ones. Another possible way forwardwould to be to focus on rehabilitation and policy tradeoffs.Reported by Nazima ShaheenThe Water and SanitationChallenge in South Asia—Session IChair: Mr. Arif Hassan, Chairman, Urban ResourcesCenter, Karachi, PakistanDiscussants: Mr. Nazeer Ahmed, Sindh Irrigationand Drainage Authority, Pakistan; and, Ms RizwanaKausar, UN Habitat IslamabadSpeakers:Dr. Ahmed Nawaz Hakro, University of Nizwa, Sultanateof OmanMr. Dibalok Singha, Dushtha Shasthya Kendra(DSK), Dhaka, BangladeshMr. Faisal Shaheen, Municipality of Toronto, Toronto,CanadaPanel Organisers: Water Aid and SDPIThe two panels on The Water and SanitationChallenge in South Asia were organised by SDPI incollaboration with Water Aid Asia.Lack of water and sanitation facilities directlycontributed to some of the essential dimensions ofpoverty, such as health, education, gender and socialinclusion, and income/consumption. There havebeen some significant developments in increasingthe access to water and sanitation in Pakistan overthe last decades. Access to water increased from86% in 1990 to 90% in 2006 and access to sanitationfrom 33% in 1990 to 58% in 2006. However, waterand sanitation in Pakistan were still surrounded bythe issues of poor quality of service, poor cost recovery,poor maintenance, low levels of tariff, lack of efficiency,poor quality of drinking water and sanitationfacilities. All of this leads to the outbreak of everincreasingwaterborne diseases, adding to the alreadyexisting state of poverty. The incidence of illhealth also reduced the chances of schooling for thepoor. Thus lack of water and sanitation directly contributefto multiple dimensions of poverty. Such astrong nexus demanded for integrated poverty alleviationprogrammes in Pakistan. These were theviews expressed by Dr. Ahmad Nawaz Hakro, ofUniversity of Nizwa, Sultanate of Oman, during hispresentation in the panel titled The Water and SanitationChallenge in South Asia. He highlighted thatvarious “programmes for all” need to consider who isbenefiting the most from such programmes. An appropriatepolicy response needed to evaluate the alternativepolicy options.The second speaker, Dr. Dibalok Singha, aDhaka-based public health expert, highlighted thatalternative service delivery mechanisms, and dynamicorganisational arrangements led by the poorcould increase the access of poor and slum dwellersto water services. Sharing his experience, he told theaudience that building upon the willingness to pay,the Dhaka WASA was convinced to extend its servicesto slum dwellers in a win-win situation and thewater services were available at the door steps ofthe poor.10

Thirteenth SDC Special BulletinSpeaking about the comparative approaches toefficient storm water management, Mr. Faisal HaqShaheen from the Ryerson University, presentedvarious policy options. He emphasized upon the integratedapproaches to deal with the inter-linked issuesof water services, solid waste managementand storm water such as floods, with greater communityinvolvement. He provided global North-Southcomparison of strategies to deal with the issue ofstorm water management. Taking the case of SouthAsia, he talked about the largest concentration ofmeta cities along with highest concentration of seasonalprecipitation. While the resources lie at the nationallevel, responsibilities are concentrated at themunicipal level, he stated. The case for storm watermanagement becomes complicated since it wasclosely interlinked with solid waste, water and sanitation,public health and transportation in the contextof massive urbanisation in the region. A systematicmanagement of storm water would entail proper collection,retention, detention, conservation and reuseor introduction to source. Storm water managementwas based upon storm water utility and storm watercommunities. Storm water utility was based upon: a)proactive engineered detention/retention solutions,and b) outreach and customer relations. In globalNorth, storm water utility is based upon proactive retentionand drainage solutions whereas, in South, itis based at reactive retention and drainage solutions.Similarly, billing considerations were wellmanaged in North, depending upon the usage andcontribution of surface water, and design of thebuilding. On the other hand, in the South, billing wasnot well managed; industrial, commercial and institutionalusers were heavily charged and residentialusers had flat rates instead of metered ones. Therewere also North-South differences on storm watercommunities that consisted of NGOs and CBOs.The level of state-community engagement in Southwas also ad hoc and typically seen as monsoonseason pump allocations and deployment. For efficientsolid waste management, it needed to involveadvocacy and education of communities to collectrainwater, build low cost sanitation communities andincreased engagement of community to managewatersheds. Policy implications of this North-Southfor countries like Pakistan were as follows: a) astrong partnership between WASA and storm watermanagement authorities for urban areas and betweenprovincial and development authorities forperi-urban areas; b) involvement of communitygroups and civil society organisations for monitoringand severe weather event management; and c) ad-vocacy and research focusing upon municipalWASA in partnership with all stakeholders.Discussion: Dr. Arif Hassan, an eminenteconomist, highlighted that service delivery failurewas not the lack of funding alone, it was rather thelack of capacity of departments to implement variouspolicies. Therefore, any policy needed to startwith realisation of the limitations of institutions. Thiscreated a need for active role to be played by thecivil society organisations. He also highlighted theneed for generating resources through appropriatetaxation to fund service provision since most of thetax rates in South Asian countries were very low.Mr. Nazeer Ahmad from the Sind Irrigation andDrainage Authority re-emphasized the recommendationspresented by the speakers. Ms RizwanaKausar highlighted that WATSAN needed to beconsidered as a basic human right and those neglectedneeded to be prioritized.The presentations were followed by a vibrantdiscussion on issues raised by speakers and severalquestions were raised by the audience, whichwere then addressed by the panel.The Water and SanitationChallenge in South Asia—Session IIReported by Arif NaveedChair: Mr. Ayub Qutub, Pakistan Institute of Environmentand Development Research, Islamabad,PakistanDiscussants: Mr. Abdul Hafeez, Policy & Advocacy,WaterAid, Islamabad, Pakistan; Mr. IrfanTariq, Director Ministry of Environment Pakistan;and, Dr. Dibalok Singha, DSK, BangladeshPanel Organisers: WaterAid and SDPISpeakers:Mr. Badiul Alam Majumdar, The Hunger Project,BangladeshMr. Shamim Ahmed, WaterAid, Bangladesh (paperpresented in absentia)Mr. Munawar Hasan, WaterAid, PakistanThe second session commenced with Mr.Badiul Alam’s presentation. He began by emphasizingthe right of every individual to safe drinking waterand good sanitation facilities. Talking aboutBangladesh he said that inadequate access to safewater and sanitation facilities, along with poor sanitationpractices kill thousands of children every yearfrom diarrhoea, cholera, typhoid and other waterbornediseases. He added, diarrhoea alone kills approximatelya quarter of a million Bangladeshi childrenevery year. Citing several examples of inter-11

Thirteenth SDC Special Bulletinventions made by the government and local NGOsto solve this issue, he came to the conclusion thatthe most viable way forward is a “social mobilisationapproach”. This approach would ensure thatthe people themselves would share ownership aspart of the solution of the problem. He said that althoughthis approach was new, it would also be themost cost-effective and enduring. He explained thesteps, which were to first mobilise Union Parishadsand then a number of volunteers. The volunteersthen mobilise the people to address not only waterand sanitation problems, but also good hygienicpractices. They also address ways to improve theoverall quality of life, as demonstrated through theformation of self-help groups, increased incomeearning opportunities and so on. He added that theimportant assumption behind this volunteer-basedapproach was that since poverty is a multidimensionalproblem, its solution also requiredmulti-dimensional interventions addressing asmany problems as possible simultaneously. Dr.Badiul Alam said that the experiment began in2008 and was being carried out in partnership withthe Hygiene, Sanitation and Water Supply(HYSAWA) Fund, a statutory company formed withthe support of the Government of Bangladesh andthe Government of Denmark.His recommendations were followed by Mr.Shamim Ahmed’s presentation, which was presentedby another speaker in absentia. The firstpoint that was made was that although there hadbeen large investments in the Water, Sanitationand Hygiene (WaSH) sector, the coverage had notbeen extensive enough. The speaker added thatWaSH did not only refer to someone’s right to existence,it also ensured maintaining human dignity.With regard to improved water sources, he saidthat Bangladesh had achieved its target, however,in the case of sanitation, only 54% of the populationwas using improved sanitation facilitieswhereas it was 39% in the base year 1990/91. Headded that one of the biggest problems was contaminationof arsenic, which could still be found inwater samples and alternative approaches likerainwater harvesting had not been adopted. Headded that Mr. Ahmed’s paper would further elaborateon the various issues facing Bangladesh withregard to water and sanitation facilities and that itwould give several recommendations for improvements.The last speaker, Mr. Munawar Hasan, referringto Pakistan, said that it was water scarce regionthat had also become a water stressed zone.He said that it was estimated that the available waterper capita would decrease to less than 850 litresby year 2020. Turning his focus to then regionof Tharparkar in the province of Sindh, he said thatit was one of the most water stressed regions inPakistan and that ground water in that area washighly contaminated with high levels of fluoride, arsenic,salts and other hazardous chemical and biologicalelements. Traditionally the people of Tharparkarhad relied on rainwater for consumption, buthe added that little attention had so far been givento exploring options of maximum utilisation of theavailable rainwater.In order to alleviate water shortage problemsand health hazards caused by contaminated water,a Rain Water Harvesting (RWH) project was carriedout by WaterAid in village Dedh Sarh nearMithi, Thar. To store adequate rainwater, variousoptions including lining of tarais (natural earthenponds), construction of underground tanks of varyingsizes and rooftop RWHs were considered. Theconstruction of these structures implied local/indigenous knowledge as well as modern engineeringdesigns and materials. He explained thatlow cost water filtration systems were promoted toraise the safety level of harvested water to acceptablestandards. He added that his paper would examinethe efficacy and adoptability of this RWHsystem from a more socio-economic perspectiveand discuss the changes observed in the lives ofvillage people as well as new arenas for further advocacyand exploring other such options for differentparts of Thar as well as other arid regions ofthe country.The presentations were followed by a livelydebate and discussion.Reported by Ayesha Salman12

Thirteenth SDC Special BulletinPeace and Sustainable Development: The Roleof Think TanksModerator: Dr. Adil Najam, The Frederick S. PardeeCenter for the Study of the Longer-Range Future,Professor, Department of International Relations;and, Department of Geography and Environment,Boston University, USAParticipants of the brainstorming session:Dr. Abid Q. Suleri, SDPI, Islamabad; Dr. Jennifer Bennett,Consultant, Islamabad; Dr. Khalida Ghaus, Social PolicyDevelopment Centre, Karachi; Dr. Stephen McGurk,IDRC, India; Mr. Ali Saleem, SFCG, Islamabad; MsPriyanthi Fernando, Centre for Poverty Analysis, (CPA),Sri Lanka; Mr. Khadim Hussain, Pakistan; Dr. AvainshKumar, Management Development, Gurgaon India; MsRehana Raza; Open Society Foundation/LUMS, Lahore;Dr. Kaveri Gill, IDRC, India; Dr. S. Akbar Zaidi,Economist, Karachi; Mr. Omar R. Kureishi, ExpressTribune; Mr. Tahir Dhindsa, SDPI; Ms Kiran Peter,Search for Common Ground Pakistan, Islamabad; Dr.Sania Nishtar, Heartfile, Islamabad; Dr. Tariq Banuri,UN, New York; Ms Maha Khalid, Lahore; Dr. SaraAhmed, IDRC, India; Mr. Imtiaz Gul, CRSS, Islamabad;Mr. Saleem Ahmad, Hujra, Swat; Mr. S. Umar Shah,Hujra, Swat; Dr. Mansoor Wassem, Civil Servant,Pakistan; Ms Afshan Ahmed, SDPI, Islamabad; Mr. TariqAmjad, Al Muakhat Forum, Pakistan; Mr. Sajjad Ali, IRSP,Mardan; Mr. Altaf, IRSP, Pakistan; Mr. Qasim Shah,SDPI, Islamabad; Mr. Talimand Khan, SDPI, Islamabad;Mr. Abdul Nawaz Hakro, University of Nizwa, Oman; Dr.Dr. Talat Mehmud, WZB, Germany; Ms Javeriya Hasan,SDPI, Islamabad; Chaudhry Zubair, Zee Constructions;Mr. Irfan Mirza, Pakistani Leaders Online, Pakistan; MsSehar Tariq, Jinnah Institute, Pakistan; Dr. Nuzrat YarKhan, G.C. University, Lahore; Ms Anifa Khalid, MPAPML-N, Pakistan; Dr. Rashid Amjad, PIDE, Islamabad;Mr. Faisal Shaheen, Ryerson University, Canada; Dr.Rashid A. Khan, University of Sargodha, Pakistan; MsMome Salim, SDPI, Islamabad.Discussion: Dr. Abid Q. Suleri began thebrainstorming session by explaining the objectivesof the session titled Peace and Sustainable Development:The Role of Think Tanks. He emphasizedthe need to understand the role that the think tanksin South Asia can play in order to foster peace andsustainable development in the region; the prerequisitesfor such a role; and, how to get the voices ofthink tanks heard. Dr. Adil Najam acted as the moderatorof the session.The proceedings kicked off with a discussionon what could be termed as a policy think tank. Theaudience agreed that while a think tank may be independent,apolitical, political, partisan, governmental,or non-governmental, the focus of discussionshould be on independent institutions carrying outempirical and impartial research playing the role ofpolicy influencer. Dr. S. Akbar Zaidi was requestedby the moderator to provide a brief history of thegrowth of think tanks in Pakistan. His observationwas that there had been an unusual proliferation of“think tanks” in Pakistan during the last two decades,most of which had been initiated by internationaldonors, partly to fill the vacuum of “antiestablishment”research by the academia. Accordingto Dr. Zaidi, until a few decades ago, researchand academia were closely linked. Due to the dependencyon public funding, academic institutionsstopped producing independent research and focusedmore on teaching. This was the point of departurewhen researchers started associating themselveswith other research-based (non-degreegranting) institutions. Many top-notch economists ofthe country joined the IMF or World Bank and therewas a serious brain drain. None of the governments(military or civilian) were willing to support independentvoices and independent research institutes(read as think tanks). Hence, these newly establishedthink tanks started working under the influenceof international donors. Dr. Zaidi’s commentsraised the question and concern about the independenceof research.Various representatives from the researchthink tanks were asked to present their views aboutthe extent to which they could maintain their independence.It was agreed that the think tanks werenot homogenous entities yet their supply side problemswere common. There was a consensusamong participants on the lack of sustainablesource of funding to ensure the autonomy and independenceof a think tank. It was also pointed outthat during the last 20 years, largely on account ofgeopolitical issues and domestic crisis, donors hadmanipulated what was to be researched on in South13

Thirteenth SDC Special BulletinIn RetrospectAsia.Dr. Nuzrat Khan from the G.C. University, Lahore,raised the question of achieving a possible visionfor South Asia for collaborative research andpolicy advice. He also reminded the audience to findindigenous solutions to challenges facing SouthAsia.A representative from the Pakistan Institute ofDevelopment Economics while talking about regionalinitiatives in South Asia termed such initiativesas non-sustainable and funding driven. Hepointed out that very few regional level thank tankinitiatives could survive, as it was difficult to reflecton behalf of the region (macro level), while ignoringthe individual context of the country. “There is nocollective policy agenda setting at the regional levelon issues such as climate change, food security,etc. In the absence of any regional policy outlines,very few issues can be taken up as regional issues”,he maintained.A concern was highlighted that all known reportswere issued under the umbrella of internationaldonors resulting in the absence of domesticownership on such research. Ms Priyanthi Fernandoshared that socio-political and socio-economic circumstanceswere never conducive in Sri Lanka forproliferation of think tanks in that country. She alsoinformed the participants that there were very fewthink tanks in Sri Lanka at the moment as there wasa resource constraint for non-university think tanksto carry out research.Ms Sehar Tariq referred to the existing constraintswith reference to the supply of human resource.She said that youth should be attracted tothink tanks and the issue of brain drain should beresolved through some incentive plan.Dr. Dr. Talat Mahmud from a German thinktank shared the German model where the state providedfunds for think tanks (both partisan and nonpartisan)and gave due importance to research findingsfor making research-based policies. He alsoemphasized that policy research impact should beassessed through some tangible indicators.Dr. Adil Najam shared his viewpoint that instituteswith great ideas can address funding constraints.The real challenge for a think tank was toinspire and to come up with great ideas and thenwork on these. He also added that policy makingwas not a unitary model.Dr. Tariq Banuri was of the opinion that nationaland regional level collaboration could be takenup based on great ideas. He emphasized that donordriven philosophy was an excuse for those who didnot have original and novel ideas to work on. Heopined that think tanks were effective and their justificationto exist remained as long as they were producinginnovative ideas and solutions.Mr. Moeed Yusuf from the USIP brought upthe question of acknowledgment of regional initiatives.He was of the opinion that most of the regionalinitiatives were recognized as individual institute’sinitiatives. However, Dr. Banuri mentioned somesuccessful regional initiatives such as the Trade andKnowledge Network, regional alliances on WTO andclimate change, etc.Dr. Sania Nishter emphasized that there wasa need to develop an orientation of a national frameworkthat supports research. There is a clear needfor an evidence based divide and political expediencyin order to be fully functional as a think tank.Mr. Daniyal Aziz shared his experiences asPakistan’s former federal minister and highlightedthat the cabinet used to refer to policies inneighbouring countries to support its initiatives.Similarly cabinet members used to learn from regionalpolicies in order to find solutions for problemsfacing Pakistan. His thesis was that policy makersdo appreciate evidence-based recommendationsemerging from regional experiences, and thus therewas space for independent research on regionalagendas. He mentioned that Pakistan could havelearned from regional experiences on VAT to build anational consensus around implementation of reformedgeneral sales tax. He said that there was aneed for similarities to be transcended.Dr. Avanish Kumar highlighted the concernabout sustainability of knowledge created and packagedfor its users at various levels and asked regionalthink tanks to adapt a collective approach forsustainable knowledge generation and dissemination.Dr. Kaveri Gill from the IDRC, India, raised theissue of measuring the policy dent created by variousthink tanks. She inquired about the type of toolsor methods think tanks used to gauge policy impact.It was realised that effective tools and techniques tomeasure the policy dent by various think tanks werelacking in this region.Dr. Khalida Ghuas highlighted the need for researchcollaboration at local and domestic levels.She also emphasized the importance of domesticnetworking and resource mobilisation.Mr. Faisal Shaheen pointed out the relevancyquestions of research with respect to national anddistrict level governments and suggested that effectivepolicy think tanks should be able to provide pol-14

Thirteenth SDC Special Bulletinicy advice to local governments.Dr. Jennifer Bennett shared her concernsabout changing the orientation of youth from a jobdriven mindset to an intellectual mindset.Dr. Stephen McGurk from the IDRC, India,shared the fact that South Asian think tanks werehighly effective and had the highest record of influencingpolicy through evidence-based researchwhen compared with Latin America and Africa. Heshared that the African region was running on a consultancymodel. In his opinion, in South Asia, researchproduced was given due importance by variousstakeholders including civil servants, parliamentarians,media, etc. He suggested that trust buildingbetween institutions should be carried out for knowledgecreation and a fruitful exchange of ideas.Reported by Afshan Ahmed and Javeriya HasanClimate Change: A Security Risk? The Case ofSouth AsiaChair: Mr. Shafqat Kakakhel, Member Board ofGovernors, SDPI, Islamabad, PakistanDiscussant: Dr. Aurangzeb, Chief of Environment,Planning Commission, Islamabad, PakistanSpeakers:Mr. Shakeel Ahmed Ramay, SDPI, Islamabad,PakistanDr. Aneel Salman, Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute(GIKI) of Science and Technology, Topi, Pakistan(Paper presented in absentia by Mr. Wali Jamali)Mr. Kiran Maharjan, NCCR (Swiss National Centerof Competence), NepalPanel Organiser: Mr. Shakeel Ahmed Ramay,SDPI, Islamabad, PakistanThe speakers, Mr. Shakeel Ramay from SDPI,Mr. Kiran Maharjan from NCCR, Nepal, and Mr.Wali Jamali (who presented Dr. Aneel Salman’s paper)covered the security threats of South Asia withan emphasis on global aspects of climate change.Mr. Ramay analysed the multifaceted challengesand vulnerability picture of South Asia where 10 outof 35 food insecure countries consisted of 229 millionfood insecure individuals with decreasing rate ofwater availability. He linked vulnerability with livelihoodfor South Asia where population was estimatedto reach 2.3 billion by 2050 at the presentgrowth rate. He highlighted the picture that SouthAsia would be having a big challenge of food securitydue to climate change as out of 35 food insecurecountries, 21 fell in South Africa, and the remaining14 in South Asia with 229 million food insecure individualsincluding 77% population of Pakistan and85% of India living in rural areas where water availabilitywas decreasing day by day in South Asia.While presenting Dr. Aneel’s Salman’s paperbased on case studies carried out in villages ofSindh province, i.e. Kali Bunder, Bhoori, Tippun andHaji Musa, Mr. Wali Jamali highlighted that environmentalsecurity threats were due to climate changewhile the role of formal and informal institution forenvironment in Pakistan was not commendable. Hepointed that ethnic conflicts in the research areaswere a threat to human security and supported thatthese arose as a result of climatic changes. Headded that migration as a key factor could takeplace due to environmental security threat. As amatter of fact, in 1992, migration took place due tohigh risk of cyclone in the research area. He supportedhis work with the legal declarations by theSupreme Court of Pakistan that environmental issueswere fundamental. There was no judicialmechanism yet fully functional in Pakistan to addressthe need of environmental issues in Pakistan.While rules and regulations were in existence, therewas no proper implementation, he stated. He usedthe local term of Goth Kath (informal institute) forjudicial mechanism at the village level. It could playa vital role in decision making in rural areas ofSindh. He recommended relying on the ability of humaninstitutions, adaptation response, and institutionaland livelihood framework. He also recommendedthat there was a dire need to harmonisethe state water and fishing policies.Mr. Kiran Maharjan explored the links betweenclimate change and flood disasters in Nepal withvulnerability factors towards disasters by analysingthe role of entitlements and covered climate changeimpacts on natural entitlements with two case studieson flood. He stressed that the entitlement failurewas not always responsible for shrinking livelihoods15

Thirteenth SDC Special BulletinIn Retrospectbut entitlement collapse due to disasters also createdhavoc making recovery impossible. There hadbeen an increase in mean precipitation (6.49 to 7.2mm) and decrease in the number of precipitationdays according to his analysis of precipitation patternsbased on evidence of sporadic high intensityprecipitations. Through his research work, he alsohighlighted that Nepal was a disaster prone countrywhere migration ratio compared to other countrieslike India and the Gulf was very low like 5.4% anddid not receive regular rainfall. The main occupationsin Nepal were agriculture 55.36% and labour18.75% and where no one was interested in sharingtheir crops with others. He recommended the urgentneed of adopting sustainable development strategiesto cope with climate change for peace and security.Discussion: The papers were discussed by Dr.Aurangzeb, Chief of Environment, Planning Commissionof Pakistan, while highlighting the importanceof adaptation for the potential threats of climatechange. Dr. Aurangzeb highlighted that SDPIprovided a good forum to discuss climate changeconcerns and other peace and sustainable developmentissues. He was of the view that the topics coveredwere the need of the hour upon which practicalmeasures were required to meet the global challengeof climate change. He stressed that a comprehensiveresponse strategy was required especiallyfor South Asia.Mr. Shafqat Kakakhel discussed that climatechange was a global phenomenon for security concernsin terms of vulnerability of livelihoods becauseof increased level of drought or floods, hurricanesand windstorms for which global disaster profile hadbecome critical. Mr. Kakakhel urged the need forcombating climate change as everybody's job andprovided an overview on Earth Summit 1992 thatthe developing countries were not responsible forclimate change and had the right to keep on developingwhile the developed nations would provide financialsupport for climate change under article 4 ofthe convention concerned. The adaptation and mitigationwere both important complementing parts forthe reduction of global livelihoods' susceptibility.Reported by Kanwar Muhammad Javed IqbalResponding to Climate Change in South AsiaChair: Dr. Ishfaq Ahmad, Minister for State, Adviserto PM on Science and Technology, Former ChairmanAtomic Energy, Islamabad, PakistanDiscussant: Mr. Shakeel Ahmed Ramay, SDPI,Islamabad, PakistanSpeakers:Ms Anusha Sherazi, Sustainable Development PolicyInstitute, Islamabad PakistanMs Javeriya Hasan, Sustainable Development PolicyInstitute, Islamabad PakistanPanel Organiser: Mr. Shakeel Ahmed Ramay,SDPI, Islamabad, PakistanThe first speaker, Ms Anusha Sherazi, highlightedthe importance and potential impact of climatechange on natural resources and population.She sketched a picture of temperature variations inPakistan over the last three decades with a stronglink established to changing patterns due to climatechange with respect to heavy industrialization thatbegan in the 1970s worldwide.She pointed out that climate change and itsconsequent impacts were having a devastating effectthroughout the world. The earth’s average temperatureis being recorded since 1850 while year2010 had been recorded to be the warmest year after1998. Pakistan on the other hand has been recordedto have one of the highest temperatures inthe world in 2010, i.e. 53.5 °C (128.3 °F) on 26 May2010 in Mohenjodaro, Sindh. This was also the hottesttemperature ever recorded in the continent ofAsia and the fourth highest ever-measured onplanet earth. This unusual temperature also causedrecord-breaking rain of up to 620 millimetres particularlyin Islamabad within 10 hours, i.e. the mostthat has ever been recorded in the last 100 years.According to her work on the estimates of Pakistanmeteorological department, heavy rainfalls of morethan 200 millimetres (7.9”) were recorded during thefour-day wet spell of July 27 to July 30 in 2010 inPakistan overall. She projected that these intensiverains due to climate change caused great destruc-16

Thirteenth SDC Special Bulletintion and flooded all the four provinces of Pakistanfrom mid July till mid August 2010 overflowing thedams, rivers and lakes and killing at least 2,000people and affecting 21 million people. The floodhas altogether affected around one-fifth of Pakistan'stotal land area, which includes around 36 districts.Hence the floods had altogether shattered theinfrastructure of various areas of the country. Sheanalysed the mitigation and adaptation measures tobe taken for climate change induced flood incidents,which were expected to also occur in the future. Sheconcluded with a stress upon immediate attentionrequired for mitigation, adaptation and impact analysisscenarios and a focused approach on the vulnerabilityassessment based on which coping mechanismsbe identified together with policy recommendations.The second speaker, Ms Javeriya Hasan,stated that despite the per capita income of Pakistanbeing lower than a number of countries, there was agrowing need for a paradigm shift in the building industry.Buildings account for a significant share ofenergy consumption and carbon emissions. In viewof Pakistan’s prevailing energy crisis, a lot more hadto be done to promote energy efficiency techniques.She analysed that Pakistan was presently facing anenergy crisis that had been fuelled by an incrediblegrowth in electricity consumption. She highlightedthat efforts were underway to encourage alternativesources of energy generation so as to reduce thegeneration-consumption deficit. These resourcesrange from coal to wind, and solar to geothermal.She said that Pakistan was naturally gifted and canharness energy from these sources, however, theirexploitation to date had remained severely limited.She suggested that adopting a diversified approachentailing the strategy of energy conservation couldrectify Pakistan's energy woes. Traditionally energyintensive sectors should be targeted and due attentionto improvisations in these sectors could alsohelp bridge the current energy deficit of 5000MW,she emphasized. The consumption of the domesticsector for the year 2007-08 stood at 33,704 GWh,constituting 45% of Pakistan’s total consumption. Amajor chunk of the energy expended was in constructionprocesses, in addition to the heating andcooling of buildings in urban areas, etc. She recommendedexploring the energy conservation bymeans of encouraging energy efficient buildings inPakistan’s housing industry.Ms Hasan further suggested having a commitmentto reducing energy consumption in buildings,which would be a sustainable way to approach eco-nomic development in Pakistan. She was of theview that an energy efficient building not only increasedoccupancy level but also could bring monetarybenefits that accrue from improved living conditions.The stages of its planning, design, constructionand management are very meticulous, wherebythe lifecycle costs of the building are calculated inaccordance with the construction materials, site,transport links and so on. She also gave an overviewof recent approvals to developing a BuildingEnergy Code for Pakistan, which she consideredpositive news for the country’s housing sector. Sheexamined the relevant legislations that stipulate theimportance of incorporating energy efficiency to existingbuildings and made it binding upon developersto design new buildings according to set ‘green’standards (LEED, BREEAM, etc.), and the need forcollating information and knowledge for the publicationof local standards. She also shared the financialramifications of revamping the housing sector interms of retrofitting. She proposed a framework accordingto which energy efficient buildings could bepromoted in Pakistan, particularly focusing on thepotential of collaboration between developers, planners,consultants, contractors and the authorities.Discussion: The papers were discussed byMr. Shakeel Ahmed Ramay, Head of ClimateChange Study Centre at SDPI, with his key focuson the scientific aspects and role of common peopleto meet the challenge.Dr. Ishfaq Ahmed, Adviser to PM on Scienceand Technology, concluded the session that adaptationwas very important to meet the challenge ofglobal impact of climate change. He mentioned that0.6 o C increase in global temperature over the pastcentury was apparently low but the impact was highin terms of hurricanes, cyclones, floods followed bydrought. He stated that the industrialized countrieswere still not in a position to cut down their carbonemissions while Pakistan was not the major contributorto these emissions.Reported by Kanwar Muhammad Javed IqbalFinancing Climate ChangeChair: Mr. Malik Amin Aslam, Ex-Minister of Statefor Environment, PakistanSpeakers:Mr. Shafqat Kakakhel, Member Board of Governors,Sustainable Development Policy Institute, Islamabad,PakistanMr. Shakeel Ahmad Ramay, Sustainable Develop-17

Thirteenth SDC Special BulletinIn Retrospectment Policy Institute, Islamabad, PakistanPanel Organiser: Mr. Shakeel Ahmed Ramay,SDPI, Islamabad, PakistanThe discussion was initiated by the chair, Mr.Malik Amin Aslam, who identified the controversies,which had characterized the evolution of climatechange finance in recent years. He said that climatechange finance had been a bone of contention atinternational climate change negotiations; and, despitethe urgency of a resolution on the subject, progresshad been slow at best. The chair highlightedfive key questions that continued to mar the state offinance in the international climate regime event afterthe recent negotiations at Cancun where significantheadway had been made in this domain.Firstly, he said, the source of the funding remainedambiguous. Based on the principles of‘polluter pays’ and ‘common but differentiated responsibility,’the onus of providing the necessaryfunds for climate change fell on the developed countrieswho due to their historical emissions of greenhousegases were the prime contributors to climatechange today. The success of any climate financearrangement was seen as inextricably linked to thedeveloped world embracing their responsibility ofproviding necessary funds and technology to the developingcountries, which despite contributing theleast to climate change stood as the most vulnerableparties.Secondly, the source of generating the requiredfunds had not been clearly identified. Whether theywould be channelled through the private sector orthe public sector in developed countries remainedan unanswered question. A panel of experts was setup in 2009 to oversee the development of the financeregime within climate change, which subsequentlydeveloped the Ad hoc Group Finance report.The report was met with much resistance as manyfelt that the developed world was deliberately avoidingtheir responsibility and transferring it to thepoorer countries.One of the daunting tasks of international climatefinance was gauging the exact figure of thefunds required to respond to climate change, an issuethat had yet to be adequately reconciled. Underthe Copenhagen Accord, 30 billion USD was identifiedto be delivered in 2008-2012 while 100 billion ayear was to be accorded after 2020. Many criticizedthese figures as being inadequate and insufficient torespond to climate change in the developing worldwhere vulnerability remains disproportionately high.The fourth issue was the timing of the funding itself.Despite unanimous recognition of the need to expe-dite the provision of funds, the issue remained unresolvedeven as climate change impacts unfoldedacross the world with devastating consequences.Lastly, the issue that continued to generate muchcontroversy pertained to the mechanism of spendingclimate funds. Initially the ‘usual suspects’, i.e.IMF and the World Bank, were being identified asinstitutions, which could potentially employ thesefunds in the host countries. However, amidst vehementopposition by the developing countries, theproposal was left for further consideration. Most developingcountries instead were pushing for directaccess to the climate fund; however, this was metwith resistance from the developed world that raisedthe issue of certain countries lacking the capacity tospend funds of such magnitude in an equitable andresponsible manner.The chair stressed that these five issues wouldmould the evolution of climate funds. A delay intheir resolution could significantly undermine operationsof the international climate regime while on theother hand; their resolution would be instrumental indirecting the development of a global response toclimate change.Mr. Shafqat Kakahel gave an exhaustive overviewof the historical development of the internationalclimate regime and evaluated the progressmade in light of the principles envisioned to directthe creation and provision of funds. The Rio Summitin 1997 was the first significant step in respondingto climate change as it was officially recognized thatunchecked greenhouse gas emissions originating inthe developed countries distorted the climatic stability.The disproportionately high vulnerability of developingcountries was highlighted and the need toarm these countries with technology and financialresources to respond to climate change was noted.The recognition that the developed countries musttake full incremental costs of climate change was18

Thirteenth SDC Special Bulletinreiterated in the years that followed and were finallyincorporated in the Kyoto Protocol. As the UnitedStated walked out of the Protocol, the effectivenessof the Kyoto regime was severely undermined. By2005, the focus of negotiations began to shift; wherepreviously the demands were only being levelledagainst the developed world to curb emissions andaid the developing countries to respond, now it wasincreasingly being felt that the developing worldshould also shoulder a portion of the burden. Thismove was prompted by the growing uncheckedemissions of developing countries with China takingover the position of the biggest polluter from theUnited States in 2006. The tussle that erupted betweenthe developing and developed world almostled to the negotiations breaking down but at Bali asettlement was reached. The developing world mustalso initiate Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actionsto check their emissions, however, these were contingenton the financial and technological flows fromthe developed world. As the Copenhagen Accordleft much to be desired regarding mechanisms oftechnology and financial transfer and since it wasnever adopted as a binding agreement, it made littleimpact. It was through the Cancun Agreements in2010, that progress was made in financial arrangementswithin the international climate regime yeteven these raised important concerns that doubtedits adequacy and sufficiency. The amount committedwas a small portion of the conservative estimatesof 400-500 billion USD required for adaptationand mitigation actions in developing countries.The issue of ‘predictability’ of the funds was left indoubt as sources of funding were largely left to erraticmarket operations. Additionally, from 2013 to2020 no provision of funds was made. Thus the financialagreements concluded were a far cry fromthe hopes enshrined in the UNFCCC and the initialvision of the Bali summit. While the speaker recognizedthat meaningful process had been made inCancun, it was not enough to foster an equitable internationalfinancial regime to respond to climatechange in developing countries.The speakers stressed that the shortcomings ofthe global financial arrangements had highlightedthe urgency and need to undertake action in Pakistan,which despite being one of the worst hit countrieswith regard to climate change, continued to neglectthe issue. As the vulnerability of Pakistanmeant that it could not wait for international intervention,it was suggested that domestic action must beundertaken to complement the changes in the globalarena.Mr. Shakeel Ahmad Ramay highlighted theneed for an institutional arrangement within Pakistanto respond to climate change in the country.For Pakistan, the challenge of financing climatechange measures was not only the presence of internationalfunds but also the creation of a domesticscheme of allocation funds in a just and transparentmanner.Distinguishing between an institutional mechanismand institutional arrangement, he stressed on theneed to create the latter in Pakistan, which wouldhave the legal authority to initiate a long-term responseto climate change. The speaker evaluatedthe current organisations, which had been dealingwith climate change in an ad hoc manner to exposethe need for an arrangement that would be adequatelyequipped to respond to the magnitude ofthe challenge posed by climate change. The institutionalarrangement proposed included the creationof a National Implementing Entity as the main bodyregulating climate capital flows, National and ProvincialClimate Change Cells with dedicated financialdepartments, a Climate Change Fund and aClean Development Mechanism Cell. It was crucialthat each of these bodies be led by experts and professionalsas opposed to bureaucrats to ensure thatthe proposed bodies efficiently execute their roles.He identified the current sources of internationalfunding available to respond to climate change andmapped the availability of the funds to the abilityand capacity of the current structures in the countryto employ these funds. Despite the presence of sixmajor sources of funding, Pakistan had been unableto tap into these funds. The speaker stressed uponthe need to move on from the failures of the pastand look forward with a renewed sense of optimism.The challenge of implementing a climate policy andcreating an effective intuitional arrangement to addressthe issues would be a daunting task, however,the sheer magnitude of the threat of climatechange should be enough to prompt an urgent anddedicated effort to achieve this end.Discussion: Members from the audience identifiedthe challenges in implementing a climatechange response in Pakistan amidst the dynamicsof bad governance and lack of transparency. Despitethe vulnerability of Pakistan, the issue of directingefforts and funds to other less crucial concernswas also raised. It was also pointed that therewere not enough trained professionals and expertswithin the country to lead a response to climatechange. To this, Mr. Shafqat Kakakhel pointed outthe need to mainstream the issue of climate change19

Thirteenth SDC Special BulletinIn Retrospectand create a self-sustaining momentum that wouldprompt action by the government. The media, youthand civil society were identified as the main actorswho could play an instrumental role in highlightingthe significance of the issue amongst the generalpublic. The chair echoed the same sentiments andsuggested that contrary to popular claims, the publicin Pakistan did have an appetite for climate changeissues for the impacts of climate change wereacutely being felt by the population in the country.Water Resource Management:Sharing PerspectivesReported by Fatima RasheedChair: Mr. Munawar Saeed Bhatti, Additional Secretary,Foreign Office, Islamabad, PakistanSpeakers:Mr. Shakeel Ahmad, SDPI, Islamabad, PakistanMr. Faisal Haq Shaheen, Business ManagementAnalyst, CanadaMr. Arshad H. Abbasi, SDPI, Islamabad, PakistanMs Kalplana Murphy, Economic Officer, US Embassyin PakistanPanel Organiser: Mr. Shakeel Ahmed Ramay,SDPI, Islamabad, PakistanMr. Shakeel Ahmad focused on the need for decentralizationin water management by drawing onthe example of the United States and contrasting itwith the system in Pakistan. It was noted that in theUnited States, some states had abundant watersupplies while others were marred by water scarcitycreating a need for an equitable system of watermanagement both among and within the states. Anexample of the state of California was highlightedwhich like Pakistan had consistently been facing thethreat of floods. However, unlike Pakistan, an intricateflood management system had been developed;the construction of levees and communitylevel disaster management emerged as salient featuresof the system. He said there was much thatPakistan could learn from this as the recent floods inthe country had exposed the inadequacy of disastermanagement schemes. It was recognised that whilewater management in the United States did haveroom for improvement, the principles guiding its evolutionwere praiseworthy. The monitoring and regulationof the water systems did not isolate the localpopulation and instead sought to empower communitiesto play proactive roles in water management.Decentralization had allowed local populations toclaim ownership of the resource and in complimentingthe top down management processes; a moreeffective system of water management had evolved.This scheme could be replicated in Pakistanwhich is in dire need of improved water managementas it continues to suffer from excess waterflows causing floods and limited water availabilityleading to long periods of drought. Given that theagricultural sector employs more than half of Pakistan’spopulation, integrating local communitieswithin an overarching system of water managementwould be an effective tool in conserving and effectivelyusing the resource.Mr. Faisal Shaheen explored the role of civil societyin water governance by analysing the dynamicsof water management in the United States andCanada. He noted that while in theory, rules andregulations regarding water management existed, alot more needed to be done in terms of enforcingpractices of water resource management. However,the state globally was in a state of withdrawal shiftingthe responsibility onto communities to efficientlymanage resources. The deregulation of environmentaldegradation had encouraged an increasedmonitoring of natural resources by civil society,which is aggressively taking up matters in its ownhands. Efforts were being made to restore the lostvalue of water, which had gravely impacted consumptionand management practices of the resource.As the civil society efforts at water managementgain momentum, increased efforts were beingdirected towards conservation practices, rainwaterharvesting, efficient urban water use and promotionof practices encouraging effective water management.With the civil society initiatives in resourcemanagement steadily growing, it is hoped that communitieswill be empowered to undertake pilot projectsand direct efforts towards aqua recharge.In his discussion, Mr. Arshad Abbasi exploredthe challenges in bilateral management of shared20

Thirteenth SDC Special Bulletinwater resources by highlighting the case of Pakistanand India. Through the Indus Water Treaty, bothcountries had negotiated a division of the Indus Watersystem whereby Pakistan was awarded controlof the Western Rivers while India retained the rightsto use Eastern Rivers. It was a landmark achievementand played an instrumental role in diffusingconflicts on shared water resources, which bothcountries were heavily reliant on. Despite tensionscharacterizing the relations between the two countries,the Treaty had managed to survive though ithad consistently been marred by controversieserupting from time to time. To improve the applicationof the Treaty, the speaker stressed on the needto adopt two tools of water management; a telemeteringsystem and transboundary environmental impactassessments. Lack of transparency, inadequateexchange of data coupled with the alreadystrained relations between the two countries hademerged as significant hindrances in a more effectiveoperation of the Treaty. Installing a system oftelemetering system would work to remove theseconcerns and reduce the controversies inspired bythe rival’s use of the water. Working to remove thetrust deficit could also initiate programmes of cooperationand mutual assistance in developing theuse of this prized resource. This would be extremelycrucial to both countries as evidence of reducedflows and increased water stress was alreadyemerging in the Indus System. Environmental degradation,deforestation, military activity in the Northernglaciers and climate change were heavily contributingto the changing water flows. In addition tothis, construction of reservoirs by India could drasticallyalter the water supply and the ecosystem,which fed on it in Pakistan. Thus as the water stressbuilds, transboundary environmental impact assessmentswould be necessary in ensuring that bothcountries were able to effectively and equitably usetheir shared resource. It would also prompt joint effortsin protecting glaciers, initiating programmes ofwatershed management and reduce the alarminglevels of environmental degradation. To ensure asustainable system of water management wherebyboth countries would be able to secure maximumbenefit of the resource simultaneously, he suggestedefforts should be undertaken in India andPakistan to implement the tools aimed at improvingtransparency and environmental protection.Ms Kalpana Murphy highlighted the significanceof the role played by conservation while discussingwater management in Pakistan. The issue confrontingPakistan was not limited to the availability of wa-ter alone but extended to include the need for storing,saving, recycling and effectively using water resources.Noting that conservation practices in Pakistanwere far from being mature and widespread,the speaker focused on the challenges being posedin the agricultural sector, the required infrastructureto improve water management, the changesneeded to avert the risk of floods and the need todevelop a more effective urban management of water.Channelling water according to need was crucialfor sustaining the agricultural system of thecountry as mismanagement in the past had frequentlyled to loss of arable land due to changingwater tables and rising salinity. Ensuring an adequateand reliable supply of water for agriculturalpurposes would involve increased capacity to storeexcess water, directing flows to dry areas and usingthe resource more efficiently. The notion of conservationwould inspire marked improvements in theirrigation system, which served as the backbone ofthe agricultural sector. Changing patterns of watermanagement would demand changes in the waterinfrastructure in the country including the renovationand cementing of canal networks, construction oflevees, creating reservoirs amongst others. Shesaid that Pakistan was extremely vulnerable tofloods, however, through effective conservationtechniques, these natural hazards could be preventedfrom turning into human tragedies. Storingwater was crucial for Pakistan for it not only createda defence against flash floods but also diffused thecrisis in times of limited availability of water. Insteadof wasting surplus water flows, they could be savedto be used during drought, the incidence of whichhas increased in the recent past. In urban centres,the concept of conservation through recycling wateris crucial given the burgeoning populations in thecountry’s cities. The domestic sector was responsiblefor consuming the largest portion of water in thecities thus any scheme of urban water managementmust begin here, she stressed. However, the successof a long-term water management systemwould be heavily dependent on inspiring a behaviouralchange in the use of water by the urbanpopulation. Water resource management was inextricablytied to the ecosystem and it was only whena harmony could be struck between water use andthe environment could a scheme of sustainable programfor water management be developed. To thisend, conservation of water would serve as an effectivemechanism and employing it in Pakistan woulddrastically diffuse the crisis of water shortage andsurplus.21

Thirteenth SDC Special BulletinIn RetrospectThe chair, Mr. Munawar Saeed Bhatti, tracedthe complexities involved in a water managementregime. In the global arena, there were 143 countrieswith shared water basins making equitable andefficient resource management an important need.At the same time, the water stress in certain areasand surplus water flows in others necessitated theinitiation of community level programmes of watermanagement. He stressed that the responsibility ofwater management could not be shouldered by thestate alone; it was the responsibility of every citizen.Discussion: The discussion that followed focusedon the challenges confronting Pakistan in themanagement of water resources and the shortcomingsof water governance in the country. Ms Murphy’sfocus on the conservation practices sparkedmuch debate as the inability of instilling a spirit ofconservation within the people of Pakistan was highlighted.It was concluded that education and awarenessprogrammes, especially those targeted tofarmers, would be instrumental in promoting conservation,recycling and more effective use of water. Inhis response to a question, Mr. Bhatti highlightedthat ineffective management of water had led tocontamination of water supplies, which was emergingas a grave health hazard in Pakistan. Options ofwater management in Pakistan were discussedwhere hydropower projects as viable tools of moreefficient water management was noted. Recognizingthe concerns raised by the audience with regard toinadequate water governance in Pakistan, the chairstressed on the need for every citizen of the countryto embrace his/her responsibility of playing an activepart in the management of this vital resource.Reported by Fatima RasheedFederalism: A Challenge to Conflict Managementin Less Developed Countries/South AsiaGuest of Honour: Dr. Kaiser Bengali, Advisor toCM Sindh, Karachi, PakistanChair: Ms Anjum Ibrahim, Business Recorder, Islamabad,PakistanDiscussants: Mr. Mukhtar Ahmad Ali, Center forPeace and Development Initiatives, Islamabad,Pakistan; and Mr. Zubair Faisal Abbasi, Institute forDevelopment Initiatives, Islamabad, PakistanPanel organiser: Mr. Zubair Faisal Abbasi, Institutefor Development Initiatives, Islamabad, and, VisitingAssociate, SDPI, IslamabadSpeakers:Mr. Arshad Khan, National Commission for HumanDevelopment, Islamabad, PakistanDr. Yunas Samad, University of Bradford. Bradford,UKDr. Bishnu Upreti, NCCR North-South, Kathmandu,NepalThe session kicked off with a brief analysis ofthe topic (Federalism) in the context of RGST, waron terror, and the Baloch conflict by the chair of thesession, Ms Anjum Ibrahim, Resident Editor, BusinessRecorder.Mr. Arshad Khan who was representing the NationalCommission for Human Development, IslamabadPakistan, gave a presentation on the topicof “The Baloch Conflict: Nationalism, Natural Resourcesand the State’s reaction”.Mr. Khan was of the view that the presentchaos in Balochistan had its roots in the denial ofthe political autonomy to the people of the provinceas well as in the unjust handling/control of theirnatural resources (gas) by the state. He stated thatas Pakistan’s ever increasing energy needs werebeing fulfilled by the fast depleting resources of Balochistanin an unjust way, which was creating asense of deprivation among the people of the province,it could culminate in enhancing the magnitudeof the already existing conflict.“Resources-rich political economy potentiallygenerates conflicts between the elites who hold politicalpower and those who do not. The non-eliteactors tend to stage a revolt against the state, whichcontrols resources and collaborates with nationaland international private producers for resourcesexploitation to generate revenues,” he added.He stressed upon the need for dealing with theBaloch nationalists with respect and to give them anequal share from the resources, which were beingextracted from their land. “The Baloch nationalists’grievances and rebellion against the Pakistani state,and its response to this rebellion, should be framed22

Thirteenth SDC Special Bulletinwithin an understanding of the region’s natural resourcesand the state’s treatment of the Baloch nationalism,”he concluded.Dr. Yunas Samad from the University of Bradford,Bradford, UK, was the second speaker of thesession. He expressed his views in his detailedpresentation on the topic of “Managing diversity inPakistan: Going beyond Federalism”. Dr. Samadwas of the view that to “eliminate a difference or tomanage it” was entirely people’s own choice. Accordingto him, federalism had contradictory definitions,and what people perceive of it was contingentupon whether they see its benefits or dwell upon thenegativities. From analysing the topic in the contextof “practice of ethnic regulations” in Pakistan todwelling upon the assumptions associated to it, Dr.Samad made the point that federalism was entirelya political issue, and there was a need for initiating adebate to analyse its virtues in the context of Pakistanand to see the other potential alternatives availableto the country as well. He suggested a “bottomup”approach to make things work.“Pakistan’s problems in managing diversity cannotbe imposed by diktat and has to emerge out ofthe democratic process. Ultimately such importantchanges require consensus to be developed after aconsidered deliberation of the issues,” he concluded.Dr. Bishnu Upreti gave a comprehensive presentationupon “Federalism and potential conflicts: Areflection from Nepal”. Dr. Upreti started from givingdifferent definitions of federalism and the prerequisitesof the system to work properly. He disclosedthat Nepal was also in the process of adopting federalism,but still there was confusion among the politicalparties of the country whether to opt for it ornot. Among 27 political parties present in the Nepaliparliament, he said, 20 had agreed to adopt it as apolitical system while the rest of the 7 were opposedthe idea.“The Constituent Assembly is working on draftinga new constitution and federalisation of thecountry is one of the major tasks but not much progresshas been made. Instead numerous contentiousand contradictory issues have emerged,” headded.He concluded his presentation by saying thatfor him, the experience of federalism was quitemixed, however, he also stated that being a potentialsource of conflict, operationally expensive andeconomically not viable, it was not among the favouredchoices for his country.Dr. Kaiser Bengali, adviser to the Chief Ministerof Sindh and the guest of honour at the session,concluded the session with an endnote. He was ofthe view that though we could have endless talksover the theory of the federalism, “till we continue tohave a dominant group who is absolutely not willingto share the power, democracy will prevail only onpaper”.Expressing his agreement with Mr. Arshad, hesaid that the grievance of Balochistan was indeedassociated to the gas issue. He concluded his remarksby saying that just like Balochistan, the rootcause of Sindh’s grievance also lay in (the manipulationof) its rich resources.Reported by Fayyaz YaseenNeo-liberalising South Asia—Impacts of StructuralAdjustment: IMF and World Bank ProgrammesChair: Ms Anjum Ibrahim, Business Recorder,Islamabad, PakistanDiscussant: Dr. S. Akbar Zaidi, Karachi, PakistanSpeakers:Ms Muzna Fatima Alvi, The Energy Resources Institute(TERI), New Delhi, IndiaMs. Antonia Settle, RMIT University, Melbourne,AustraliaPanel Organiser: Mr. Gulbaz Ali Khan, ResearchAssociate, SDPI, IslamabadMs Muzna Fatima Alvi, from The Energy ResourcesInstitute (TERI), New Delhi, India, was thefirst speaker to present a paper titled ‘Structural AdjustmentPrograms and the Feminization of Poverty’.She initiated her presentation by giving a briefoverview of Structural Adjustment Programs(SAPs). She said that these originated as a responseto economic crises and economic instability23

Thirteenth SDC Special Bulletinin the third world countries. The debt crises in thelate 1970s and early 1980s and the ensuing reschedulingof debt introduced the world to SAPs.She explained that the aim of all SAPs was to implementlaissez faire policies and these policies involvecutting social expenditure and investment, trade liberalization,disinvestment and privatisation of publicsector enterprises, budget rationalization, and removalof state subsidies and price controls. Ms Alvialso went on talk about the negative effects of SAPson women.Ms Muzna Fatima Alvi said that neo-economicalframework was not a gender-neutral science and itignored social inequities and unpaid labour ofwomen. She said that the development debate indeveloping countries had been centred uponwhether the state or market was the engine ofgrowth and between tradeoffs of economic growthand poverty while women were cut off from the developmentdiscourse. She said that it was only afterthe growth of feminist movement around the world inthe 1970s that attention started being paid to therole of women. Dominant orthodoxy started beingchallenged, modernization theory was subscribed toand individuals were seen as vehicles for economictransformation. Ms Alvi said that Gender and Development(GAD) gained prominence in the 1980s andsought to rethink development from gendered perspective.GAD saw women as active agents ofchange and saw their political mobilization as ameans of empowerment. GAD’s greatest contributionaccording to the speaker was that it provided aframework for studying effects of macroeconomicpolicy and SAPs on women. According to these policies,male bias existed at the macro level of economyand meso level of mediating institutions. Shefurther added that reproductive economy will adjustautomatically to changes in productive economy asgaps will be filled by unlimited and unpaid femalelabour and that women were poorest of the poor especiallyif they belonged to marginalized communitiesor regions. Ms Alvi said, however, the weaknessof GAD was a lack of disaggregated gender dataand macroeconomic models linking with gender differentials.She also said that the influence of GADon policy was weak. Ms Alvi said that there was acritical need for adopting interdisciplinary perspectives.She said that according to Mukopadhyay,there were two ways of examining gender bias insociety:• Static context of caste, class, ethnicity from sociologicalperspective• Dynamic context of changes set off by economicpolicy/reforms from economics domainShe said that feminisation of poverty was somethingmore than mere lack of income or state of financialneed. She said that there was a need to go beyondtraditional definition of poverty and to see povertyas denial of opportunity, inability to achieve lifegoals and loss of hope. She said that a multidimensionalconcept of economic, cultural, legal and socialexclusion was needed and that gender inequalitywas a result of imbalanced development ofglobal, national and local policies. She furtheradded that external factors and intra-household inequalitiesleft women vulnerable to deal with socioeconomicdownturns, shocks and changes. Lastly,she provided policy recommendations for incorporatingthe role of women in the development frameworkthrough schemes such as Equal OpportunityCommission, comprehensive rural developmentprograms, affirmative action in education, politics,public sector employment, discouraging regressivesocial and economic policies, social security systemsand safety nets, access to reliable credit, educationreform agenda, recognizing unpaid work ofwomen, and investing in upgrading skills of women.Ms Antonia Settle, RMIT University, Melbourne,Australia, was the second panelist to speak. Shepresented on ‘Structural Adjustment, the DevelopmentProject and the Privatisation of Land in Pakistan’.She spoke on the relationship between thedominant development paradigm and large-scaleagricultural land acquisitions by foreign investorswith reference to the case of Pakistan. She firsttalked about the theoretical model behind the mainstreamdevelopment strategy. She said that StructuralAdjustment Programs (SAPs) were the economiccomponent of the dominant developmentstrategy. World Bank and IMF are the agendasettinginstitutions in the mainstream developmentparadigm she said. She stated that the generalequilibrium theory was the essential part of the developmentstrategy. Although the general equilibriumtheory seeks optimal allocation scarce resourcesthrough the natural equilibrium, this wasdone through development via market expansion,which was done by foreign entry into developingcountry markets as key process in development.She talked about Foreign Agriculture Investmentand how it offers crucial new capital in the agriculturalsector, transfers technology and managerialskills, provides access to international markets, provideshard currency, and utilization of uncultivatedland.She then went to talk about agricultural land ac-24

Thirteenth SDC Special Bulletinquisitions in Pakistan. She mentioned the exampleof 2009 Package of Board of Investment, which offered99-year leases, 100% foreign ownerships, fullrepatriation of profits and produce, and series of taxbreaks. She said foreign agricultural land acquisitionsin Pakistan have involved both uncultivatedand cultivated land. According to her, the implicationsof Agricultural land acquisitions in Pakistanwere likely to be displacement of people and communities,loss of access to grazing grounds, overextraction of water, over generous tax breaks, transferof 100% profits, and lack of employment.In the last part of her presentation, Ms Settle saidthat there were gaps between theory and practice.She said that market orientation of developmentparadigm fails to recognize neo-patrimonialism, elitism,and historical disenfranchisement. She saidthat overlaying market principles on an economythat functions through a set of socio-political relationsthat differ markedly from the norm of utility optimisationby each individual creates gross economicdistortions with important social and politicalimplications.Reported by Zuhair MunawarImagine a New South Asia: 25 years of SAARCChair: Senator Haji Mohammad Adil, Senior VicePresident ANP, PakistanDiscussant: Mr. Rashed Titumir, Unnayan Onneshan,Dhaka, BangladeshSpeakers:Dr. Rashid Ahmad Khan, University of Sargodha,PakistanMr. Faisal Haq Shaheen, Ryerson University, Canada.Dr. Avanish Kumar, Public Policy Management Areaat the Management Development Institute, Gurgaon,IndiaMr. Tahir Mahmood Azad, National Defence University,Islamabad, PakistanPanel Organiser: Ms Afshan Ahmed, Research Associateand Research Coordinator, SDPI, IslamabadDr. Rashid Ahmad Khan, while presenting hispaper, “Intra-regional and inter-regional connectivityin South Asia: Imperatives and responses” said thatthe South Asian region is the least interconnectedregion in regional cooperation and linkages as comparedto other regional groups such as the EuropeanUnion (EU) and ASEAN. He was of the viewthat despite having cultural similarities and a commonhistorical background, this region is the leastintegrated. He further added that South Asian FreeTrade Agreement (SAFTA) has been in practice forthe last four years but intra-regional trade hasbarely increased 5% of the total trade of the region.Dr. Khan was of the opinion that despite lowintra and inter regional connectivity, new initiativesare also emerging to promote inter as well as intraregional linkages. He exemplified his statement withbilateral agreements between India, Nepal andBangladesh for “Physical Connectivity and Peopleto-People(Cultural Connectivity)”. Other than this,trends are emerging for the improved status ofSAARC as many more countries are urging to havean observer status in it. SAARC has also urged themember countries to take steps for the promotion ofregional connectivity. He said that there is a “beelineof states who want to have the observer statusin SAARC”. While concluding his presentation hesuggested, “the Government of Pakistan shouldwatch and prepare the Intra and Inter Regional policiesto overcome all these issues.”Mr. Faisal Haq Shaheen talked about theemerging trends of globalisation in the South Asianregion and its impacts, while presenting his paper“Need to re-focus SAARC on an urban South Asia”.He said that urban areas are growing rapidly, inequitablyand unsustainably across the Global Southresulting in the proliferation of slum communitiesand surging informal sectors (IS). He was of theview that the vitality of cities and importance ofthese IS are increasing as social development, balancedplanning, resource sharing, economic growthand human security are interlinked with the IS and itshould be incorporated in SAARC.He said that this acceleration of urbanisation isa global phenomenon, not only a South Asian one.While concluding his presentation, he suggestedthat the combination of grassroots civil society effortsin mobilising urban IS alongside the provisionof well resourced, accountable capacities of lowertiers of municipal government can generate low costsustainable solution to urban service delivery. Hesuggested, “There should be municipally orientedadvocacy and policy bodies.” He lamented thatSouth Asia has limited policy capacity as well as administrativeproblems and active non-state actorshindering the region’s progress.Dr. Avanish Kumar while presenting his paper“South Asia: A model for social integration” definedintegration as “the linking of individuals and groupsthat would otherwise be separated by national borders,despite the high level of economic integration”while imagination is an assumed state of affairs in a25

Thirteenth SDC Special Bulletingiven time and policy framework. He said that understandingthe social integration processes andproducts of the European Union (EU) provide a reallife laboratory for SAARC countries.He said, “The success of integration and imaginationis based on the success of management.”While talking about the integration of the SouthAsian region he said, “Integration perception ofSouth Asia has also changed and decreased due toterrorism.” He also connected global warming withglobalisation and said that it is the “most effectivething for connectivity because it has a shared objectivewhich is assessed in accordance with commoncriteria”. He also mentioned the “politics of exchangeof currencies” and the deterioration of thesub-continent as the key factor for social integrationbetween South Asian countries.Mr. Tahir Mahmood Azad while presenting hispaper “Political and social challenges in South Asia:Focus on Pakistan” claimed that SAARC had completelyfailed in its practices and was losing its credibilitydue to not achieving its objectives. He said thatthe population explosion, the highest level of illiteracy,poverty, unemployment, weak political system,injustice and corruption, deficits in energy, infrastructureand issues arising out of global warmingare the major challenges to South Asia. All thesefactors have given birth to an atrocious challenge of“terrorism”. He warned that if these challenges arenot controlled in the near future, there exists thepossibility of civil war in South Asian states.While concluding his paper he said that despitepolitical disparity and conflicts, we still have hopesfor SAARC’s productive role but there is a need tolook at the causes and consequences of all issues.He further suggested that there should be policieslike eliminating poverty and not only economicgrowth in SAARC Summits.Discussion: Mr. Rashed Titumir while discussingthe topic of the panel said that two things arevery important: 1) Political settlement and the knowhow to move forward while having a political settlement.2) The goal of every political process is to remainin power. He said that political instability is themain reason why SAARC has failed to achieve itsobjectives. He also pointed out that poor politicalstructure is the main cause of low advancement inthe South Asian countries and we can only imaginea new South Asia when we confront political instability.So while keeping these two in mind one has tounderstand the dynamics of politics for the bettermentof economies of SAARC countries, he said.Senator Haji Mohammad Adil while concludingthe session said that all SAARC countries have alwayscomplained about each other but no one isready to give up for the better. He also recommended,“There should be a common currency, ajoint parliament and a superior court for SAARCCountries.”Reported by Asif Mehmood and Afsheen NazPeace through Development?Chair: Dr. Saba Gul Khattak, Planning Commissionof Pakistan, Islamabad, PakistanDiscussant: Mr. Talimand Khan, Sustainable DevelopmentPolicy Institute, Islamabad, PakistanSpeakers:Dr. Lubna Chaudhry, State University of New York,Binghamton, USADr. Anita Ghimire, Swiss National Centre of Competencein Research (North-South), Kathmandu, NepalMr. Shaukat Sharar, Swat, PakistanMr. Fahim Razaq, College of Youth Activism andDevelopment (CYAAD), Quetta, PakistanPanel Organiser: Mr. Talimand Khan, SustainableDevelopment Policy Institute, IslamabadDr. Anita Ghimire said that the displacementphenomenon was common for South Asian countries.She said that most of these countries hadfaced internal displacement due to violence, conflicts(in particular) and natural disasters and thusthere was an increase in IDPs: 0.2% in Nepal, 0.7%in Pakistan, 2% in Sri Lanka, 0.9% in Myanmar,0.3% in Bangladesh, 1.1% in Afghanistan. The year2009 saw an increase of such IDPs in South Asiaby 23% over 2008 – the largest increase in theworld. She felt the issues of IDPs had a crucial linkto sustainable development as lack of sustainabledevelopment lay at the heart of the conflicts. Internaldisplacement and development efforts were oftenlooked at separately and these issues were oftenneglected in post-war development agendasdue to the poor treatment of IDPs from a politicohumanitarianperspective.This perspective had created myths around thenotion of IDPS, which obstructed their possible inclusionin development. She said this proved to bethe ‘Achilles heel’ to policies of sustainable development.She said the first objective of her paper wouldbe to scrutinize such myths. The second objectivewas to show how sustainable development and responsesto internal displacement issues could bejointly achieved.Mr. Shaukat Sharar began his presentation by26

Thirteenth SDC Special Bulletinsaying that militancy (as an outcome of military operations)and the recent floods would have farreaching consequences. Militancy had severely affectedthe socio-economic situation of the peopleand the governance structure of the region leadingto mass migration. Just at the end of the recoveryphase and at the outset of the reconstruction andrehabilitation phase, floods washed away the remaininginfrastructure, houses, orchards, and agriculturalfields. The effects of this disaster were exacerbatedby a poor infrastructure and a flawed databasethat lacked the correct information, outdatedgovernance patterns, lack of appropriate benchmarks,and had put pressure on institutions, their resourcebase and operational capabilities. There wasa need to learn from these man-made and naturalcatastrophes and re-prioritise development goals tohave a viable policy framework to step up the reconstructionprocess. He said a strong link should bemade with climate change and the economic dividemust be looked at as well as the present governancestructure of the country, only then would we beable to transform society and attain long-termpeace.Dr. Lubna Chaudhry’s paper, she explained, wasbased on fieldwork in which she spoke to children,women, and men in the Swat Valley in 2009-2010.She used an approach to development and reconstructiongrounded in the voices, thoughts, andanalyses of the people who had been directly impactedin the conflict zone. She focussed on theconcerns of the survivors rather than the otherstakeholders, including international donors and thenational state apparatus.Her presentation drew from interviews and observationdata that highlighted the disjuncture betweenstate and military initiatives on the one hand,and affective perspectives on the other (during con-flict and afterwards). The analysis also incorporateddifferences in gender, age, kinship, socio-economicstatus, and geographic location.Mr. Fahim Razaq began by saying that thosefrom low and middle-income groups had few opportunitiesto develop their full potential. He added thatpoverty was widespread, education levels low, highyouth unemployment, and traditional culture discouragedindividuals to become independent.Therefore there was limited scope for young people’spositive local engagement in grassroots politicsand community development. He said the situationwas more complex for individuals in KP and Balochistan.He went on to explain that the education systemwas incapable of comprehending such challengesand did not encourage a sense of leadership andself-actualisation that guided and prepared theyounger generation. This left them feeling disillusionedand vulnerable, often pushing them towardsextremist factions. He said that his paper constructeda new context for the possibility of engagingwith isolated tribal youth. It presented lessonsand perspectives on the challenges young peoplewere facing in traditional Pakistani communities. Itsuggested a new vision of learning and communitydevelopment within the larger context of thinkingabout youth activism and development of ongoinglearning and sustainable peace.Discussion: Mr. Talimand Khan as the discussantshared his own experience of the regionand stressed that the focus needed to be shifted todevelopment in order to fight the major hurdles inthe way of peace through development. He saidthat education and health should be the main priorityareas and more opportunities should be createdfor the people of conflict stricken areas like FATAand Balochistan. The chair, Dr. Saba Khattak,agreed with the speakers and appreciated theknowledge they shared and termed it very usefulthat would open new doors of insight on how peacecan be used as a tool for development.Reported by Munazza AnwarPoverty Reduction: Social Exclusion and SafetyNets in South AsiaGuest of Honour: Mr. Sakib Shirani, Advisor to theMinistry of Finance, Government of PakistanChair: Mr. Sajjad Imran, Country Director, InternationalRelief & Development, PakistanDiscussant: Dr. Bishnu R. Upreti, NCCR (North-27

Thirteenth SDC Special BulletinSouth) South Asia, Kathmandu, NepalSpeakers:Dr. Prakash C. Tiwari, Kumaun University, Nainital,IndiaDr. Babar Shabaz, University of Faisalabad, PakistanMs Priyanthi Fernando, Centre for Poverty Analysis,Sri LankaMr. Faisal Haq Shaheen, Ryerson University, CanadaPanel Organiser: Dr. Babar Shahbaz, Visiting ResearchFellow, SDPI; and, Assistant Professor, Universityof Agriculture, FaisalabadIn a panel titled Poverty Reduction: Social Exclusionand Safety Nets in South Asia, speakersfrom different academic institutions and civil societypresented their papers. At this occasion, The EconomicOutlook Bulletin was also formally launchedas one of the recent SDPI periodicals.Dr. Prakash C. Tiwari, Professor at the KumaunUniversity, Nainital, India, in his presentation sharedissues of food security and livelihood in the HimalayanMountains, which is home to 12% of the world'spopulation mostly residing on the mountain peaks.“Nearly 15% of the population in that region falls inthe category of socially backward communities,” emphasizedthe speaker, adding further that a largenumber is landless and mainly involved in agriculturelabour or collection of forest produce. Thesecommunities are “highly vulnerable to livelihood andfood insecurity” and deprived of the benefits of development,he said. He recommended ways of empoweringthe marginalised communities and providingthem economic and social equity through institutionalisingresources at the grassroots level.Dr. Babar Shahbaz from the University of Faisalabad,presented his paper based on his researchin the Northwest Pakistan, and discussed the caseof social exclusion in relation to access to livelihoodassets. Looking at livelihoods of the poor throughthe institutional framework, he argued that access ofthe communities to vital livelihood assets is mediatedthrough a set of institutions that produce socialexclusion and/or inclusion. This mediated (andhence lack of) access to the livelihood assets increasesthe vulnerability of those who are excluded.While natural resources are scarce, dependence oflocal communities on natural resources for their livelihoodsis increasing. This magnifies the effect of exclusionin access to resources on the lives and livelihoodsof the poor. He also emphasized that thegovernment of Pakistan should clearly devise itssafety nets like the BISP programme to exclude itfrom being politicized and also to focus on the righttarget groups with the right needs and an exit strategyto phase out.Ms Priyanthi Fernando from the Centre for PovertyAnalysis, Sri Lanka, shared her paper on theissues of older people in terms of social deprivationand disparities in Sri Lanka with a proposed actionframework to address the population group and itschallenges as government priority for social security.Due to the demographic transition in Sri Lanka,the population of those above 60 years would increaseto as much as 29% by 2050. In this backdrop,aging related poverty and vulnerability is expectedto rise especially if the state fails to providesadequate care for the aging population. She alsosuggested several policies to address these challenges.Mr. Faisal Haq Shaheen, a PhD candidate atthe Ryerson Univeristy, Canada, deliberated uponthe solutions to the challenges of urban poverty andthe absence of social safety nets in developingcountries that are often tied to political reforms andeconomic ‘aid’ packages while ignoring the potentialrole of administrative bodies at the local levels. Hestressed upon building the capacity of municipalitiesto engage with the urban poor by allocation of adequateresources and support as well as cooperationbetween federal and provincial agencies. He suggestedthat the combination of grassroots civil societyefforts in mobilising the urban informal sectoralong with the provision of well-resourced accountablecapacities of lower tiers of municipal governmentcan generate low cost sustainable solutions tourban service delivery. The researcher also emphasizedupon the benefits of civil society’s engagementwith the lower tier of government in ensuringthat top-level bureaucrats are held accountable forill-conceived policies and their failure. He concludedby suggesting that the success of policy at the provincialor national level depends upon the recognitionand development of interactions between theinformal sector and the lower tiers of the state.Discussion: Giving comments as a discussant,Dr. Bishnu Upreti from NCCR (North-South) SouthAsia, Nepal, urged the need for change in the conceptualframework to examine the dynamic issuesof social exclusion extending the focus away from aDollar-a-Day based approach to poverty. Concludingthe session, the Chair, Mr. Sajjad Imran, CountryDirector of the International Relief & DevelopmentPakistan, highlighted that due to natural resources'degradation, a large proportion of SouthAsian population is facing the problem of social ex-28

Thirteenth SDC Special Bulletinclusion and losing livelihoods. It requires an effectivepolicy response and well coordinated programmesto curb the trend, he said. The sessionwas followed by questions raised by the audience,which were addressed by the panelists.Reported by Arif NaveedEnding Violence Against Women (VAW):The Unconventional Role of MenChair: Ms Nasreen Azhar, Member National Commissionon the Status of Women, Islamabad, PakistanSpeakers:Ms Mome Salim, Sustainable Development PolicyInstitute, Islamabad, PakistanMs Sameena Nazir, Potohar Organisation for DevelopmentAdvocacy, Islamabad, PakistanMr. Safi Ullah Khan, Rozan, PakistanMr. Mukhtar Javed, Sungi, PakistanMr. Veer Ji Koli, Tharparkar, PakistanPanel Organiser: Ms Mome Salim, Sustainable DevelopmentPolicy Institute, Islamabad, PakistanThe session started with Ms Mome Saleem reflectingon her research conducted on CommunityOwnership to end Violence Against Women (VAW).Describing the process of the research, she saidthat case studies were collected from all over Pakistanto produce knowledge in the field of communityownership and domestic violence against women,as there was no data available in Pakistan on thistopic. Shedding light on the methodology and processof research, she said that the purpose of the researchwas to give policy briefs. The research conductedwas also aimed at producing policy briefsbased on firsthand knowledge rather than mythsand stereotypes that were a product of patriarchy.As a public health prevention model was the conceptof community mobilisation strategy, primary,secondary and tertiary levels were taken.Then she talked about engaging men to endviolence against women as a major step towards involvingthe community. She talked about the batteredwomen’s movement in the 1970s that eventuallyled to the women’s liberation movement to addressdomestic violence. A self-help concept wasgenerated in this regard. Taking examples from thesuccess of those movements, she said that communityownership and the role of males was very importantin the movement of violence against women.Talking about religion, she said that no religionpropagates gender disparity. She shared the definitionof violence and then added that in Pakistanthere was no guided concept of community mobilizationto curb such violence. One important pointshe also made was that men in Pakistan often didnot understand violence or abuse, they only perceivedabuse as meaning physical abuse. They didnot count psychological and emotional violence aspart of abuse. She appreciated the role of the mediain facilitating the process of research and on raisingawareness in order to curb VAW.Another speaker was Mr. Veer Ji Koli fromTharparkar who presented his case study of a Koligirl who was raped by a local vadera (landlord).Subsequently, a rumour was spread by the landlordand his followers that the girl had wanted to becomea Muslim and marry him. Despite the landlord’s influentialbackground and power in the community,the Koli community that comprised of Hindus,launched an FIR against him after facing severalhurdles. Mr. Veer Ji Koli said that the media andcivil society from Hyderabad to Islamabad were ofimmense help in this regard. Those that supportedthe girl and the girl herself faced many kidnappingand murder attempts during this course but eventuallythe Supreme Court took action. He pointed outa flaw in the law that made their case weak and thatwas the fact that the victim had to produce evidenceof rape. He emphasized the fact that that was impossiblein any case as there were rarely any witnessesin a rape case as in most instances the witnesswould tend to intervene and stop the rape fromtaking place. Also the rapist would not rape anyonein front of any other person. In the end, he appreciatedthe media and civil society organisations in thehelp that they provided them to fight such an injustice.He said that it had given people the encouragementto face up to local landlords whereas previouslythey would have been too frightened to doso.29

Thirteenth SDC Special BulletinIn RetrospectMs Samina Nazeer of PODA discussed the unconventionalrole of men in ending VAW. She saidthat women were victims of social violence and thatthey were often perceived as weaker than men. Shesaid that men were often guilty of unethical behavioursin public that people were accustomed to acceptingwhile women were always and unnecessarilyscrutinized for many of their actions. She alsotalked about the role of men in households wherethey were seen and treated as the “head” of thehousehold often treating their wives and children asinferior. This was dangerous as the home waswhere children learnt their value systems and inevitablythey would grow up and mimic their parents’behaviour. She said that these are the reasons whymen’s attitudes and society were not changing towardsgender discrimination. She said that menshould be taught to empathize with their wives andthe best way to do that is to use their daughters asexamples and ask them how they would feel if theirdaughters were treated unfairly by other men. Shesaid through her research studies she noted thatthat was the rationale that worked best with mostmen.Mr. Mukhtar Ahmed from Sungi DevelopmentFoundation shared his experiences of honour killingsin Batagram. He said that domestic violencehad become a norm in many homes and that sadlywomen had accepted that norm. There was noVanni (if a murder is committed by some member ofa family, they would offer a girl in marriage to thefamily against whom the crime had been committedas compensation as an out of court settlement--soinstead of blood money they would offer theirdaughter or sister) but in the last six months somecases had been reported in Kohistan and Abottabad.There were also reported cases of mutilationand many reported cases of harassment in Hattaarby the women labourers. Property rights were alsocommonly compromised in Hazara. He said that religiousextremists were also involved in the psychologicalstigmatisation of women. He explained thatSungi had been working in Hazara and related areasfor the last 20 years in various union councilsand Azad Kashmir and had prepared and trainedhuman rights activists in these regions and also recommendedcases to GJP in Abottabad. He cited differentexamples and said that they were only thereto educate people and encourage them to get involvedin formal support mechanisms and institutionsto guide them so that their cases could be recommendedto legal aid organisations.Mr. Safi Ullah Khan from Rozan provided a defi-nition of gender and then added that gender wasalways relational and culturally defined. He said thatin their research, they tried to understand masculinityand the issues involved in stereotypical masculinity.He said that men usually had the same attitudetowards the perception of masculinity with minordifferences in different regions of Pakistan. Hewent on to describe the role of Rozan in engagingmen and boys in a police training programme ongender, and a youth helpline programme that wasanother counselling programme. In understandingmasculinity research, he said that prevailing masculinitynorms to behave in a stereotypical mannertend to be followed. The objectives of their researchwere to gain a deeper contextual understanding ofmasculinities on gender based violence. The projectresearch design was of a qualitative nature, exploratoryin nature and subjective. Their findingswere that it was a general accepted perception thata man provided for the family without depending onwomen and therefore he assumed the role of thehead of the house. Also it was commonly believedthat biologically a man would necessarily produce amale sperm and if a daughter was born then it wasthe woman’s “fault”. The general perception wasthat the woman was therefore biologically responsibleif the gender was female and the male is responsibleif the gender was male. Having a daughterwas commonly frowned upon, as a male childwas generally preferred. Another observation wasthat it was seen to be “masculine” for a man to be ofa violent nature and therefore it was often acceptedas “natural” for a man to inflict different types of violenceon a woman. He made recommendations oftwo types, firstly if men and boys need to be engaged,it was important to understand where theirexpectations and views came from especially in thecontext of women and children, secondly that mythsaround sexuality from adolescence to adulthoodwould have to be “re-understood” in light of stereotypedviews. He suggested that men be trained inanger management skills, conflict resolution andthat their communication skills be enhanced. Hestressed on reform beginning at home saying thatwhen boys see their fathers beating their wives,they will tend to adopt the same practices whenthey grow up.Broader level policy recommendations werethat there should not be a shallow understanding ofsuch issues and authorities must not rely upon justraising awareness, there was a need to build adeeper understanding, and the media and educationalso needed to play a role. He said educational30

Thirteenth SDC Special Bulletininstitutions needed to be taken on board, as doesthe media.The chair emphasized the need not just toraise awareness on these issues but also to developprogrammes and solid strategies to eliminateVAW.Reported by Sadia SharifRevisiting the Indus Water Treaty for Peaceand Sustainable DevelopmentChair: Mr. Shafqat Kakakhel, Sustainable DevelopmentPolicy Institute, Islamabad, PakistanDiscussant: Mr. Shams ul Mulk, Former CaretakerMinister, KPK, PakistanSpeakers:Dr. Shaheen Akhtar, Institute of Regional Studies,Islamabad, PakistanMr. Shakeel Ahmed Ramay, Sustainable DevelopmentPolicy Institute, Islamabad, PakistanMr. Arshad H. Abbasi, Sustainable DevelopmentPolicy Institute, Islamabad, PakistanPanel Organiser: Mr. Shakeel Ramay, SDPI, Islamabad,PakistanDr. Shaheen Akhtar proposed that as climatechange threatened to have deep impacts on theIndus water system, it would serve as a catalyst incompelling both India and Pakistan to co-operatewith each other to benefit from the shared resource.It was noted that the flow of the Indusriver systems had been declining in recent yearslargely due to global warming, deforestation andshrinking of glaciers in the Himalayas. The IndusRiver feeds the ecosystems of temperate forests,plains and arid countryside of both countries thusthe changes in the water flow will have grave impactson both sides. With each country strugglingto adapt to these inevitable changes, there was agrowing need to revisit the rationale of the managementof shared water resources of the Indus.The Indus Water Treaty, a result of intense negotiationsbetween the two countries, was not basedon principles of water sharing; it clearly dividedthe Indus Rivers. The Treaty was considered alandmark achievement in bilateral agreements.However, at the time it was drafted, the effects ofclimate change were not known thus it made noprovision for the impacts of climate change. Nowas the impacts of climate change unfold, the competitionfor the declining resource was expected tointensify. Many have predicted the evolution of aconflict based on the growing water scarcity, com-petitive use and the wider conflicts that characterizethe bilateral relations of the two countries.Contrary to this, the speaker stressed that the“water rationale” that emerged as the water stressgrew compelled both sides to cooperate for a sustainablemanagement of the Indus system as opposedto sinking into conflict. Only through cooperationwould both sides be able to ensure acontinued long-term access to the Indus river system.A scheme of mutual support and collaborationwould push both sides to move away from atechnical paradigm that has characterized theTreaty for decades to a socio-centric paradigmthat stressed on a combination of demand andsupply side management of water resources inthe Indus basin. On the supply side hydrology itstressed on the strategies that involved watersheddevelopment, protection of glaciers and rainharvesting while on the demand side it would suggeststrategies that would emphasize on efficientwater use and resource-conservation. Article VIIof the Treaty was highlighted to stress on theneed for ‘future co-operation’, which was mandatedwithin the agreement. The challenge of climatechange had created an urgency for a jointresponse as it had increasingly become clear thatboth sides needed to co-operate with each otherin the conservation and protection of this shared‘blue gold’ before it was too late.Mr. Shakeel Ahmad noted that at the time ofdrafting the Treaty, climate change discourse hadnot gained momentum thus the treaty did not incorporatethe issue. However, in the verdict onBaglihar Dam where the World Bank acted as amediator, it was recognized that challenges of climatechange and laws of the environment mustbe taken into account in the joint water managementof the Indus River System. The speaker31

Thirteenth SDC Special BulletinIn Retrospectstipulated that Pakistan’s case against the constructionof the Baglihar Dam by India would havebeen strengthened had there been a greater focuson the transboundary environmental impacts ofthe Dam. Now the application of the Treaty couldno longer be considered in isolation of the environmentand climate in which it must operate.However, this does not entail that the Treaty itselfshould be redrawn but that its application shouldbe extended to face emerging challenges. TheTreaty serves as the only confidence buildingmeasure between the two countries, which hadpersisted despite deteriorating relations and conflicts.This was a consequence of the mutual recognitionby both parties of the significance of theTreaty thus it would be irrational to pursue a revision,however, extension of its application was anecessity in the face of climate change.Mr. Arshad Abbasi while applauding theachievements of the Indus Water Treaty, stressedon the need for transparency to ensure that thespirit of the Treaty was evident in its operation.With the rules of the game laid out in 1960, it wasthe onus of both the countries to ensure that thesewere adhered to. To this end, the speaker notedthat Environmental Impact Assessment wouldserve as an essential tool to minimize controversiesand the trust deficit between the two countrieswith regards to the operation of the Treaty.Though the Treaty made provision for sharingdata, complete and reliable exchange of data especiallythose related to hydropower projects hadnot been shared. Satellite telemetering and transboundaryassessment would be additional meansof ensuring a transparent application. As waterstress increases due to climate change, transparencyin the application of the Treaty would play acrucial role in ensuring a continued operation ofthe Treaty itself. The speaker also raised the issuesof joint efforts to preserve glaciers, thesource of the Indus River, and halting of the degradationof watershed in Kashmir. He said thatsuch confidence building measures were essentialin not only upholding the Treaty itself but alsoshowing each country’s commitment to respondingto climate change. Noting the challenges beingposed to the Indus River system, the speakerstressed that while possibilities of improving theTreaty could be explored, renegotiation of theTreaty itself was neither possible nor desired.Discussion: Mr. Shams ul Mulk as the discussanthighlighted that the challenge posed byclimate change was one that was not fully com-prehended. While we were aware that the Himalayansnow sheet was changing which was consequentlyaffecting the Indus River system, we remainedignorant of the intricacies and dynamicsof the change itself. Thus the countries in theshadows of the Himalayas find themselves in anew battlefield, up against a threat of which theyhave limited knowledge. The only chance of defencewould be through co-operation betweencountries, which have most to lose. He identifiedcollaboration and mutual support in the pursuit ofknowledge as an urgent need to secure the futureof generations whose fate was inextricably boundto the Himalayas.The legitimacy of India’s construction of damsin the light of changing water flows was the subjectof much debate. Many pointed out that lowerPunjab and Sindh were losing great quantities ofwater due to reservoirs constructed by India in theNorth. Some even suggested that provisions ofthe Treaty were being violated by India. However,the panel pointed out that the Treaty had dividedthe rivers, allowing India access to the EasternRivers, which had caused reduced flows of theserivers into Pakistan. While it was agreed that thesystem of water management should be mademore transparent between the two neighbours,speakers highlighted that India had made no directtransgression of the Treaty itself. It wasagreed that the Treaty itself was not the culpritbut the trust deficit between the two countries waswhat needed to be bridged. This extended toPakistan’s domestic water management systemas well where a lack of transparency and grossmismanagement existed. It was recognized thatclimate change had certainly altered the dynamicsof operation of the Treaty demanding greater responsibilityfrom both sides of the border.Mr. Shafqat Kakakhel as the chair concludedthe discourse by tracing the evolution of the IndusWater Treaty, highlighting the challenges in negotiatingthe settlement. He noted the effects of climatechange on the Indus Water system butstressed that while there was a need to revisit theIndus Water Treaty, renegotiating the Treaty itselfwas not a wise option. Expanding the interpretationof the Treaty was necessary in the light of climatechange but it should be complemented by asimultaneous drive to enhance the spirit of theagreement instead of questioning the letter of theTreaty itself.Reported by Fatima Rasheed32

Thirteenth SDC Special BulletinRegional Trade: The Way ForwardChair: Dr. Safdar Sohail, Ministry of Trade, Islamabad,PakistanDiscussant: Dr. S. Akbar Zaidi, Karachi, PakistanPanel organiser: Mr. Gulbaz Ali Khan, ResearchAssociate, SDPI, IslamabadSpeakers:Mr. Faisal Shaheen, Municipality of Toronto, Toronto,CanadaDr. Khondaker Golam Moazzem, Centre for PolicyDialogue, Dhaka, BangladeshMr. Shafiq Shehzad, Director, Pakistan Institute ofTrade and Development, PakistanDr. Safdar Sohail, from the Ministry of Trade,Islamabad, and chair of the session, started thesession by sharing his views on the topic under discussion.He said that being from an institutionwhose entire purpose was to enhance and augmentregional trade, which was imperative for theeconomic development of the South Asian region,it was his job to formulate the relevant and comprehensivepolicies which would increase Pakistan’strade with regional countries.He disclosed that presently the share of regionaltrade, in Pakistan’s overall trade volume,was a mere 17%, and they were putting their bestefforts to take it to at least 25% during the next fewyears. Pakistan’s view of regional trade focused notonly on South Asian countries, but also includedChina and Afghanistan, he asserted.At the end of his remarks he said that only if theSouth Asian countries could reconsider their sensitivelists, there were chances for regional trade towitness an exponential increase.Dr. Khondekar Golam Moazzem, from theCentre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), Dhaka, Bangladesh,was the first among the speakers to sharehis views. Dr. Moazzem’s presentation focussedupon the topic of “An approach to prune SAFTAsensitive list of Bangladesh: Preliminary findingsfrom a cross-country study.”He said, “A long sensitive list maintained bymember countries of South Asian Free Trade Association(SAFTA) )it has been argued) is a majorstumbling block towards enhancing intra-regionaltrade of South Asian countries. While intra-regionaltrade was less than 5% of members’ total trade,the share of trade under SAFTA accord was lessthan 1% of total intra-regional trade.”He lamented the fact that despite mutual understandingamong countries over the revision ofthe sensitive list every four years, the issue did notwitness much progress. He also disclosed the factthat when export competencies of South Asiancountries in the context of price competitivenesswere analysed, it was revealed that India had agreater edge over the rest of the countries of theregion.Mr. Faisal Haq Shaheen from the Municipalityof Toronto, Toronto, Canada, was the secondspeaker of the session. He gave some insight intothe topic of “Sector Based Examination of TradeActivity”.Mr. Shaheen said, “Bilateral trade within SouthAsia has been precarious and slow. Regional tradehas been hampered through SAFTA and SAPTAstalling.”Talking about Pakistan’s case in context of thetopic, he said, “Pakistan maintains a positive andbanned list of items. The positive list has expandedsubstantially during Musharaf’s era. With SAFTAnow a reality, many nations are developing severalsensitive lists to balance regional and bilateral relations.”He presented a comparison with other nationsand their extra regional trade to assess the proportionsand trajectories of openness that haveemerged in the last decade.While providing the evidences, he suggested thatpolicy conditions are misaligned with market realitiesand trade in other items beyond the region isincreasing rather than within SAARC. Findings ofthe paper pointed to the value of a more sectorbasedapproach, which it was suggested should befollowed.Mr. Shafiq Shehzad, Director Pakistan Instituteof Trade and Development, was the finalspeaker of the session. While sharing his viewpointover the suggested topic, he deliberated upon analtogether different question. According to him, it33

Thirteenth SDC Special Bulletinwas not merely the sensitive list, which was hamperingthe promotion of regional trade in SouthAsia; rather, it was the deteriorated relations betweenPakistan and India, which was contributingtowards low trade under SAFTA. He revealed thattrade among the regional countries was still takingplace under the bilateral trade arrangements. Heconcluded his remarks by reiterating the point thatTrade under SAFTA could still be successful providedthat the relationship between India and Pakistancould improve.The Discussant of the session, Dr. S. AkbarZaidi, while sharing his thoughts over the mattersaid that the approach of South Asian (SA) countriesnot to engage in much research on regionaltrade was a mistake. He lamented that the SA tradewas all about politics, however, if the glitches towardsdeveloping mutual understandings were overcome,it could be highly beneficial for all of themember countries in improving the lives of the commonpeople.Discussing the trade potential between Indiaand Pakistan, Dr. Zaidi revealed that despite stringentconditions and a wide trust deficit between boththe countries, India was Pakistan’s 11 th largest tradepartner. He hoped that if relations on both sidescould improve, it could bring major economic benefitsfor both countries.While concluding his remarks, he expressed theview that before advocating for regional trade, othercountries of the region should also ponder uponwhether India needed South Asia for trade or not asthe country’s trade with regional countries was ameagre part of its overall huge trade volume withthe outer world.Reported by Fayyaz YaseenPromoting Decent Work for Vulnerable Groupsin the Post Flood SituationChair: Mr. Saif Ullah Chaudhry, International LabourOrganisation, Islamabad, PakistanSpeakers:Dr. Saba Gul Khattak, Planning Commission ofPakistan, Islamabad, PakistanMr. Haroon Qureshi, ILO Programme Officer, presentedin the absence of Ms Shyama Salgado, ILO,Colombo, Sri LankaPanel Organisers: ILO and SDPIDr. Saba Gul Khattak while addressing thepanel discussed the problems faced by children inthe post disaster scenario stated, “Child labour is aproduct of poverty.” She was of the view that chil-dren are most vulnerable in such disasters, as theyhave to forgo their education and health. While talkingabout the challenges to employment of childrenshe said that, “there is no uniform minimum age forchild labour in Pakistan”, if there is any then no oneabides by the rule, which she termed as an implementationproblem.Dr. Khattak said that child labour data in Pakistanwas also outdated as 1992 Federal Bureau ofStatistics data was being used even in 2010. Estimationsare being made on the basis of outdateddata. While comparing the incidence of child labourto the 2005 earthquake of Pakistan, she said thatthere had been an increase in child labour by 35%.The preface of the earthquake can be seen as parallelto the recent catastrophic floods, she said. Sheadded that inflation had increased steeply after theflood. Exemplifying her statements, she said thatwheat and rice prices had increased to almost100% compared to the pre-floods situation. Sheadded that the health sector of Pakistan had alsobeen affected by it as caloric food intake had dwindledand dropped to 1,600 calories per day, whichshould be 2,200. All these facts reflected the negativetrend of the economy resulting in an increase ofpoverty and vulnerability.Dr. Khattak was of the opinion that in the currentyear, Public Sector Development Programme(PSDP) budget was very low and the social sectorwas also neglected including health, education andchild labour. While sharing the allocated amount,she said that out of a total PSDP budget, the Ministryof Labour demanded only PKR 249 million butactually it got only PKR 135 million, which was furtherreduced to PKR 65 million only due to postflood cuts. She said having such a low budget; cutswere made on an equal basis, in the post floodsituation. While criticizing the National Finance34

Thirteenth SDC Special BulletinCommission Awards she added, “At the provinciallevel, labour is not treated well as compared to thefederal level.” While talking about the role of the mediashe said that the media is such a powerful tool inPakistan that it could determine any thing. Throughits visionary effects, it could pose a positive changeon any issue and it should play its role as it has thepower to influence. She added that the media couldalso engage in social transformation by involving theyouth of Pakistan.Concluding her presentation, Dr. Saba Khattakmade recommendations on how to cope with such asituation. She said that child labour issue should bemonitored and addressed and “there should bedrop-in rehabilitation centres for children”. She furtherstressed that child labour issue was not treatedwell nor taken seriously. She also questioned therole of the state to cope with such disasters. Shewas of the opinion that cuts were applied blindly.“We cannot cut amounts from other sectors whichare necessary so we sacrifice the social sector,” shelamented. She said that the Council of Common Interestscould play an important role and it mustcome up with international standards to cope withsuch problems/issues.Mr. Haroon Qureshi delivered the presentationin absentia for Ms Shyama Salgado from ILO, SriLanka. He began with the point that Pakistan did nothave any strategies, policies and pre-planningmechanisms to cope with hazards like earthquakesand floods. He said that policy makers must plan inadvance to deal with such emergencies. He quotedSri Lanka’s post tsunami model as the best exampleof how to develop a model or framework for developingsuch mechanisms.He began by stating the fact that the Tsunamidisaster that hit the region in December 2004 had aprofound economic and socio-cultural impact coupledwith a variety of adverse consequences for all.This disaster led to the emergence of new vulnerablegroups consisting of women, elderly, disabled,migrants and itinerant workers and children. Forthose young people whose family structure collapseddue to the crisis, the loss of family supportleft them vulnerable. Some children compensatedfor this by engaging in high-risk labour. ILO’s responsewas to launch a programme that becameoperational in two districts affected by the Tsunami– one in the East and one in the South. One ofthe key interventions that were sustained after thephasing out of the ILO project was that of child labourmonitoring units that was set up at grassrootslevel and at the ‘divisional’ level of government ad-ministration. Other significant outcomes of the programmewere that mechanisms were established atthe field levels to operate prevention and rehabilitationservices, a tracing and tracking system of childrenand their families was set up, services wereprovided for prevention, rehabilitation and reintegrationof disaster affected girls and boys and familieswere provided with psycho-social care and support,awareness raising and information services particularlyin relation to child labour, sexual and genderbasedviolence, HIV/AIDS, environment hazardsand emerging issues that could impact on theirlives.Carrying on from Mr. Haroon Qureshi’s firstpoint relating to the flood in Pakistan, Mr. SaifullahChaudhry while chairing the session said that dueto recent unprecedented disasters like floods andearthquakes, employment issues had arisen andthe unemployment rate in Pakistan had increased.He said that 20 million people had been affectedand 5.3 million were unemployed as a result of thecurrent catastrophic floods. Due to lack of institutionalreforms when a disaster happens, mismanagementoccurs and he advised that this should belooked into carefully. He suggested, “Various factorslike government, NGOs; informal sector, etc.,should come together and form a group to help outin calamities.”He was of the opinion that the Sri Lankanmodel was a good and holistic one because it involvedthe different sectors and all stakeholders. Herecommended the involvement of youth in addressingissues like child labour due to the experience ofgood results in the past. He also highlighted the roleof the media in such an important issue of child labourand said that the media could also play an importantrole in making a social transformation.Discussion: While responding to the questionregarding how home based workers (HBW) werebeing treated, Dr. Saba Khattak replied that thePlanning Commission of Pakistan talks about macrolevel issues and they do not have time to talk aboutsmall issues like HBW. While responding to anotherquestion regarding resource redistribution or equaldistribution by the Government, Dr. Khattak repliedthat although the state does not have enough resources,we should be able to manage this availablesmall amount in a better way. She said weshould also talk about social protection and by combiningall the parameters like social assistance andsocial responsibility we should build a new policy.Reported by Asif Mehmood and Afsheen Naz35

Thirteenth SDC Special BulletinIn RetrospectEnergy Governance in South AsiaChair: Mr. Nazim Haji, Islamabad, PakistanDiscussant: Mr. Mohammad Yasin, Senior AdvisorSDPI, Islamabad, PakistanSpeakers:Ms Javeriya Hasan, Sustainable Development PolicyInstitute, Islamabad, PakistanMr. Arshad Abbasi, Sustainable Development PolicyInstitute, Islamabad, PakistanPanel organiser: Mr. Arshad H. Abbasi, Consultant,SDPI, Islamabad, PakistanWe must change our general attitude of doubtand suspicion towards the government. The energyconservation measures announced by the governmentare in our own best interest and we must followthem. The energy crises is a serious national issuethat has not only badly affected productivity inthe industrial sector but has also made life miserablefor the common man due to the long duration ofload shedding. These were some of the views expressedby the two speakers.Mr. Arshad Abbasi and Ms Javeriya Hasan fromthe SDPI said that the electricity governance unithas been assigned the task to carry out an in-depthresearch for a report on renewable energy in Pakistan.They said that renewable energy was the mostneglected area in the country’s energy sector. Althoughvarious organisations in the past had attemptedto explore this, they could not gauge thegenuine obstacles to achieving substantial progress.In the present times, renewable energy was greatlyopted for to spearhead economic growth and reducethe impact of climate change, which was not only aglobal concern but also that of governments of developedand developing countries. In Pakistan, decisionmakers were yet to make this sector their toppriority. Renewable energy could be particularly suitablefor Pakistan to address electricity needs in ruraland remote areas of Balochistan, Sindh and otherremotes areas of Pakistan, where transmission anddistribution of energy generated from fossil fuelscould be difficult and expensive. Producing renewableenergy locally could offer a viable alternative.These were also the views expressed by the twospeakers.“Pakistan is facing a severe and an unprecedentedenergy crisis, whereby the daily shortfall isalmost 30% giving rise to the debate on the introductionof renewable energy. This is attributedmainly to the fact that 61% of electricity generationdepends upon gas and oil. The dilemma of Paki-stan’s power sector has been that it has failed tomake additions to the country’s hydropower generationcapacity,” expressed Ms Hasan, adding, “It isnoteworthy that hydroelectricity is also the cheapestsource of electricity. Thus, heavy dependence onfossil fuels especially on oil, has not only resulted inan increase of the electricity tariff by 70% but hasalso raised the circular debt, which was Rs. 216 billionas of June 30, 2009.”Talking about the governance issue of the electricitysector, Mr. Abbasi said, “In terms of governance,an absence of transparency and incompetenceof managers are problems endemic to thesystem that regulates the provision of electricity inthe country. The supply-demand gap has been widenedby 35% due to seasonal availability in hydropowerand in 2009-10, the overall electricity consumptiondeclined by 1.7%. The industrial sectorhas been particularly hard hit by electricity shortagesand there has been a substantial reduction inindustrial productivity, which has had daunting impactson the country’s exports and eventually leadsto the deterioration of balance of payments.”Discussion: Mr. Muhammad Yasin, the discussantof the session, opined that Pakistan was inthe grip of a serious energy crisis that was affectingall sectors of the economy and the various segmentsof society. As the situation stands today,there were few immediate solutions to resolve theissue. A change of attitude and a change in lifestylewere needed at the national level, which should betriggered by the ruling elite and followed by all segmentsof the society that have access to electricity.At best there could be some short and long-term solutionsto the crisis but they needed immediate planningand execution with enormous investment. Thepresent energy consumption trends in Pakistanwere extremely inefficient, whether it be in the do-36

Thirteenth SDC Special Bulletinmestic, industrial, trade or in the commercial sectors,lamented the discussant. With a minimal effort,well over 10% of national electricity could besaved by applying only the first level of energy conservation,i.e. a change in attitude. It was simple,instant and effective and all it required was to stopusing energy unnecessarily, he asserted. A furthereconomy of 10-15% could be achieved by introducingthe second level of energy-conservation practices,especially in industry. This could be done collectivelyjust through public education. With thehelp of effective electronic and print media campaignsthe government could quickly educate themasses. He went on to say Pakistan was rich in hydroresources of energy. According to an estimate,the country had enough resources to generate approximately40,000 MW of hydro-electricity. However,presently it only generated 8,000 mw of electricityagainst an installed capacity of 11,327 MW.In addition, the country could generate electricitywith the help of wind and solar energy, which hadnot yet been exploited to meet the energy deficit.Nuclear energy was yet another source of energyand at present PAEC produced 472 MW. It was farless than what PAEC should have been producingto meet the energy deficit, said Mr. Yasin. He furtheradded, thermal power was mostly produced byburning either natural gas or imported oil. Thecountry had yet to switch over to coal from the indigenoussource of energy that was estimated tobe the third largest in the world with a reserve of33.0 trillion tonnes.The reason behind the energy crisis was poormanagement, misinformed priorities and lack of accountabilityon the part of those who stay at thehelm of affairs. We must try our best to adopt energyconservation at the individual and at the nationallevel, asserted the discussant. The best solutionto alleviate the gas shortage was to build apipeline to import over a billion cubic feet of gas aday from Iran, but such a project would take manyyears to implement.In the end, chairperson, Mr. Nazim Haji, saidthat Pakistan was presently facing a serious energycrisis. Despite strong economic growth during thepast decade and consequent rising demand for energy,no worthwhile steps had been taken to installnew capacity for generation from the required energysources. Now the demand exceeded supplyand hence “load-shedding” was a common phenomenonthrough frequent power shutdowns. Pakistanneeded about 14,000-15,000 MW electricityper day, and the demand was likely to rise to ap-proximately 20,000 MW per day by 2010. Presently,it could produce about 11, 500 MW per dayand thus there was a shortfall of about 3,000-4,000MW per day. This shortage was badly affecting industry,commerce and the daily life of people. Allpossible measures needed to be adopted to conserveenergy at all levels, and use all availablesources to enhance the production of energy. Itseems that the government was considering importingenergy from Iran and Central Asian Republicsand using indigenous sources, such as, hydro,coal, waste, wind, and solar power, as well asother alternate and renewable energy sources, besidesnuclear power plants for the production ofenergy. Needless to say that if the country wishedto continue its economic development and improvethe quality of life of its people, it had to make seriousefforts towards framing a coherent energy policy,asserted Mr. Nazim Haji.Reported by Hamid Ismail. Shah Khattak andSadia YousafiRole of Parliamentarians in Peace and SustainableDevelopmentChair: Dr. Farzana Bari, Quaid-i-Azam University,Islamabad, PakistanSpeakers:Ms Nazish Barohi, Researcher, KarachiMs Shirala Mallick, Chair of Standing Committee,PakistanMs Arifa Khalid, Punjab Assembly, Lahore, PakistanMs Marvi Sirmed, Strengthening Democracythrough Parliamentary Development (SDPD), Islamabad,PakistanPanel Organisers: SDPD and SDPIThe Role of Parliamentarians in Peace andSustainable Development was jointly organised bythe SDPI and Strengthening Democracy throughParliamentary Development (SDPD). The main focusof the panel was to discuss the role of womenparliamentarians in promoting peace and sustainabledevelopment, women empowerment, and encouragingwomen’s representation in all walks oflife.Ms Nazish Barohi, who is a researcher, heldthat there was always a question about the credibilityand constituency of women. Women were dividedinto different ethnic and religious groups,which often puts them in a more vulnerable positionand often they were exposed to intolerable be-37

Thirteenth SDC Special Bulletinhaviour in the parliament. She said that politicalinstitutions did not facilitate women even thoughwomen parliamentarians had distinct legislativepower. She further suggested that “pro peace, propeople and pro women policies be developed”. Shealso commented on the fact that women were betterequipped to understand the difficulties ofwomen as compared to male leaders.Dr. Farzana Bari, who is an educationist, furtheradded, “Women are disproportionately affectedthroughout the world, yet as a matter of factwomen have been spearheading many movementsof peace in the world.” She said that as a rule,women preferred a model of fairness and conciliationover victory. She stressed that women shouldbe provided with the same platform as men so thatwomen could be a major part of the developmentprocess. She further elaborated that it was essentialfor women to create societal and political linkagesand that it was the official duty of every femaleparliamentarian to take initiatives for the promotionof peace and sustainable development ofwomen.Ms Shirala Mallick, Chair of the Standing Committee,Pakistan, emphasized that the women ofPakistan had more duties such as look after theirhomes and many have jobs as well. She agreedwith the points Dr. Bari made and also added thatthe distribution of fair justice was the basic responsibilityof the Government especially for women.Gender equality was a pre-requisite in all communities,she stressed.Ms Arifa Khalid from the Punjab Assembly, Lahore,Pakistan, added to the discussion by sayingthat it did not matter which party one belongs to, itwas a universal issue and that everyone should beunited in bringing about revolutionary changes withregard to women’s participation at all levels of gov-ernance. Furthermore, the education level ofwomen should be raised so that they were able toparticipate actively in politics.Ms Marvi Sirmed, National Project Manager ofSDPD, summarized the discussion and pointed outthat women parliamentarians were serving acrossparty lines. She concluded that political representationof women at all levels should be prioritizedand a true change of mindset in a male dominantsociety was the need of the hour.Reported by Zeeshan Khan and Anusha SheraziReducing Emissions from Deforestation andDegradation (REDD): Impacts on South AsiaChair: Professor Dr. Sarwat Naz Mirza, DeanFaculty of Forestry, University of Arid Agriculture,Rawalpindi, PakistanDiscussants: Dr. Muhammad Khurshid Swati,Economic Affairs Division, GoP, Pakistan; and,Kanwar Muhammad Javed Iqbal, SDPI, Islamabad,PakistanSpeakers:Syed Mahmood Nasir, Ministry of Environment, Islamabad,PakistanDr. Shahzad Jahangir in absentia of Mr. Javed Ahmed,Ministry of Environment, Islamabad, PakistanDr. Syed Moazzam Nizami, Arid Agriculture University,Rawalpindi PakistanPanel Organisers: SDPI and the Ministry of EnvironmentThe speakers, Syed Mahmood Nasir, InspectorGeneral of Forests; and, Dr. Shahzad Jahangir,DIG Forests, provided a general overall global andtechnical picture of emissions from deforestationand degradation. He highlighted the drivers of deforestation,monitoring-reporting-&-verification(MRV) systems, Carbon stocks assessments, Carbonrights, Legislation, Policy, Trading, Permanenceand Leakages, and the different aspects ofREDD+. He stressed through his findings that thetotal area of forests in Pakistan is 4.224 millionhectares which is 4.8% of the total land area ofPakistan with no comprehensive/authentic assessmentof forest resources. He said that Pakistanhas a land area of 77.088 million ha of which 3.084million ha are designated as forests with a potentialto store 389 million tC. He added that NorthernPakistan (AJK and KP) would be an excellent candidatefor a REDD+ project and a potential sink of153 million tC. He urged that the REDD could notbe a success without the active involvement of all38

Thirteenth SDC Special Bulletinstakeholders which include local communities, privatesector experts, civil society institutions, thegovernment and scientific institutions.Dr. Shahzad Jahangir emphasized the challengesfor Pakistan in the implementation of REDDand/or REDD+. The challenges include a nationalapproach versus a provincial approach, revisions inthe forest laws, governance, benefit sharingmechanisms and methodological challenges. Heanalysed the chronology for REDD and REDD+from 2005 onward and shared negotiations andoutcomes through different Conference of Parties(COPs). He characterized activities required forREDD / REDD+ from COP Copenhagen to Cancunwhere methodological guidance was given in Copenhagenand the importance of REDD+ was recognisedin Cancun with clarity on the scope of activitiesfor which developing countries have to undertakekey activities such as: (a) Design a nationalstrategy or action plan, (b) Establish a nationalforest reference emission level and/or forestreference level or, if appropriate, as an interimmeasure, sub-national forest reference emissionlevels and/or forest reference levels, and (c) Designa robust and transparent national forest monitoringsystem for the monitoring and reporting ofactivities, (d) Design a system for providing informationon how the agreed safeguards referred toare being addressed and respected.Dr. Moazzam Nizami carried out the first everstudy of its type done in Pakistan (especially for inventoryof mixed forest), which is providing basicinformation of carbon stocks under REDD+ andrecommendations of new sampling intensities thatwill be useful for future forest inventories in subtropical forests. He said that forests are the largestcarbon storehouses among all terrestrial ecosystemsand have a dual mechanism by acting both asa store and emission of green house gasses. Heanalysed the ongoing widespread deforestationwhich has resulted in forest and land-use change.He referred to the globally investigated figures of90% of C storage in plant biomass while justifyinghis research work for determining stem density andBiomass of sub tropical pine and sub tropicalbroad leaved evergreen forests of Pakistan withestimations of the carbon stocks at three levels(upper storey, under storey and soils) of these forestsand establishing proper sampling intensitiesfor future forests inventories. Dr. Nizami recommendedthe protocol for such type of studies to bedone in other forest types of the country and suggestedthat the Ministry of Environment use publishednumerical figures for the final country reportto IPCC regarding C-Stocks in Sub tropical forestsDiscussion: Dr. Muhammad Khurshid Swatianalysed the papers presented and emphasizedthe urgent need to meet the requirement of theREDD readiness phase. He highlighted the factthat global deforestation and its degradation has anegative role of approximately 17 to 20% towardsclimate change for which initiatives like REDD arecritically important as a mitigation response. Mr.Tanvir Mahmud, National Programme Manager,UNIDO CDM, Pakistan, highlighted the researchwork of Dr. Nizami saying that Pakistan has agreat potential of carbon credits with the existinglow density in forests. He suggested that the methodologyused by Dr. Nizami has significant valueand could also be submitted to UNFCCC for approval,which then can be used globally.Mr. Kanwar Javed stated that REDD+ is multiin-oneas it is providing multi benefits in terms ofgreen economic uplift through carbon credits, betterenvironmental conditions, biodiversity conservation,and improved livelihoods as compared withCDM mechanism. Mr. Kanwar Javed highlightedthe fact that although we are a little late keeping inview the global timeline, we have in-house technicalpeople in Pakistan for which we simply needfine tuning to meet the requirement of REDD.There is a need to utilize the skills and knowledgewe have for a better environment, economy andlivelihood.Mr. Bashir Ahmed Wani, former IG Forests,emphasized the need to take institutional measureswith the development of a national strategyfor REDD+ and a Pilot Study as parallel activities.Dr. Sarwat Mirza concluded the session byhighlighting the importance of forests.39

Thirteenth SDC Special BulletinReported by Kanwar Muhammad Javed IqbalThe Relationship between Food Insecurity,Poverty, Militancy and ConflictChair: Syed Kamal Shah, former Federal SecretaryInterior, Islamabad, PakistanSpeakers:Mr. Sahib Haq, World Food Programme (WFP), Islamabad,PakistanDr. Bishnu Upreti, NCCR North-South, Kathmandu,NepalDr. Abid Q. Suleri, Sustainable Development PolicyInstitute, Islamabad, PakistanDiscussants: Mr. Ejaz Haider, Consulting Editor,The Friday Times, Pakistan; and, Dr. Ayesha Siddiqa,Defence and Security Analyst, Islamabad,PakistanPanel Organiser: Faisal Gorchani, Advocacy Unit,Sustainable Development Policy Institute, Islamabad,PakistanThe first speaker to present was Mr. Sahib Haqof the World Food Program (WFP) who presented apaper on food insecurity and its implications for terrorismand conflict. He began by highlighting the issueof food security in Pakistan and how the situationhad deteriorated over the past few years withrespect to the factors that had caused a rise in thealready prevailing insecure situation such as the ongoingmilitary actions and the recent floods. Thesewere some of the factors that contributed to the destructionof infrastructure and food crops, resulted inprice hikes, and had a disastrous effect on livelihoodand food accessibility around the country. Hequoted statistics that showed extreme food crisisand stated that the policies of the federal governmenthad been weak and provinces had been inconflict with each other over the movement of foodcrops such as wheat when in time of crisis. He attributedthis to weak planning on the part of policymakers.Discussing the role of government, he stated,there was an imbalance in policies. When prices inthe international market went down, prices in Pakistanwent up. He said that food insecurity factorsalso included population growth and slow growth inproduction. He mentioned the flood disaster as thecatalyst in decreasing the wage labour rate and discussedthe role of disaster in overall food security inthe country. He said that KPK was destroyed mostlydue to the floods and business was negatively affectedbecause of reduced security and stability. Hesuggested various ways that would be beneficial inthis regard that included giving jobs to the unem-ployed and enhancing their purchasing power, focussingon the energy sector, ensuring that the industrialsector ran smoothly, the development of theprivate sector to incorporate youth and professionals,modern skill development, ensuring safety securitynets for food insecure people, engaging youthin income generating activities, infrastructure developmentand rehabilitation of displaced people dueto the floods.Dr. Bishnu Upreti shared his ideas in the contextof the conflict in Nepal and its repercussions forfood security. He highlighted many factors thatcaused food insecurity during conflict that madecertain groups more vulnerable than others. He saidthat in a conflict anywhere in the world, there were afew basic characteristics that were common factorswith regard to food security, namely poor governance,mistrust and hostility, politicisation and manipulationof power and corruption and malpractices.These traits helped fuel food insecurity in theareas of conflict. He also highlighted the fact thatfood insecurity had a direct effect on cultivation andon the availability, accessibility, portability and utilisationof food.Many other aspects were also important accordingto him like gender issue and the fact thatwomen were among the most severely affected insuch situations. He further elaborated that marketswere monopolised in conflicts and there was biasand politicisation in conflict stricken areas. Povertywas another major issue he focused on and saidthat poor people were usually the weakest party inconflict areas hence they became more vulnerable.In addition there were restricted areas when therewas a conflict, which contributed to a high rate offood insecurity. He shared the situation of conflict areasin Nepal and talked about the role of civil society,state, farmers and also about how conflict changed40

Thirteenth SDC Special Bulletinthe mindset and lifestyles of the population. Highlightingthe role of women, he said that the conflict empoweredthem and they were the negotiators withMaoists regarding the conflict. He further said thatthere were 3.7 million food insecure people in Nepaland the government needed to take urgent steps inalleviating food insecurity. He suggested controllingthe black-market, restoring infrastructure and increasingproduction so as not to enhance further conflict.The third speaker, Dr. Abid Q. Suleri, emphasizedthe need to understand the nexus of food securityand military. He said that poverty and food insecuritywere a strong reason for militancy but not theonly reasons for militarisation; there were severalother factors like social injustices, unemployment,bias in ideologies, etc. He quoted the example of thecase of an individual named Akram, who in a recentincident burnt himself to death in front of the PrimeMr. Ejaz Haider. Mr. Ejaz Haider was of the viewpointthat food insecurity was not related to militancyand food was the right of every human being. Hegave an analysis of food insecure regions prior topre- and post-conflict and concluded that food insecureareas were not necessarily areas of militancy.He quoted the examples of Dera Bugti and Gilgit-Baltistan and said that money needed to be used inthe right way to alleviate poverty and food insecurity.Dr. Ayesha Siddiqa said that food insecurity wasnot the cause of militancy but rather militancy wascausing food security, and that in different areas ofPakistan food insecurity was reaching alarmingrates.The panel put forward the following suggestions:1. A focus on the energy sector2. Ensure that the industrial sector runs smoothly sothat more jobs are created3. Skill development4. Ensure safety security nets for food insecurepeople5. Engage youth in income generating activities;provide stipends on the condition that they perform.6. Infrastructure development, i.e. schools, hospitals,link roads, etc.7. Rehabilitation and new incentives especially formilitancy and flood stricken areas, subsidise energyfor farmers, livestock sector, etc.Reported by Munazza AnwarMinister’s House because he said he was so poor hecould not feed himself and his family. Dr. Suleri arguedthat such people could also potentially becomesuicide bombers, as they felt isolated because of theindifference of state and society towards their issues.He then demonstrated rankings and trends offood security and classified them according to worstfood insecure regions. He said that 90 million peoplein Pakistan were food insecure. He said that potentialbombers were interviewed and it was discovered thatit takes US$ 10,000-12,000 to make a suicidebomber. He further classified four types of militants, i.e. Islamic fundamentalists, anti-government militants,i.e. Robin Hood style, and the street mafia and gavedetails for their classifications. He suggested thatthere needed to be a change of paradigm in this regardand money should be spent to alleviate povertyand strengthening social security to have a strongstate and region.The discussants were Dr. Ayesha Siddiqa andClosing Plenary: H. U. Beg Memorial LectureChair: Mr. Shamsul Mulk, Former Caretaker ChiefMinister, KPK, PakistanKeynote Speaker:Dr. Tariq Banuri, Director, Division for SustainableDevelopment, UNDESA, New York, USA; and, formerExecutive Director, SDPITheme: Energy as Key to Peace and SustainableDevelopmentRecap of the Thirteenth SDC:Dr. Avanish Kumar, Management Development Institute,Gurgaon, IndiaDr. Bishnu Upreti, NCCR North-South, Kathmandu,NepalMs Priyanthi Fernando, Centre for Poverty Analysis(CEPA), Columbo, Sri LankaMr. Rashed Titumir, Unnayan Onneshan, Dhaka,BangladeshRemarks by the Guest of Honour: Syed Naveed41

Thirteenth SDC Special BulletinQamar, Federal Minister for Petroleum and NaturalResources, Government of PakistanDr. Tariq Banuri began his lecture by highlightingthe issue of sustainable development and said thatPakistan has had a very robust development process,with the help of many highly informed and skilledtechnical people but that unfortunately that processcould not be sustained. He said that economic growthwas a continuous process, it sustains nations, and itneeds to constructed in a sustainable manner.He stressed that economic development was along-term process and economic plans should be developedwith at least the next 30 years in mind. Hesaid that developing countries needed sustainabledevelopment adding that sustainable developmentencompasses demographic and political factors, economicdevelopment, and various other aspects affectingsocieties.Dr. Tariq Banuri also talked about the economichistory of the world. He said that the initial challengeto human beings was the economic challenge andwhat was needed now was a new vision for growth.He said that the goal of each developing countryshould be to have a growth rate of 5%. If the growthrate goes down unemployment, suicide, crime, psychologicalpressures and frustration in society go up.Mr. Shams-ul-Mulk began by sharing facts onone of the most pressing issues in Pakistan, that ofenergy and power hoarding, which he referred tofrom a conference held in Lahore titled “Power SectorReforms”. He quoted that around 92 billion Gwh ofpower was generated in Pakistan per annum out ofwhich 32% was hydel, 32% gas and 32% fuels/oils,while 4% others included coal/nuclear. He alsoquoted the cost per unit of various sources of energysuch as hydel costs Rs. 1.02, gas Rs 5.46 per unit,fuel Rs.12.4, while others cost Rs. 4.30 per unit. YetPakistan had the potential to produce at least 40-45megawatts more with a saving of around 270 billionrupees.Mr. Rashed Titumir began his discussion by puttingforward a number of the questions, i.e. how dowe build the wealth of a nation? How do we work itout? Can we exploit the opportunity of demographicdividend in Asia? He extended his views that themain driver of the accumulation processes is technology.He added international environment and politicalsettlement were the issues behind trade building.Then he questioned, how we would be able to growin an environment of political instability. He expressedhis view by saying, “Freedom in terms ofgeneration of knowledge is essential for sustainabledevelopment.” He added that growth was altered underpolitical instability. Mr. Titumir urged the participantsto think in terms of change and progress andconcluded by quoting Decorde, ‘I exist because Iquestion’.Ms Priyanthi Fernando stressed that economics,demographics and people were the focus for sustainabledevelopment. Moreover she said that sustainablepeace was also a matter of concern along withsustainable development and growth.Dr. Bishnu Upreti said that dynamism was requiredfor security and peace. He said that a collectivemechanism should be developed for the sustainabledevelopment of South Asia. In his view, the optimisticapproach could help to develop a collectivemechanism at the level of civil society, politics and atother levels. A collective effort was desirable to followthe path of peaceful sustainable development.Dr. Avanish Kumar said, “Peace is all about creatinga strategy where poor and rich could think collaborativelyabout their future.” He ended his speechon the optimistic note that ‘Conflict is unsustainable,it is going to die and there will be peace and prosperity’.Syed Naveed Qamar who was the chief guest,gave the closing remarks and said that peace andsustainable development was the only way tocounter large issues such as energy deficiency. “Theareas of confluence need to be brought out for attainingsustainable development”, he stressed.The SDPI Research & News Bulletin is publishedquarterly by the Sustainable Development PolicyInstitute.P.O.Box 2342, 38, Embassy Road, G-6/3, Islamabad,PakistanTel: 92-51-2278134 Fax: 92.-51-2278135www.sdpi.org Email: main@sdpi.org42

Thirteenth SDC Special BulletinReported by Mome SaleemPANELS A QUICK GLANCETuesday, 21 December 20109:00 – 11:00 11:30 – 1:30 2:30 –4:30Introduction:Concurrent Session A-1Concurrent Session A-5Dr. Abid Q. Suleri, Executive Director,SDPI, Islamabad, PakistanWelcome Address:Dr. Saeed Shafqat, Chairperson,Board of Governors, SDPI,Islamabad, PakistanRemarks by the Chief Guest:Mr. Javed Malik, Federal Secretary forEnvironment, Government of PakistanBook Launch:Fostering Sustainable Development inSouth Asia:Responding to ChallengesKeynote Speaker:Ms Urvashi Butalia,Director,Zubaan Books,IndiaPlenary Title:Confronting the Past: Imagining theFutureIs there Hope for a New South Asia?Sustainable Development andPeace: Respecting ReligiousDiversityConcurrent Session A-2Advancing Sound ChemicalManagement for SustainableDevelopment and a Toxic Free Asia– Session IConcurrent Session A-3Floods and Disaster Preparednessin Pakistan: Regional Solution toNational ProblemsConcurrent Session A-4The Water and SanitationChallenge in South Asia:Session IPeace and SustainableDevelopment: The Role of ThinkTanks (Brainstorming Session)Concurrent Session A-6Advancing Sound ChemicalManagement for SustainableDevelopment and a Toxic Free Asia– Session IIConcurrent Session A-7Climate Change, a Security Risk?The Case of South AsiaConcurrent Session A-8Federalism: A Challenge to ConflictManagement in Less DevelopedCountries/South AsiaWednesday, 22 December 20109:00 – 11:00 11:30 – 1:30 2:30 –4:30Concurrent Session B-1Neo-liberalising South Asia—Impacts of Structural Adjustment:IMF and World Bank ProgrammesConcurrent Session B-4Peace through Development?Concurrent Session B-7The Water and SanitationChallenge in South Asia:Session IIConcurrent Session B-2Imagine a New South Asia: 25years of SAARCConcurrent Session B-5Poverty Reduction: SocialExclusion and Safety Nets in SouthAsiaConcurrent Session B-8Revisiting the Indus Water Treatyfor Peace and SustainableDevelopmentConcurrent Session B-3Responding to Climate Change inSouth AsiaConcurrent Session B-6Ending Violence Against Women:The Unconventional Role of MenConcurrent Session B-9Regional Trade: The Way ForwardConcurrent Panel B-6aFinancing Climate Change43

Thirteenth SDC Special BulletinThursday, 23 December 20109:00 – 11:00 11:30 – 1:30 2:30 –4:30Concurrent Session C-1Promoting Decent Work forVulnerable Groups in the PostFlood SituationConcurrent Session C-2Energy Governance in South AsiaConcurrent Session C-3Role of Parliamentarians in Peaceand Sustainable DevelopmentPanel by theStrengthening Democracy throughParliamentary Development (SDPD)Concurrent Session C-4Reducing Emissions fromDeforestation and Degradation(REDD): Impacts on South AsiaConcurrent Session C-5The Relationship between FoodInsecurity, Poverty, Militancy andConflictConcurrent Session C-6Water Resource Management:Sharing PerspectivesH. U. Beg Memorial LectureChair: Mr. Shamsul Mulk, FormerChief Minister, KPK, PakistanRecap of the Thirteenth SDC:Dr. Avanish Kumar, ManagementDevelopment Institute, Gurgaon, IndiaDr. Bishnu Upreti, NCCR North-South,Kathmandu, NepalMs Priyanthi Fernando, Centre forPoverty Analysis (CEPA), Columbo,Sri LankaMr. Rashed Titumir, UnnayanOnneshan, Dhaka, BangladeshKeynote Speaker:Dr. Tariq BanuriDirector, Division for SustainableDevelopmentDepartment of Economic and SocialAffairs (DESA)United Nations, New York, USARemarks by the Chief Guest:Syed Naveed Qamar, FederalMinister for Petroleum and NaturalResources, Government of PakistanVote of Thanks:Dr. Abid Q. Suleri, Executive Director,SDPI, Islamabad, PakistanRecent PublicationFostering Sustainable Development In South Asia: Responding To Challenges was launchedon 21 December, 2010 at the occasion of Thirteenth Sustainable Development Conference .It is jointly published by the Sustainable Development Institute and Sang-e-Meel Publishersand has been edited by Ayesha Salman, Sarah Siddique and Uzma T. Haroon. The anthologyhas eleven chapters on a diverse range of topics authored by some of the most renownednames in their field such as Saba Gul Khattak, Lubna Chaudhry, Karin Astrid Siegmannand Bishnu Upreti. This anthology reflects a plethora of views and research findingsexpressed by scholars and researchers on the most pressing concerns faced by South Asiatoday. The dilemmas and difficulties faced by internal and external actors in ensuring propoorgovernance are pervasive and complex and require in-depth knowledge of issues thathave 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 issuesis 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 andfocuses 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 biasesfaced by researchers, climate change and women empowerment. The papers encourage and provoke thought and debateon questions such as how can the environment be made more sustainable when it comes to climate change andpollution? How can we make the best use of natural resources? What are the root causes of conflict and how can wealleviate this growing problem? How can food security be ensured? How can democracy be strengthened in order toface the challenges by South Asia? What role can education play towards sustainable development? How can educationbe improved in the country? Can women be empowered through the use of information technology? These andmany other questions will be asked and solutions suggested in SDPI’s anthology in the hope that it will engender furtherdiscussion and spark positive change in ensuring sustainable development.44