Panel 1: Disaster Management in the South Asian Context: Impact, Lessons and Institutional Dynamics
In the recent history of South Asia, natural disasters such as the South Asian Tsunami (December 2004), Earthquake in Kashmir and Northern Pakistan (October 2005), and Floods in Pakistan (June 2007) have disrupted the lives of the millions- exacerbating their vulnerabilities, adversely affecting their livelihoods, destroying their natural and capital assets, and weakening human capabilities. The pattern, form, and scale of the disaster itself may be irregular, yet the pouring in of relief goods and full-scale launch of relief activities by the national governments and international community is similar in the case of each disaster. The second stage of disaster management invariably moves towards emphasizing reconstruction and rehabilitation of lives, livelihoods, and infrastructure.
With the time lapse between the South Asian tsunami and the Northern Pakistan and Kashmir earthquake, and again between the earthquake and the floods in Baluchistan, it is time to reflect on what has been accomplished and what remains to be done. The dynamics of disaster management affect the economic and political situation, both at the micro and macro level. State policies related to disaster management need to be reviewed, interaction between local and international NGOs and governments need to be strengthened, and most importantly, recovery and rehabilitation activities should be regularly monitored and tested for sustainability. Broadly, papers linked to the following aspects of the political economy of disaster management are encouraged:
- Disaster preparedness
- Governance issues
- Lessons learnt
- Impact assessment of relief/ rehabilitation efforts
Contact:
Abid Qaiyum Suleri, Acting Executive Director, SDPI
Email: suleri@sdpi.org
Sobia N. Ahmad, Research Associate, SDPI
Email: sobia@sdpi.org
Panel 2: Development Interventions and the Poverty-Environment Nexus
Both developing and transition countries are facing problems of non-sustainable development caused by global disparities and the processes of global change/globalization. To counteract the problems global disparities, extreme poverty and ensuring sustainable development, the international community developed the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2000. Although these MDGs have provided measurable indicators, yet the issue of conflicting interests remains unresolved. For instance, the interface between poverty reduction strategies (MDG-1) and the goal of preserving the natural resource base i.e., environmental sustainability (MDG-7) is still open to discussion and being constantly re-discovered and re-invented. Accordingly, efforts are being made by various international organizations to bridge the gap between livelihoods security (poverty reduction) and environmental sustainability in a pragmatic way through development policies and interventions in the Southern countries. In this context, this panel aims at understanding the gap (or link) between development policies/interventions as formulated and implemented by donors, state agencies and NGOs on the one hand, and environmental sustainability and livelihood realities of the poor/marginal households on the other. We also intend to explore the role of the civil society and other stakeholders in these development policies.
Contact:
Abid Qaiyum Suleri, Acting Executive Director, SDPI
Email: suleri@sdpi.org
Babar Shahbaz, Assistant Professor, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad
babar.shahbaz@gmail.com
|
