"Government, civil societies and public must rise to the task ahead
and endeavor to overcome the challenges posed by the aftermath of
climate change" said Chair, Senator Dr. Saeeda Iqbal of Pakistan Peoples
Party (PPP) here today at a meeting of South Asia Parliamentarian and
Policy Makers at Work.

The high-level meeting has brought together over 60 policymakers and
experts and has been organized by the Sustainable Development Policy
Institute, Pakistan (SDPI), Climate Action Network of South Asia
(CANSA), Oxfam, along with Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population
and Development.

Dr. Saeeda expressed grave concern at the worsening situation and
observed that Pakistan is on the verge of becoming a country without
forests. She emphasized to work voluntarily with the civil society
organizations to mitigate climate change impacts and help vulnerable
communities, to better adapt to changing weather patterns.

Ziaul Hoque Mukta, Oxfam, Dhaka said that the purpose of this meeting
was to strengthen our capacity to work on adaptation and mitigation, to
generate policy recommendations and revise activity plans for a better
understanding of climate change challenges.

Ali Tauqeer Sheikh, CEO, LEAD Pakistan requested all parliamentarians
to write letters to their heads of political parties to include climate
change in their manifestos and election campaigns.

Amb. Shafqat Kakakhel, Chairperson Board of Governors SDPI endorsed
the idea of South Asian Parliamentarian Forum and ensured SDPI’s full
support to that forum in form of logistics or research.

While presenting a draft of declaration, Dr. Abid Qaiyum Suleri said
that South Asian government should initiate agroecological zone (AEZ)
specific adaptation measures at local, national and regional level with a
particular emphasis on agriculture for ensuring food security for all.
He declared SDPI’s support to the governments and respective regional
institutions including SAARC in planning and implementing policies and
programmes at national and regional level.

Parliamentarians from Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and
Pakistan mutually agreed upon rearranging the social protection
programmes and devise national multi sector strategy to address the
issue of forced displacement, migration, planned relocation and
rehabilitation. In this context, they urged South Asian government to
take measures to enhance understanding on these issues. Further, they
have decided to collaborate with each other for enhancing their
understanding on climate change challenges, strengthens capacity on
adaptation and mitigation efforts and for generating policy
recommendations for national, regional and global policy measures.
Also present in the meeting were Ganesh Shah, MPA, Nepal (KTM), Ananda
Pokhrel, MPA, Nepal (KTM), Mr. Kamal Safi, MPA, Afghanistan (Kabul), Mr.
Ikram Sayed, MPA, Afghanistan (Kabul), Ritu Raj Chhetri , MPA, Bhutan,
 (Paro), Rinzin Dorji, MPA,Bhutan (Paro), Kinley Om, MPA, Bhutan (Paro),
Nima Gyeltshen, MPA, Bhutan (Paro), M. Yousuf Ghaznavi, Afghanistan
(Kabul), L K S U Dharmakeerthi, Sri Lanka (Colombo), Md Mokhlesar R
Sarker, Bangladesh (Dhaka), Resham Lal Kandhel, Nepal (KTM), Rohullah
Amin, Afghanistan (Kabul), Puja Sawhney, India,.