“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