Climate justice, gender & poverty hearings in Pakistan.

QUETTA, December 01, 2009 (Balochistan Times): Humanitarian Organization for Poverty Eradication & Environment (HOPE), in partnership with FTF-GCAP held a climate justice, gender & poverty hearing in Balochistan. Prior to the hearing, community awareness sessions were held with seven community based organizations in different districts of the province. The hearing focused on identifying the key issues around climate from a grassroots perspective, with special emphasis on people living in poverty, more specifically women. This was the first community hearing where women from various areas of the province presented their testimonies regarding impact of climate change on their lives and livelihoods. Women and three male community members presented their testimonies, including Ms. Feroza, Mr. Sadullah, Mr. Ihtisham, Ms. Bakht Nama, Ms. Arifa, Ms. Seema, Ms. Nasreen, Ms. Humaira and technical Witness Mr. Tahir Rasheed. The respondents were Ms. Fozia Shaheen, Mr. Zahoor Bazai, Mr. Ishaq Ghaznavi, Ms. Rehana Khilji, Ms. Fozia Durrani, Mr. Zabardast Bangash and Mrs. Ayesha Wadood. The event has come at a time when world leaders are set to meet in Copenhagen this December for the Climate Summit to discuss issues related to climate change and set stage for policy agreements expected next year. Local community organizations, women organizations, International organizations, Media, academia, civil society, farmers, fishermen, trade union representatives and government departments were represented at the hearings. Key issues highlighted were related to increasing span of drought, sudden floods, decrease in agriculture productivity & water resources, increasing air pollution levels with increase in health issues, poor environmental health conditions, sea erosion in costal areas and deforestation. The impact on womens life is in the form of increased workload, loss of income base with the loss of livestock, loss of indigenous skills, restricted mobility and gender gap in health and education. Outcomes included strong emphases on need for launching awareness and information sharing programmes for local communities and organizations with regard to climate change. It was emphasized that better planning and resource allocation at local, national and global level is needed to adapt and cope with the impacts of climate change. The need for economic empowerment of local communities, in particular the women, was highly emphasized. Both women and male community testifiers pinpointed major concern about food security due to reduced agriculture yield. The respondents highlighted that the country needs to have a Climate Change Policy, which highlights integrated and well coordinated response to climate challenges and coordinating mechanisms to improve knowledge around climate. They also demanded the government to play its active role for a fair deal at Copenhagen. A deal that ensures the reduction of emissions by G8 and fund adaptation in vulnerable countries along with transfer of cleaner and environment friendly technologies to the developing and under developed world. It was shared by the Team Leader HOPE, that apart from sharing the hearing conclusions at international level through our partner GCAP, it will also be submitted to provincial governments in Balochistan and the Federal Ministries of Environment and Womens Development.

(THROUGH ASIA PULSE)