KARACHI, June 7: Stakeholders at a consultative workshop urged the United Nations agencies to ensure capacity building and effectiveness of the government and private sectors’ institutions working in the area of the environment.
They suggested that the UN agencies should analyse the situation and prioritise their actions, avoid overlapping of projects, add value to the ongoing environmental initiatives and enable the local institutions, including NGOs, to address the environmental issues while they adhere to their own system of governance.
The workshop held in a local hotel was organized by the United Nations System in Pakistan, the Ministry of Environment and the Sindh Environment Protection Agency to get inputs from environmental stakeholders in Sindh towards plotting of a One-UN Joint Country Programme on environment.
Representing the UN at the workshop, Deputy Country Director of UNDP Mikiko Tanaka said a high-level panel of UN had recommended in 2006 improvement in the coherency and effectiveness of the UN System’s development and humanitarian assistance on the ground to “deliver as one”.
Pakistan is one of the five countries around the world that were selected to pilot the One-UN reform and with 19 UN agencies, it is the largest pilot country, she said, adding that five thematic areas had been agreed upon by the Pakistan government and the UN System for the formulation of joint programmes --agriculture, rural development and poverty reduction, education, health and population, disaster risk management, and environment.
Referring to the earlier held consultations among 14 UN agencies active in the area of the environment, the federal government and civil society and other stakeholders, Ms Tanaka said the exercise had again showed the crucial consideration about the geographical diversity of Pakistan, with significant ecological features, including extensive mountain, desert, riverine, wetland and coastal ecosystem.
“While the headway made in Pakistan on the policy front is remarkable and provide the needed framework for on-the-ground actions, more concerted efforts are required to implement these policies and plans in a more comprehensive and sustainable way to bring results in the quality of the environment and the livelihoods of the people of Pakistan,” the UNDP official added.
She said that as a result of the analysis and consultations, two major pillars for the joint programme had been identified -- one is to strengthen the institutions for improved environmental management, the other is to implement demonstrative actions for environmental sustainability in regretted ecological zones. The second pillar includes these areas: safe water and sanitation, natural resources management, sustainable urbanization, and green industries, waste management, energy and green jobs, she said.
She noted that the joint programmes under the One UN pilot exercise would be implemented this year and suggested that there was a need to be realistic in the choice of actions planned to be made for the joint programme given the 2010 timeframe.The provincial minister for environment and alternative energy, Askari Taqvi, said that Sindh, being the hub of business and agriculture activities of the country, would certainly like to benefit from the UN programme to address the local environmental challenges in a comprehensive and integrated way. He said that economic development, urban sprawl and industrialization during the last few decades called for innovative solutions for addressing the environmental challenges of the province.
Some of the priority areas for the province include capacity development of environmental regulatory authorities, forest and wildlife departments, coastal development authority and district governments, he added.
According to the minister, solid waste management, treatment of industrial and domestic effluents, hospital waste management, marine pollution, vehicular emission, promoting community based management of land and water resources were specific areas of interventions from improvement point of view.
The secretary of the Sindh environment department, Mir Hussain Ali, said that there was a need to examine the ground realties and identify the obstacles in the context of better enforcement of environmental laws in the country. The federal government needs to discuss the national environment policy and finalise its implementation aspects before handing over a roadmap to the provinces, he added.
The director-general of Sepa, Ali Ahmed Lund, said that inputs and feedbacks received from the participants, including NGOs representatives, government department heads industrialists and scientists, during the workshop would provide better vision for further enhancement of the future line of actions.
The Director-General for Environment, Ministry of Environment, Jawed Ali Khan, said the inclusion of the environment in the core areas selected under the joint country programme was an excellent opportunity to enhance the cooperation that existed between the environment ministry and the UNDP and UNICEF and other agencies of the UN.
Speaking before the formation of groups for discussions on outcome themes, Mr Khan observed that One UN joint country progrmame on the environment could serve as an important vehicle to implement the national environment policies on the ground and effectively address the sectoral ad cross-sectoral issues with the line ministries and provincial governments so that sustainable environment and economic development could be achieved in the country.
The participants of the group discussions were further told that the report of the High-level Panel on UN System-wide coherence made a strong case for reform to reduce fragmentation and improve efficiency and effectiveness. The ultimate objective of the UN reform in Pakistan is to establish “one UN” at the country level with one leader, one programme, one fund, one management practice, and whenever appropriate, one office.