ISLAMABAD, Jan 14: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on Wednesday initiated two projects worth $3.1 million in collaboration with the Pakistan government for human resource development and species' protection in Balochistan.
The agreement on a project, titled "Trade initiatives from human development perspectives", worth $2 million was signed by Economic Affairs Division (EAD) secretary Waqar Masood and UNDP resident representative Onder Yucer. United Nations assistant secretary-general Hafiz Pasha was also present on this occasion.
The objective of the project is to assist the commerce ministry in ensuring that the country could strategically seize the opportunities of global economic and trade integration to progress in human development and poverty eradication.
The project will also assist the ministry in ensuring the participation of different stakeholders, including public sector, civil society, private sector, media and research and academic organizations involved in addressing the WTO issues.
Linking human development to rules of the trading system is extremely important in a globalized world, and this linkage should be at the centre stage of trade policy making, Mr Yucer said.
The correlation between export performance and employment, especially in Pakistan, means that policy for trade should also consider human development indicators, he added.
He said the UNDP was very well suited in bringing human development issues and concerns into centre of trade policy and aligning the processes and outcomes of trade integration with human development, poverty eradication, and employment generation goals.
Similarly, the agreement on the second $1.2 million project, "Conservation of habitats and species in arid and semi-arid ecosystems in Balochistan" was also signed by the EAD secretary and the UNDP resident representative.
Minister of State for Environment Tahir Iqbal was also present on the occasion. The five-year project will be based in the Chagai Desert and Toba Kakar Range in Balochistan.
The Balochistan province has an arid climate, but contains many species and habitats of global biodiversity significance. Conservation efforts have been limited, and not very effective. As a result many habitats continue to be degraded and species of global significance have either become extinct or critically endangered.
Although conservation of arid ecosystems is essential to maintain an ecological balance and conserve biodiversity, these are generally considered wastelands due to their limited productive potential.
Overgrazing, cutting of scanty vegetation, indiscriminate hunting and trade in wild species are common practice in the area. Six endemic reptile species - five lizards and one snake - are found in the area. Chagai also contains one endemic mammal, the Pygmy Jerboa. It is also the habitat for the rare Goitered Gazelle.
Toba Kakar Range, also referred to as the Torghar Conservatory, has the internationally threatened Markhor and Afghan Urial. The project will be conducted in collaboration with local NGOs and community leaders to help organize community-managed cooperatives for management, production and marketing of local resources.
The project will also provide incentives for conservation by promoting sustainable resources use regimes that provide access and benefits to local communities.