The stakeholders and participants appreciated Integrated District Development Vision documents as meticulous policy and decision making tools that can facilitate the planning process at the provincial and district levels.

The IDDVs have been recently formulated and developed by IUCN. The main objective of the launching ceremony was to bring together all the stakeholders, particularly the planning and development officials based at the districts as well as the provincial capital. Detailed individual presentations on all the three IDDVs were made, covering their salient features and sector-wise issues, potential opportunities and possible short, medium and long -term interventions. The presentation sessions on IDDVs of Quetta, Mastung and Pishin were chaired by: Mr. Asad Khan Mengal, Secretary Population Welfare Government of Balochistan, Mr. Mohammad Yusaf Jamali, Director Provincial Ombudsman and a renowned religious scholar Dr. Atta-ur-Rehman .  

The ceremony was attended by a large number of people hailing from all three districts including dignitaries, government officials of the line departments, prominent religious and tribal elders, representatives of international agencies, local farmers, civil society organisations, academia, experts, media personnel and women from various segments of the society.

In his welcome speech Mr. Zabardast Khan Bangash, Manager IUCN Balochistan Programme briefed the participants about IUCN’s history and its work in Pakistan and Balochistan. He informed that environmental governance is the main component of the Balochistan Partnerships for Sustainable Development programme under which these Integrated District Development Visions have been developed and are being launched today.
 
While making comprehensive presentations on the IDDVs, Mr. Zabardast Khan Bangash explained that it is in continuation of the earlier efforts of IUCN under which it assisted Government of Balochistan in formulation of the Balochistan Conservation Strategy, IUCN has developed these long term planning and strategy documents for the districts of Quetta, Pishin and Mastung which cover various sectors and identify the prevailing issues. These documents have a list of recommendations as a way forward for the ecological and human well-being of Balochistan.


Mr. Sher Bahadur Khan, Senior Geologist shared his expert opinion on these IDDVs and termed them as a great planning tool for all the stakeholders and beneficiaries. He also praised the efforts of IUCN for developing the IDDVs of Quetta, Pishin and Mastung.

Malik Abdul Wali Kakar a tribal elder and farmers’ representative from Quetta appreciated the work of IUCN and emphasised on implementation of these development strategies and visions. He said that this is the most crucial time for the government institutions and departments to work out their priorities according to the proposed recommendations of these visions.

Syed Mohammad Hashim Mousavi, a Religious Imam from Quetta spoke on the occasion and put forth the nexus between Islam and nature. He also quoted various verses of Holy Quran and said that we, as human being, are responsible for environmental degradation and deteriorating our mother planet through our vicious actions and this is the time to mold our life style according to the lessons of Islam.

Mr. Mohammad Gul, Rescue Officer Civil Defense Mastung appreciated the commendable work of IUCN in conceiving the comprehensive planning visions for three districts and termed the IDDVs as the eye openers and encouraged all the stakeholders to come up with holistic approach and implement them for their own survival.

In his concluding remarks the prominent scholar Dr. Atta-ur Rehman applauded the work of IUCN in Balochistan and said that the overall credit goes to IUCN as it is working in the province since 1985 and has motivated and sensitised all the key policy makers and communities throughout the length and breadth of Balochistan. He described that the Almighty Allah has enriched Balochistan with wonderful natural reserves, but these are being over-exploited without considering the carrying capacity and this is mainly due to results of ignorance and greed. Dr. Atta-ur-Rehman considered these IDDVs as pathway for sustainable developement and stressed on proper planning and possible measures for implementation of these IDDVs.

Copies of the IDDVs were also distributed amongst all the participants.

For more information or to set up interviews, please contact:

Zabardast Khan Bangash, Manager IUCN Balochistan Programme,
IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature)
Quetta Phone: +92 8128240450-2, Fax: +92 812820706
Email: zabardast.bangash@iucn.org