Category Archives: General

SHO injured, 10 fall unconscious in police-villagers clash in Badin

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Dawn Report | 3/2/2016

BADIN: A station house officer (SHO) was injured and 10 protesters, most of them women, fell unconscious when a strong contingent of police tried to evict several families allegedly occupying around seven acres of land in Sain Bux Rind village, located within the Ward-5 of the city, on Tuesday.

Witnesses said that a police force riding eight vans and an armoured personnel carrier surrounded the village and ordered its inhabitants to vacate the land immediately.

However, the villagers offered stiff resistance claiming that they had been living on these lands for more than four decades.

The police force moved into action and started demolishing the houses one after the other. The villagers, men and women, tried to physically stop the police from going ahead with the operation upon which they were baton-charged, which aggravated the situation. More people joined in the resistance and during the course of the clash, SHO of the Model police station Hakim Ali Jalbani, who was leading the operation, was attacked with a hatchet. Police lobbed teargas shells to disperse the protesters causing eight women and two children to fall unconscious.

The police officer was rushed to the Badin Civil Hospital where doctors referred him to the Hyderabad Civil Hospital due to his grave injuries.

According to villagers, two children jumped into the nearby canal when they could not bear the suffocation caused by teargas. They were unaccounted for till late in the evening, they added.

The villagers claimed that the land in question belonged to the Badin Industrial Zone and they had never been asked by any authority to vacate it until Deputy Commissioner Rafique Ahmed Qureshi recently leased out a portion of it to a friend of his, Tariq Ahmed. They alleged that the DC issued the eviction order to oblige the `buyer` and asked the area police to use force against them [occupants of the land].

The DC, however, insisted that the villagers were illegally occupying the land and would have to vacate it.

Reports reaching here late in the evening said that a 600-strong police force sent to the scene surrounded the village with the help of 15 vans and an armoured personnel carrier.

Four villagers were picked up on suspicion of their involvement in the attack on the SHO.

http://epaper.dawn.com/DetailImage.php?StoryImage=02_03_2016_119_001

 

UNEP-Women’s Major Group on COP21

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Based on the Document: ‘Proposed resolution for UNEA on Paris Agreement’ & ‘A Reality Check on the Paris Agreement from the Women and Gender Constituency (WGC)’

While the others might want us to move forward with the process, the Women and Gender Constituency provided a reality check.

So, what does it really mean to promote an effective implementation of a weak agreement? We are talking about a binding legal document that doesn’t recognize historical responsibilities and continues to undermine the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities; hence, it lets countries decide how much longer and how they still want to continue to pollute, leaving all commitments to weak voluntary Intended National Determined Contributions (INDCs).

It is true that Parties to the UNFCCC committed to maintain a global average temperature below 1.5ºC but they failed to recognize and understand that in some areas such as Islands States, this ‘limit’ has been exceeded already by far and that it is already too late. The latest IPCC report says that doubling of greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere compared to what they were in 1750 will likely result in warming between 1.5°C to 4.5°C. Scientists haven’t managed to narrow this down since the IPCC was first set up. So, if the low figure is true, really radical action could limit warming to less than 1.5°C but if it’s the medium or higher figure then there’s no chance at all. For the Women and Gender Constituency, seeing this goal on paper is not enough. We demand it in actions as the proof of full commitment to that goal, not vague aspirations.

Thus, ‘making finance flows consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate resilient development’ will result highly difficult especially in light of the corporate take over of the climate negotiations; the quality of and a goal for scaling up adequate and predictable, largely public finance which is highly needed, lost a lot of political strength while business interests that have lobbied hard in our home countries will be the first to benefit from the agreement as it fundamentally does not address the needs of the most vulnerable countries, communities and people of the world. It fails to address the structures of injustice and inequality which have caused the climate crisis and hold the historical polluters sufficiently to account. What happened in Paris was that governments maintained their commitment to corporations over people and signaled opportunities for profit to be made from crisis. The Green Climate Fund – for instance – is increasingly being captured by multilateral development banks and international private entities with poor track records. The lack of transparency and preponderance of big banks and international entities over national and sub-national entities blatantly defies the GCF mandate of being more responsive to the needs of vulnerable developing countries and communities.

What is left unclear in the Paris Agreement is how soon will the international community and specifically the world’s rich countries succeed in raising the estimated 100 billion dollars per year needed by 2020? Paragraph 54 on the agreement means no money on the table prior to 2020, just intention of mobilisation. In Cancun, Parties had agreed to developed countries mobilising USD 100 billion per year by 2020. With the Paris Agreement, a five-year extension has been granted in order to reach this target and a new quantified goal will be set for the period after 2025.

The Women and Gender Constituency has long argued that climate finance should come from taxing the highest 1% of emitters. A tax on high emitters of between 5-10% would provide at least USD 150 billion per year. Funds can also be derived from harmful industries. 80% of GHG emissions are caused by the burning of fossil fuels and the subsidies to this sector accounts for USD 5.3 trillion a year. Redirecting these subsidies prioritizing women and the poor could anchor a transformative shift.

Besides, a common understanding on what entails truly ‘sustainable energy’ is urgently needed. Currently, ‘clean’ energy sources allow dirty energies like large-scale wood-based bioenergy to be recognized as a ‘renewable’ energy source, and even harmful hydropower also enters the category. But what does an innovative’ large hydropower dam means for an entire ecosystem? What does the establishment of a single 500,000voltt tower in a rural area means to people, plants, animals, soil organisms and water sources? We are sure that there are real solutions out there such as solar and wind-power, and that genuine transformation to a low carbon society requires further analysis of what is that will actually take us on that path and what would drive us apart.

Critical issues like clear emission reductions without offsetting and misleading market approaches; ensuring the quality of technologies which should be safe and socially and environmentally sound; the responsibilities of developed countries to take the lead, the responsibility to protect people’s rights and our ecosystems including indigenous peoples and women’s rights, have been either surgically removed throughout the text or lack specificity; that we are not protecting food security but instead are protecting food production, all of them, are issues that jeopardize the whole 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development Agenda and its SDGs, such as Goal 12 on Sustainable Consumption and Production, to name but one example. Unsustainable food systems are not given enough attention and most rhetoric, fails to recognize the importance of this issue, not just on the context of climate change but also in the context of poverty eradication. A clear example is the increased deforestation in Paraguay – also undermining Goal 15 – and associated social problematic (Goal 1) due to GM soy and cattle ranch expansion. Exclusionary methods such as increased carbon trading which are now expanded to the agricultural sector, and land use change (LULUCF); the flawed ‘Net zero emissions’ principle and unproved technologies such as BECCs, gained further support while the human rights language was weakened.

The ‘loss and damage’ mechanism mentioned in Article 8, that would have meant compensation to those most affected from climate change, lost all significance on paragraph 52 Presented by Isis Alvarez at the Open Ended Committee of Permanent Representatives to the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) when is states “that Article 8 of the Agreement does not involve or provide a basis for any liability or compensation”. At the same time, climate refugees continue to be ignored and the agreement failed to be transformative and legally recognize them.

Perverse initiatives endorsed by the Paris agreement such as Climate Smart Agriculture surrender too much power to already powerful multinational corporations monopolizing the food industry setting the stage for the further demise of small peasant farmers especially women and their related traditional knowledge. Already a report from FAO (2014) demonstrated how agroecology could feed the world without the need for harmful and misleading technologies while empowering small scale farmers.

We know that climate change is the greatest threat to rights in our time, and we know that women often bear the brunt of these impacts. We believe that operational language on gender equality, alongside other fundamental rights, in Article 2, defining the purpose of the agreement, would have gone far to ensure that all forthcoming climate actions take into account the rights, needs and perspectives of women and men and encourage women’s full and equal participation in decision-making. This was the moment to set the right path, the just path for climate action. But it just didnt happen. SDG 13 needs to go beyond the Paris agreement.

To call this an ‘ambitious agreement’ is totally misleading. Civil society organizations and social movements openly protested the outcome of the negotiations. Women of the world have been calling for climate justice, and we know that calls for climate justice are empty without acknowledging that ‘justice’ requires a remedy, justice is delivered when reparations are provided, and justice is essentially for accountability.

Presented by Isis Alvarez at the Open Ended Committee of Permanent Representatives to the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP)

Multinationals hike drug prices by 15pc

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Dawn, February 11th, 2016

ASIF CHAUDHRY

LAHORE: Six multinational pharmaceutical companies have increased the prices of medicines by 15 per cent without approval from the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (Drap), triggering a controversy over the drug pricing mechanism in the country.

According to a senior official, the move has led to an artificial shortage of medicines. He said the companies which had increased the prices were GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Sanofi-aventis, Abbott Laboratories, Novartis, Otsuka and Reckitt Benckiser. The medicines produced by the companies, he added, were used for the treatment of cardiac ailments, blood pressure, weakness, fever and as painkillers. Some of them were recommended to women during pregnancy.

He said that because patients were already suffering due to the high cost of drugs, a 15pc increase in their prices would only compound their problems.

The pharmaceutical companies, he explained, had directed their staff to charge customers as per the new rates, causing a shortage of many life-saving drugs and creating space for ‘mafia’ to move in and take advantage of the situation by fleecing patients.

Some pharmaceutical firms had directed their staff to retrieve unsold stocks from the market and update the prices, the official said.

“The companies have increased the prices on their own,” said Dr Mohammad Aslam Afghani, the Drap’s chief executive officer. “Drap had no role in this move.” He explained that Drap’s drug pricing committee had not raised the prices. “The multinational companies increased the prices after claiming that the Sindh High Court had granted them permission and later they got a stay order from the court,” he said, adding that Drap would challenge the decision and have the stay vacated.

In response to the controversial move, the Punjab government ordered the district administrations to thwart attempts to increase the prices through regulations. In a notice issued on Feb 8, Punjab’s chief drug controller, Dr Zakaur Rehman, directed all drug controllers, deputy drug controllers and drug inspectors to frequently visit the markets and prepare a list of companies that had increased their prices.

“You are further directed to probe the issue of non-availability/acute shortage of some potentially required medicines in the market and furnish the list of non-available/less available drugs sold at more than MRPs,” he said.

The notice also named the six multinational pharmaceutical companies which had increased the prices.

One of these companies, GSK, wrote a letter to wholesalers and cited the reasons behind the price hike. A copy of the letter is available with Dawn.

The letter said that GSK had filed several cases for the hardship price increase of certain products with Drap in 2012.

“As three years lapsed and the cases remained pending despite the statutory assurance by Drap to provide relief through the Drug Pricing Policy 2015, we were constrained to seek enforcement of hardship price increase through the Sindh High Court,” it said.

The company informed the wholesalers and distributors that prices of drugs including Panadol 500mg, Panadol Extra, Panadol CF, Panadol drops, Actifed P Elixir, and Actifed DM cough syrup had gone up.

Senior pharmacist and legal expert Noor Mohammad Mahar condemned the price hike and said it had created serious problems for poor patients.

He said the companies in question were already earning good profits from their products.

Mr Mahar held the Drap’s senior officials responsible for the hike. “They are behind this move. They (also) did nothing when these multinational companies increased prices by 15pc in 2013.”

Aamir Shafaat Khan in Karachi adds: The multinational companies had increased the prices by up to 50pc over the last one month, said chief of the Pakistan Chemists and Druggists Association (PCDA), Riyaz Hussain.

Talking by phone from Peshawar, he said local manufacturers of medicines would also increase the prices of their products.

“With decrease in the prices of petroleum products, various commodities are becoming cheaper. How can the production cost of these MNCs go up,” he wondered.

Mr Hussain said the PCDA condemned the hike in drug prices and would urge the government to waive general sales tax on medicines.

The association held a demonstration outside the Peshawar Press Club on Wednesday, demanding cut in drug prices.

http://www.dawn.com/news/1238769

MONSANTO TO PAY $80 MILLION TO SETTLE CHARGE OF IMPROPER ACCOUNTING

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International New York Times, FEB. 9, 2016

LIZ MOYER

Monsanto will pay $80 million in penalties to the Securities and Exchange Commission to settle claims that it misstated earnings after failing to properly account for the costs of a sales rebate program for its flagship herbicide product, Roundup.

The S.E.C. said Monsanto, an agribusiness giant based in St. Louis, had insufficient internal controls to properly track millions of dollars in rebates it offered to Roundup retailers and distributors. The rebates were part of a promotion that Monsanto ran after sales of a generic version of the product undercut its business in 2009.

Monsanto booked substantial revenue as a result of the sales promotion from 2009 through 2011, but it did not recognize related costs, which led it to misstate corporate profits over a three-year period.

It is one of the largest accounting-related settlements by the S.E.C. since Mary Jo White took over as chairman of the agency in 2013 with a plan to refocus on corporate accounting abuses as investigations related to the financial crisis were ending.

Accounting cases more than doubled, to 114 through September 2015, from 53 for the same period in 2013. Last June, the S.E.C. struck a $190 million civil settlement with Computer Sciences Corp. and charged eight former employees and executives with manipulating financial results.

“Corporations must be truthful in their earnings releases to investors and have sufficient internal accounting controls in place to prevent misleading statements,” Ms. White said on Tuesday.

Failing to recognize expenses related to rebates “is the latest page from a well-worn playbook of accounting misstatements,” she said.

Monsanto, which is neither admitting nor denying wrongdoing, also agreed to hire a consultant to review its financial reporting of rebate programs for its crop protection business. In a statement, the company said it previously disclosed the investigation and restated its earnings for 2009 through 2011 at the end of 2011.

“The company is pleased to put this matter behind it,” the statement said.

Monsanto’s chief executive, Hugh Grant, reimbursed the company $3,165,852 for cash bonuses and stock awards he received during the period in question, and its former chief financial officer, Carl Casale, returned $728,843 in compensation.

The S.E.C. said it did not find any personal misconduct on either man’s part and would not pursue clawbacks under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

In addition, three accounting and sales executives will also pay penalties totaling $185,000, and the accountants agreed to be temporarily suspended from practicing before the S.E.C.

Roundup, one of Monsanto’s most profitable products, began losing market share after competitors undercut its sales with cheaper generic brands. In 2009, Monsanto introduced a rebate program that would help make up for price reductions in the product in subsequent years if retailers and distributors met certain sales goals.

Roughly a third of Monsanto’s Roundup sales that year occurred in the fourth quarter, when the rebate program was introduced. Monsanto delayed reporting the costs of the rebate program until 2010.

A new rebate program was created in 2010, under which Monsanto paid $44.5 million to its two largest distributors. The program was repeated the next year, and Monsanto deferred recording the rebate costs from 2010 into 2011.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/10/business/dealbook/monsanto-to-pay-80-million-to-settle-charges-of-improper-accounting.html

Botched drug trial leaves one brain dead, five in hospital

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 Dawn, January 16th, 2016

PARIS: Six previously healthy medical volunteers were hospitalised last week_ including one man who is now brain dead _ after taking part in a botched drug test at a private clinic in western France, the French health ministry said on Friday.

The prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation into what French Health Minister Marisol Touraine called “an accident of exceptional gravity … without precedence” in France at the Biotrial lab in Rennes.

The drug trial, which was testing a new painkiller compound, involved 90 healthy volunteers who were given the experimental drug in varying doses, she told reporters at a news conference in Rennes. All six hospitalized men were between 28 and 49 and were healthy when the trial began on Jan 7, she said, adding that one man now classified as brain dead was admitted to the Rennes hospital on Sunday.

The chief neuroscientist at the hospital in Rennes, Professor Gilles Edan, said there was no known antidote to the experimental drug that Biotrial was testing. It’s rare for volunteers to fall seriously ill when testing new drugs.

Researchers generally start with the lowest possible dose for humans after extensive drug tests on animals. The French ministry statement said those who fell ill had taken an oral medication in the first phase of testing, which was studying safe usage, tolerance and other measures on healthy volunteers.

Biotrial, with headquarters in Rennes and offices in London and New Jersey, United States, said it had over 25 years of experience in clinical trials and always used “state-of-the-art facilities.”

http://www.dawn.com/news/1233293

Corporate hegemony over seed sector

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By AZRA TALAT SAYEED

Dawn, Business & Finance weekly, January 18th, 2016

THE Standing Committee of the National Assembly approved the Plant Breeders’ Rights Act on Jan 6. The story has taken 20 years in telling people that the current Plant Breeders’ Rights Act lies in the corporate interest.

The country is in an extremely vulnerable situation be it the economic hardship faced due to shrinking productivity, escalating hunger and malnutrition, or the multiple faces of climate change in the form of heat wave, drought or floods. To these factors may be added the WTO trade-related Intellectual Property Rights Agreement.

The backbone of the economy is still largely agriculture not only for food security but for the livelihood of the most vulnerable people. Farming is also a crucial raw material provider to our industries particularly cotton for our most thriving textile sector.

The consistent interest of international aid agencies such as the United States Aid for International Development (USAID) and Australian Aid Agency (DFAT) is very visible in the agriculture sector encompassing the farm land, policy arena and universities. This interest is tied to their self interest as agriculture is a lucrative sector for their corporate businesses. And the seed sector is a critical area in this context. The amended Seed Act 2015 was part of the agenda to promote corporate interest in Pakistan’s agriculture.

The Plant Breeders’ Rights are similar to patent systems, meant to prohibit the unauthorised use of a plant variety that is ‘owned’ by a plant breeder. Specialists explain that the PBR laws as applied only to plants, and hence are among the class of sui generis systems, that is, special purpose systems. For a plant breeder to be granted PBR, the variety has to meet conditions of being distinct, stable in successive generations and with uniform characteristics. Plant breeders have to seek intellectual property (IP) protection in every country where they want to commercially produce their plant variety.

The corporate seed sector, much of which is based in the rich industrialized North and their powerful governments, has insisted that all WTO member states comply with a harmonized minimum level of IP protection

This is the crux of the matter. Giant seed corporations who now claim ‘ownership’ over genetic material are using it to produce new so-called GMOs, such as Bt cotton, golden rice or other hundreds of genetically modified seeds and plants.

The corporate seed sector, much of which is based in the rich industrialised North, and their powerful governments, has insisted that all WTO member-states comply with a harmonised minimum level of IP protection.

The International Convention (treaty) for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants was first adopted in 1961. This treaty in its earlier years basically catered to industrialised countries when IP on living things were forbidden. The treaty has been revised many times and the last time in 1991.

The treaty is considered highly dangerous to not only farmers but Earth’s biodiversity as conditions of stability and uniformity rely on very few genes.

The vast array of genetic resources is critical to the survival of ecological zones and systems. The myopic intervention in the agriculture system can result in wide spread disease and disaster as seen in the Bt cotton harvest season in 2015.

According to the 1991 treaty, if a farmer has sown a field with protected variety, he/she is liable for infringement and can end up paying penalty as is specified in the PBR laws. It needs to be stressed that the PBR will take away the ability of farmers to save and exchange seeds and economise on costs.

For the small and landless farmers, the Plant Breeders’ Rights Act will result in a fresh wave of financial hardships. The indigenous, traditional methods and systems of food production are all at risk.

However, there is still time. Agriculture is a provincial subject as per the 18th Amendment. It is critical that this PBR legislative process should be brought under the ambit of the provincial assemblies and opened for farmers’ consultation. We cannot afford to have our seed sector governed by the giant corporate.

azra.sayeed@gmail.com

http://www.dawn.com/news/1233611/corporate-hegemony-over-seed-sector

Media sensitisation workshop: PMKT underscores need for ‘effective’ land reforms

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June 14, 2014

RECORDER REPORT

Farmers’ rights organisation demanded an end of feudal system, and land reforms against unjust distribution of water and agricultural lands, and stressed need for formulation of effective policy to tackle issues relating to food-insecurity in the country.

This was stated by Wali Haider, General Secretary Pakistan Mazdoor Kissan Tehreek (PMKT) while speaking at media sensitisation workshop on land reforms, organised in collaboration with the Roots for Equity at Peshawar Press Club on Friday. Other speakers include PMKT social organiser Asif Khan and Malik Rab Nawaz, Gohar and Osama from Roots for Equity. A large number of media persons from print and electronic media organisations participated in the awareness session.

PMKT representative said the feudal class alongside with capitalists is exploiting the workers and peasants with a greater speed. He demanded the control of local communities over their natural resources and an end of exploitation of natural resources by the multinational companies.

Calling for proper legislation for equal distribution of farmlands, the participants stressed the need for launching awareness initiatives for getting rid of the feudal system. They further stressed giving maximum autonomy in decision making for sowing various seeds and crops.

Wali Haider said the issue of growing food insecurity could only be tackled by ensuring equal distribution of agricultural lands among small growers through effective land reforms in the country. According to survey report of UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), he said approximately one billion people are facing hunger and malnutrition, while the official figure stated that 50 percent people are living below poverty line in the country, he maintained.

Stressing the need for equal distribution of agricultural lands among farmers, he said successive governments had failed to introduce an efficient land-reform policy, adding that farmers were being deprived of their rights in absence of a tangible policy. “We need to free the country from the clutches of feudal class, which can only be made possible through an organised movement,” he maintained.

Opposing the enactment of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Seeds Act 2014, he termed the legislation against the right of small growers, through which multinational companies could gain monopoly and bound the farmers to purchase seed from only registered companies. Regarding reports imposition of agriculture-tax and seed-tax by KP government in coming fiscal budget, he said both federal and provincial government prime obligation to protect the right of small growers, and would make consultation before formulation of any policies in the agriculture sector. “A sustainable agriculture policy should be formulated and efforts should be made for capacity-building of small and poor farmers. They should be equipped with modern know-how and harvesting tools,” the participants stressed.

Equitable distribution of agriculture land, water stressed

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Published in Dawn, June 14th, 2014

By Ali Hazrat Bacha

PESHAWAR: Speakers at a media sensitisation workshop on Friday stressed the need for equitable distribution of agricultural land and water among the people to bring an end to capitalism and feudalism in the country to overcome the issues pertaining to food insecurity.

They insisted land reforms had become extremely necessary, mainly under the current circumstances, where the elected assemblies were working to support the ‘agenda’ of multinational companies by approving new laws.

The workshop was organised by Pakistan Mazdoor Kissan Tehreek (PMKT) in collaboration with NGO Roots for Equity at the Peshawar Press Club on Friday.

Representatives of print, electronic and broadcast media attended the event in large numbers.

Those spoke on the occasion include, PMKT general secretary Wali Haider, PMKT social organiser Asif Khan and Malik Rab Nawaz, Gohar and Osama from Roots for Equity.

Wali Haider said the issue of the growing food insecurity could only be tackled by ensuring equal distribution of agricultural land and irrigational water among small growers, chiefly among landless people, through effective land reforms in the country.He said according to a report of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, around one billion people in the world faced acute hunger and malnutrition, while the official figures suggested 50 per cent of the country’s population lived below the poverty line.

The PMKT general secretary said 70 per cent people were in need of food and therefore, their children had the only option to search whatever leftover eatable items they could find in garbage dumps.

He stressed the need for equal distribution of agricultural land among landless farmers, saying the successive governments had failed to introduce an efficient land reform policy and therefore, multinational companies had tightened their control on the country’s affairs.

Wali Haider said farmers were denied rights due to the government’s indifference.

“We need to free the country from the clutches of feudal lords, which can only be made possible through an organised movement to be supported by people of all segments of the society,” he said.

The PMKT general secretary expressed reservations about the tabling of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Seed Bill 2014 and said the proposed law was an attempt of the government to deprive small growers of food.

“If the bill is approved, the provincial government will force farmers to purchase seeds from multinational companies instead of preserving seeds of various crops and vegetables through traditional methods,” he said.

Wali Haider voiced concern about the idea of imposing agriculture and seed taxes in the province and said the government should ensure protection of the rights of small growers in consultation with stakeholders before making such moves.

He said a sustainable agriculture policy should be formulated, while efforts should be made for the capacity building of small, poor farmers.

“Small growers should be equipped with modern farming techniques and harvesting tools,” he said.

Other experts complained feudal lords along with capitalists were exploiting workers and farmers and therefore, local communities should be given the control of their natural resources.

They demanded effective end to exploitative policies of feudal lords and capitalists through legislation as well as equal distribution of farmlands.

 

National Consultation on Aid and Food Sovereignty held in Lahore

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Lahore – Over 25 leading farmers’ organization and support NGOs from four provinces in Pakistan – Sindh, Punjab, Islamabad and the Northwest Frontier Province – gathered in Lahore on June 12 and 13 to converge in the National Consultation on Aid Effectiveness and Food Sovereignty, with the aim of formally establishing a nationwide network of CSOs working for Food Sovereignty in the country.

The event was organized by the Roots for Equity in cooperation with the People’s Coalition on Food Sovereignty (PCFS) and the Country Outreach Team (CORT) of the Reality of Aid network. The Roots for Equity is a non-government organization which was formed with a clear agenda of being part of the anti-globalization movement in general, and supporting and strengthening Pakistani peasant movements to create a force against market economy forces in the agriculture sector. The consultation aims to present the impact of the current food and agricultural problems in Pakistan; impart the imperatives of Agrarian Reform and Food Sovereignty as a platform for different urban and rural sectoral organizations in policy advocacy and campaign against hunger, poverty and landlessness; and form a network of CSOs that will advance such advocacies.

Delegates actively participated in the consultation by sharing their experiences on the impacts of ODA-supported projects, land-grabbing, corporate agriculture, climate change and natural disasters. They also criticized the ineffective response of the Pakistan government specifically in helping the smallholder farmers on the perceived worsening poverty, hunger and landlessness in the rural areas of the land.

Antonio Tujan Jr., PCFS co-chair and director of IBON International discussed in his keynote speech the importance of engaging Aid Effectiveness issues especially in Agriculture and Rural Development. He also discussed the current global agrarian problems and how to address them within the food sovereignty framework. In his speech, Tujan defined food sovereignty as the right of peoples, communities and countries to determine their own production systems related to agricultural labor, fishing, food and land and associated policies which are ecologically, socially, economically and culturally appropriate to their unique circumstances.

Before the event was concluded, an interim steering council was formed composed of representatives from the four provinces of Pakistan and shall draft a program of action for the newly established network based on the workshop results.

Home-based Women Labor of Pakistan

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Unacknowledged Treasures: The Home-based Women Labor of Pakistan [pdf]

A recent publication by Roots for Equity on Home-Based Women Labor in Pakistan.

Globalization has greatly intensified inequities for the poor, markedly felt by the most vulnerable marginalized groups in society, especially women. Neoliberal policies since the 1970s have led to deregulation and privatization of the economic system and have promoted the broadening of the informal sector labor economy with various forms of underpaid and insecure work expanding such as contractual, temporary as well as piece rate work. Piece rate work is carried out at home, in squatter settlement neighborhoods as well as in the rural areas. Although men are also part of this labor force, it is believed that a vast majority of home-based work is carried out by women; this particular labor sector is now often labeled as homebased
workers (HBWs).

The global phenomenon of increase in the number of home-based workers, as well as intensification of the quantity and category of work in this sector has also been felt in the Pakistan’s informal labor sector. It is well understood, that Pakistan has some of the worst social, legal, political and economic indicators when it comes to providing better opportunities to women in society. It is also a fact that neoliberal policies have played a major role in increasing inflation in the country such that the cost of living has increased at least by 21 percent in the past few years.

With daunting rise in poverty in the past decade, these factors would tend to exacerbate the socio-economic conditions of women in the informal sector. However, no data, especially government statistics are available in this context. Various documents related to the socio-economic conditions of home-based women
workers (HBWWs) provide statistics on the number of HBWWs in Pakistan; however, no concrete national research has been conducted on the enumeration of HBWWs, nor their labor conditions. This research fills that gap.