World order based on people’s participation, morality to bring peace, sustainable development: President

ISLAMABAD,: President Dr Arif Alvi on Monday reiterated his call for a world order characterized by the participation of the populace and steadfast adherence to moral principles to serve as the cornerstones for ensuring enduring peace and sustainable development. The president, addressing the inaugural plenary titled “Navigating the Road to Recovery, Resilience and Optimism” under the 26th Sustainable Development Conference held by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), highlighted the shortcomings of the Westphalian model in the establishment of peace and also questioned the world’s double standards to deal with the conflicts.

The theme of the three-day conference is “Light at the End of the Tunnel: Hope in Times of Despair”. The president told the gathering of diplomats, think tanks, researchers and academia that the world had spent around $10 trillion of the taxpayers’ money on the “weapons of mutual destruction” which reflected the priorities of the people. He said instead just $1 trillion of the said money was enough to address the challenges of poverty and illiteracy while highlighting that around 27 million children in Pakistan were yet out of school. Rejecting the justifications for the ongoing war in Gaza, he said the war had never been the solution to the conflicts and that peace was inevitable for sustainable development. He also questioned whether the killings in Gaza would make the suffering people think for peace or have a reaction. He said unfortunately the vested interests had overridden the rules. Coming to the modern-day challenges, President Alvi said unlike the nuclear bombs, dealt by the states, modern ear tools like artificial intelligence had individual control that could have far-reaching impacts. He said human intellectual development was going faster than its ability to use the available technological tools. President Alvi said that considering its exponential change, he had pinned hopes on the human intellect as currently, humans with even simple and basic knowledge were making a difference. Earlier in her address, Special Assistant to PM on Human Rights and Women Empowerment Mushaal Mullick said sustainable development and women were intertwined as women played the role of catalyst for change. Emphasizing women’s political and financial inclusion, she urged the government and non-government organisations to address the hindrances in the progress. She said as women were instrumental in sustainable development, their education and empowerment were a must to achieve the desired results. In his address, SDPI Executive Director Abid Qayyum Sulehri said the three-day moot was being attended by over 200 speakers from 19 countries including Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, China, Germany, Italy, India, Kenya, Nepal, Norway, Qatar, Thailand, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, the UK and the USA. He said over the next three days, delegates of the Conference would be discussing the way forward in these tumultuous times of political and economic turmoil, marked by uncertainty and despair due to multiple crises, climate change, and the ongoing conflicts in different regions of the world. Director General, Islamic Organization for Food Security; and Director, Food Security Department, Ministry of Municipality and Environment, State of Qatar Dr Masoud Jarallah Al-Marri also addressed the conference and highlighted the Organization’s role and commitment for food security and sustainable development.