Becoming our own masters
A mentoring workshop helps one realise that the basic development mantra is 'give and take'
By Nabeel Khan
Early this year, I had the opportunity to be a part of The Citizens Foundation's (TCF) Rahbar programme which was a set of mentoring workshops conducted under the auspices of the TCF schools. Established in 1995 by a group of like-minded citizens in Karachi, the TCF aims to provide quality education to the less-privileged youth, focusing mainly on primary and secondary education.

She set the tone
Begum Tazeen Faridi, has been a staunch supporter of women rights all her life
By Sheher Bano
Sitting at APWA headquarters in Karachi, in the busy Sadder area, for an interview with Begum Tazeen Faridi, Patron, APWA, where she was supposed to come for a regular monthly meeting at 11.30am, I heard her usual strong voice echo in the reception room at 11.15am. The lady reached ahead of schedule -- a habit she has never abandoned during the past many decades. According to the APWA ladies sitting there, Begum Faridi, as she is lovingly called by all her colleagues and friends, still takes keen interest in the affairs of APWA despite being in her late 80s.

The unexpected rapprochement between India and Pakistan in Sharm-al-Sheikh (through their respective prime ministers) is the news of the day. While any step in the direction of peace between the two neighbours is always welcome, it is important to bear in mind that there has been talk of peace for many years now – albeit interspersed with periodic periods of outright hostility – and it is therefore necessary to view this most recent development in a long-term perspective.

I believe that the 'peace process' of the past few years has been driven less by internal factors to both countries than it has by the regional geo-politics. Let me explain by way of a digression: Washington and other western capitals are awash with praise for the Pakistani military's ongoing military offensive against Taliban fighters in the Swat Valley and the South Waziristan tribal agency in the northwest of the country. It is said that the Pakistanis finally mean business after years of futility. Over these years some argued that the Pakistani military lacked the capacity to fight unconventional war, but over time more and more observers became convinced that the question was of will rather than capacity. By most accounts, Islamabad has finally generated the will to act.

It is reasonable to believe that the breaking point came after the Mumbai attacks last October. For the best part of two decades Delhi had been accusing the Pakistanis of supporting what it calls 'cross-border terrorism' in Kashmir. The exhortations did not produce meaningful changes, largely because prevailing geo-political currents were not favourable. But since the beginning of the 'war on terror', India and the United States have established that their interests in this region are increasingly aligned, particularly vis a vis Islamabad's patronage of jihadi groups in Kashmir and Afghanistan respectively.

When the Mumbai attacks happened, the Indian military was put on high alert. What transpired subsequently one cannot say but eventually Manmohan Singh's government decided to exercise restraint while Washington promised to pressurise Pakistan to dismantle the infrastructure of groups such as the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba that had long been accused of being the instigators of anti-state violence in Kashmir. Presumably the incoming Obama administration made clear to Islamabad that it expected action on the western front alongside confidence building measures vis a vis India.

While the Pakistani military is said to have made major progress on the Afghan front, one gets the impression that Delhi has not been convinced by Islamabad's overtures on 'cross-border terrorism' in Kashmir over the past few months. But the complex strategic equation in the region and in particular the geo-political imperatives of the United States have ensured that the spectre of Indo-Pak war has receded, at least for the time being. As I stated at the outset, amidst all of this posturing, it is pertinent to ask just how much meaning one can attribute to the Indo-Pak peace initiative.

Even before the meeting of the two prime ministers in Egypt, Manmohan Singh and Asif Zardari crossed paths on the sidelines of another international summit in Russia last month. Immediately prior to this meeting, Pakistan's superior courts ordered the release of the man Delhi believes to be the mastermind of the October attacks, Hafiz Saeed. Subsequently both the Punjab provincial government headed by the Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) at the centre have requested the Supreme Court to review the decision of the Lahore High Court. It would not be a surprise if the legal process drags on for many weeks, if not months. Even if it does not, the fact is that a consensus within the various institutions of the Pakistani state on reigning in jihadi organizations remains elusive.

As the military offensive in Swat and Waziristan has proceeded, a very deliberate media campaign has seen the Pakistani Taliban being ungraciously removed from the pedestal of holy warriors that they hitherto occupied and transformed into agents of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) that are hell-bent on undermining the territorial integrity of the Pakistani state. For those of us in Pakistan who have been skeptical of a Washington-prodded 'change' in foreign and strategic policy, the war propaganda is hardly surprising. In effect, the military establishment is attempting to distinguish 'good Taliban' from 'bad Taliban', and if the rapturous applause being heard in western capitals is any indicator, it is enjoying initial success.

A close look at the American strategy in Afghanistan suggests a very similar binary in that country, notwithstanding the troop 'surge'. Thus, to some extent, Pakistan is simply parroting its patron. While India perceives its relationship with the United States to be more equal, the fact is that it has put all of its eggs in Washington's basket, and it is clear that this strategy has moved us no closer to a lasting and sustainable peace.

This does not mean that India should have attacked Pakistan in the aftermath of the Mumbai bombings. Indeed, to the extent that Delhi realized that the elected government in Pakistan was weak and in no position to genuinely challenge the security establishment's monopoly over strategic and foreign affairs, it was wise not to instigate conflict.

But much more wisdom is required. Peace between India and Pakistan – one that the ordinary people of both countries would benefit from tremendously – cannot be secured by riding American backs. Neither, for that matter, can it be expected that internal vested interests that have cashed in on enmity for the best part of six decades will engineer a peace dividend of their own accord. Only the will of the people can usher in a lasting peace, and it can do so even in the face of opposition from state establishments and war-mongering from all quarters. In Pakistan and India both this requires people to take on the militarism of their respective states, and moving beyond the myth that 'partnership' with the United States can paper over the cracks in the relationship between us.

According to poll findings by the non-profit US-based World Public Opinion on July 1, Four out of five Pakistanis say US remote-controlled drone missile attacks in Waziristan are "unjustified" and nine in ten Pakistanis say the United States abuses its power in its relations with Pakistan.

As significant as these findings are, they went unreported in the US media and were buried in the Pakistani media coverage of the poll. The question is why?

In two out of three English news dailies, Pakistani coverage focused on the findings that nearly seven in ten Pakistanis support government action against the home-grown Taliban and the Taliban-backed militants in the Swat Valley and adjoining areas. Also, the coverage highlighted that Pakistani support of religious-backed militant groups has dropped significantly since 2007. The findings related to the drone attacks were relegated as an afterthought.

It is no secret that President Obama has ordered an increase in drone attacks on suspected Taliban hideouts since taking office in January 2009.

The BBC notes that more than half of the 40 drone attacks have struck Al Qaeda targets inside Pakistan since the start of this year.

It also is no secret that the Pakistani government is implicitly backing the CIA-led attacks in Waziristan though neither President Asif Ali Zardari nor Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani will admit this publicly.

Pakistan's US Ambassador Husain Haqqani, however, admitted as much at a June 20 townhall meeting in a Washington DC suburb. But no one reported on this public gathering though there are correspondents from at least half a dozen Pakistani outlets in the area.

At that meeting, Ambassador Haqqani said no US action can occur in Pakistan "without the government's permission."

After ascertaining that there was no Pakistani media in the crowd, Haqqani defended the drone attacks, saying they have been "extremely successful" in rooting out al Qaeda leaders in Waziristan. He also questioned the veracity of media reports of civilian deaths, noting that Pakistani jet strikes in Swat have caused "more collateral damage" than the US drone attacks, which are carefully targeted.

Haqqani refuted the notion that US drone attacks are a threat to national sovereignty. Instead, he said, "al Qaeda is the one that is the real threat to our sovereignty."

More interesting than Haqqani's admission is the speech that Imran Khan, the chairman of Tehrik-e-Insaaf party, gave on June 17 at the non-profit New America Foundation, which is headed by Steven Coll, the Pulitzer Prize winning author of Ghost Wars: the Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001, among others.

The former cricket star-turned politician said the US-led drone attacks have not "achieved anything" apart from targeting innocent civilians. But he stopped short of demanding that the United States end these attacks.

In fact, Mr. Khan did not once in his entire 45-minute impassioned speech call upon the Obama administration to rethink or rescind its policy of sending remote-controlled drones into Pakistani territory.

And now Mr. Khan, who in the past has called for an end to US drone attacks, could not bring himself to say as much in the United States and has subsequently not said a word.

Likewise, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has not uttered a word of protest on the drone attacks since the cases against him were removed by Pakistan's Supreme Court.

The government prefers to remain publicly "clueless" because it wants public support for military action in Swat and Waziristan, but does not want to be seen as using US drones to attack its own people. And because, the elected government wants to propagate the myth that it responded to public sentiment in carrying out the military operation in Swat, an endeavour in which it has succeeded as the polls show. It also wants to promote the myth that only a retired military dictator like former President Pervez Musharraf could compromise national sovereignty by permitting US drone attacks. No political party, PPP, PML or Tehrik-e-Insaaf, wants to be responsible for civilian deaths caused by drones, preferring to blame the military.

The media's attitude is troubling. Neither of these talks were covered by the Pakistani media, perhaps because they were unaware, which is doubtful. And why hasn't the Pakistani media, both at home and abroad, reported the sudden silence espoused by the political leaders, especially the Sharif Brothers and Imran Khan, after spending months condemning the US attacks.

The US media is not absolved of responsibility either. It has sacrificed objectivity by toeing the official White House line. This was most evident in 2003 when the New York Times and the Washington Post led the cheerleading squad in supporting the Iraqi invasion on false premises. Now, the media in collusion with talking heads are justifying the drone attacks. They say Pakistan has given refuge to al Qaeda, which is launching attacks against the hapless US ground troops in Afghanistan, or so claimed by Ken Pollack, director of Brooking Institute's Saban Center, in a June 29 discussion on the nationally syndicated Diane Rehm Show.

The US media has forgotten that the US invasion of Afghanistan back in 2001 was responsible for driving al Qaeda into Pakistan in the first place. There is no doubt that al Qaeda followers fled into Pakistan after the 2001 invasion and that al Qaeda has found sympathisers in the tribal areas. But Pakistan's political leaders, in government and in opposition, as well as those in the US should have the guts to declare that "we are using US assistance to target al Qaeda to free the nation from extremists who abuse our hospitality and threaten our sovereignty and security."

The politicians in both countries would be surprised by how much support they can get by just telling the truth. If the idea is to win Pakistani public opinion then the governments of both countries should publicly acknowledge the attacks and the media should stop reporting them as "suspected attacks," when the truth is otherwise.

Domestic and international trade volumes are the functions of an economy. The whole cobweb of human, financial, technological, industrial, agricultural, and political factors play their role in producing specialised surplus for trade. The structure of an economy and system of resource allocation determines whether a country will export low-end potato-chips or become internationally competitive in high-end computer-chips. Success in gaining competitiveness in international trade is not simply a function of comparative advantage but an expression of a multitude of complex factors which help build competitive advantages in diversified range of products through acquisition of technological capability and human capital.

Despite claims from the trade policy orthodoxy that trade liberalisation results in specialisation and ultimately increases the efficient allocation of scarce resources, the issue of purposefully building competitive advantages is crucial. In the words of Albert Hirschman, identification of those products and processes which can create a 'multidimensional conspiracy for development' is of fundamental importance for any national economy which strives to gain from international exposure. Unleashing such potentials is a function of public and private sector synergy working to progressively grow from being 'infants industries' to highly competitive adults.

How can one assess the success of trade policy in Pakistan which shows following liberalisation modalities?

Liberalization, despite the rhetoric of orthodoxy, does not necessarily create a level playing field. It creates a relatively open arena for those who have become stronger and can penetrate foreign markets or can defend domestic share of the market with relative ease. The rest are either cornered or eliminated from the market. Therefore, who gains and who loses is of prime importance under liberalisation. In other words, who, how, and how much will be accumulated, produced and consumed makes a perfect sense for heterodox economic thinking which advocates social efficiency along with economic efficiency of resource allocations.

According to a human development perspective, the analysis of a trade policy has to be undertaken to assess whether the policy has actually increased employment or not other than its impact on economic growth and trade to GDP ratio. Researchers argue that the impact of trade policy on 'sustainability' in terms of environment and other social factors such as health and education, 'empowerment' in terms of employment creation, 'equity' in terms of distribution of opportunities and wealth, and 'productivity' in terms of human capital must be assessed. Such an assessment is conspicuous by its absence in Pakistan.

Though Pakistan is set to announce another trade policy, evaluation of trade policy regimes from a human development perspective is still a hope against hope.

What Pakistan is bracing itself during these times, is a fall in trade to GDP ratio and progressive erosion of competitiveness in key sectors despite 20 odd years of liberalisation and other neoliberal reforms. During this fiscal year 2008-09, Pakistan witnessed exports of US $17.78 billion against the target of $22.1 billion while the imports stood at $34. 82 billion against last year's imports of $ 39.96 billion. Looking at these basic figures on international trade, experts emphasise that Pakistan needs to increase its exports, identify and target new markets, and develop diversified products.

This is however easier said than done in a state which has forgotten to govern both the markets and economic growth. In addition to the declining capacity of the state, an appetite suppressant tight monetary policy is there to reduce aggregate demand in the economy.

As mentioned above, the role of the state is vital in economic change. It is vital in creating an environment for trade benefiting the people and is actually embedded in, apart from providing a stable macro-economic framework, the ability to envision, develop, and execute industry, trade, and technology (ITT) policies which are in sync with the larger economic development objectives of the state. Many experts who approach trade policy from a human and industrial development perspective argue that for an economy to function at optimal level, the state needs to focus on the domestic market expansion as well. They argue that creating backward and forward linkages through inter-sectoral articulation (developing domestic commerce) and wage and skill increases through social articulation are keys for economic success with equity.

Famous trade economist, Dani Rodrik, argues that economic growth can come from three sources. One is from foreign borrowing (Pakistan is one of the examples), the other one is from commodity boom in international market, and the third one comes from economic restructuring and diversification into new products. For Pakistan, during the next couple of years, despite ongoing stabilisation programme, a conscious decision is required to divert administrative and financial resources for diversification of products and destinations.

To do this, what Pakistan needs is to focus on ITT policies and have an active labour policy. Pakistan needs to indentify a mix of products which are can generate higher proportion of increasing returns to scale. A good starting point for such thinking would be to focus on a combination of industrial, agricultural, and livestock sector. For example, Sahiwal and Sargodha are the areas in which 'dairy development cluster' can be most successful. However, for such programmes, governments need to change resource allocations in a big way. For example, in total Rs150 billion has been earmarked for Public Secctor Development Programme in Punjab. Out of this, around Rs30 billion will be spent on the Ring Road in Lahore. Lahore indeed is important for many commercial and political reasons but Sargodha and Sahiwal can also create more conducive situation for local market and human development.

Another good proposal could be to earmark research and development subsidies for agro-food industries. However, these subsidies only make rich people more rich if these are not reciprocal to the performance firms show in the domestic and international markets. With successful research and development efforts and as a result of both product and process innovations, Pakistani firms can join global value chains and global production networks in a better way.

While a new trade policy is in the offing, it would not be wrong to suggest that it should not be a mere ritual of tariff and subsidy manipulations but a coherent vision for a structural transformation of the economy. The importance of inter-linkages between industry, trade, technology, and social policies have to be carved out if Pakistan wants to be a successful globaliser dissociating itself to be a laggard.

The writer is independent development consultant based in Islamabad. www.idi.org.pk

People have taken to the streets in Pakistan on the fuel prices issues these days. A political turmoil is on the cards and there is fear of a rift between the executive and the judiciary on the issue.

While the issue gets overly politicised, nobody seems serious about the alterative energy resources and measures to enhance fuel efficiency, which could reduce Pakistan's dependence on fossil fuel that creates stupendous import bills for successive governments.

In 2008, the sitting federal government announced an energy conservation policy which still awaits proper implementation. Moreover, highlighting the consumption of fuel in Pakistan, a recent report of the Judicial Commission, headed by Supreme Court's justice Rana Bhagwandas probing the petroleum pricing mechanism, has revealed that oil marketing companies (OMCs) have earned a windfall profit of Rs29.371 billion during the last seven years.

A financial summary of seven major OMCs, exposed in the commission's report, showed that their net profits increased from Rs8.266 billion in 2001-02 to Rs29.371 billion in 2007-08, marking an increase of 355.3 percent. The OMCs earned this windfall profit after the Oil Companies Advisory Committee (OCAC), a direct beneficiary of oil business, was allowed to determine the oil prices.

The commission has proposed designing short, middle, and long term strategies for oil pricing, consumption, and deregulation. According to the short-term strategies proposed in the findings, the commission suggested the government to take speedy measures for the formation of a committee of oil and energy experts, framing terms of reference for the committee for the medium- and long-term roadmap for an integrated energy policy.

Noted economist Dr Kaiser Bengali, while talking to TNS, said there is no short term solution. "Although there is decrease in the trend of fuel consumption, this is not a positive decrease,"" he said, adding, "The fuel consumption, these days, seems low because of industry crisis, power shortage, etc, which, actually, is negative decline." He urged the need to increase the fuel efficiency to manage the oil dependence. "I mean we need the same output with less energy. Of the total fuel consumption, 55 percent is that of diesel and the remaining 45 percent is consumed by the six to seven types of other fuels. 90 percent of fuel consumption in Pakistan is mainly due to goods transport which is done through trucks. This can be reduced by making the railways efficient. This will lower the cost and fuel consumption and if the goods trains are run with electricity there can be significant energy conservation. We need to shift from truck to rail."

Similarly, Bengali said, there is dire need to make a policy regarding changing the construction and architecture pattern of buildings, especially offices and houses. "This can reduce the use of air conditioners up to 70 percent," he said, adding, "Industry people are also wasting huge quantity of fuel. They don't know and they don't have means and resources to use modern techniques to save the fuel consumption and conserve it. There is need to change lifestyles to conserve energy instead of waging political wars on such issues against each other."

He viewed that actually there is no alternative energy plans and conservation measures by the government. "The government has made an organisation ENERCON (National Energy Conservation Centre) but it has done nothing except having a building in Islamabad and wasting the given resources. "There is no proper organisation or institution in Pakistan working on this issue, which needs urgent and important attention," he expressed.

Bengali gave the example of 1973 when United States of America started conserving energy because of increasing demands of fuel. The USA introduced a conservation policy and had been using the same quantity of fuel till 1983 as a result of the execution of that policy. He urged Pakistan to think on such lines seriously.

Enercon is an attached department of the federal ministry of Environment. It was established in 1987 and is supposed to serve "as the national focal point for energy conservation/energy efficiency activities in all sectors of the economy, including industry, agriculture, transport, building and domestic."

The strategy adopted by Enercon for promoting Energy Conservation is supposed to span a whole spectrum of activities, starting from identification of energy conservation opportunities and including technology demonstration, undertaking pilot projects, information and outreach, training and education, and development of plans and policies for promoting energy efficiency.

"However, the policies of the department are yet to be formally opted and made the part of Pakistani laws," to the Managing Director of the Enercon Fareedullah Khan told TNS.

Khan, a District Management Group (DMG) officer serving Enercon for the last one and a half year, said they have a very limited budget which is not more than 15 to 16 million rupees and 80 percent of it is spent on salaries. "We provide technical services and demonstration for energy conservation projects and methods of saving energy. We tune up the services."

Mentioning some progress, Khan said Enercon had prepared a building energy code, prepared suggestions for industry sector tuning upon the boilers, furnaces for energy saving. "However, the buildings codes are yet to be made the part of housing developing authorities' bylaws by the provinces." He said they also work in agriculture sector. He said the organisation has also prepared a draft law for energy conservation and sent it to the government, awaiting its fate.

The Enercon management is positive that at least 25 to 30 percent energy and fuel can be conserved by implementing these codes. Khan said they have also recommended to the government to make sure that every commercial and non commercial vehicle gets motor vehicle examination certificate regularly. He said, currently, only commercial vehicles require fitness certificate every year. "The proper maintenance of the car can reduce the consumption of the fuel up to 25 percent."

He said worsening gap between energy supply and demand, non sustainability of fossil fuels (limited oil and gas reserves), spiralling oil prices, lack of energy conservation culture and compounding poverty with political fallout were serious challenges to tackle the issue.

NESPAK (National Engineering Services Pakistan) prepared Building Energy Code of Pakistan which was developed around February 2008 on the demand of Enercon but has not been implemented yet. The purpose of the code is to provide minimum requirement for the energy-efficient design and construction of the buildings.

Email: vaqargillani@gmail.com

The summit of the world's eight powerful leaders (USA, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, UK) ended in L'Aquila Italy on July 10. The venue of the summit was shifted from La Maddalena, the original site for the Summit to L'Aquila. The move was to highlight and show solidarity to the victims of the earthquake which struck the Abruzzo region and Italy on 6 April. More than 300 people died and thousands suffered.

The annual leaders' summit is the most high-profile and important event in the G8 process, but that process does in fact cover the whole year, with meetings at the ministerial and ranking functionary levels. The main issues on the summit were: a response to the global economic and financial crisis; the restoration of grassroots confidence and a boost to growth on a more solid and balanced basis, also through the definition of new, shared ground rules for economic activities; a focus on the social aspect of employment, to help the weaker sectors of society both in the industrially advanced countries and in the poorer countries; the struggle against protectionism and the deregulation of world trade for everyone's benefit; the resolution of regional crises; food security and safety; and the struggle against climate changes.

In the backdrop of the financial and economic crises that hit most of the industrialised nations the summit had special significance to provide solutions to people suffering from job losses, reduced social security coverage and heavy losses on mortgages. However the final communiqué of the summit brought no clear hope or concrete solutions for the people suffering in developed world and those living in the global south.

The lack of energy and momentum by G8 leaders seriously undermined commitments to the millions of people desperately hoping for true leadership to help them in this time of global crisis. The communiqué released on July 10 was a collection of repeated assurances that the G8 would meet its promises but without any plan of action or semblance of reality.

The situation is critical: the global financial crisis looks set to push an extra 200 million into poverty – millions of people lacking education, healthcare, clean water, and sanitation and other basic services needed to escape poverty and tackle climate change and the Millennium Development Goals are currently set to be lost by a long shot. Every year the world fails to deliver the promised $50 billion in aid, meaning another year in which millions of lives are lost and millions more are trapped in poverty.

The communiqué also lacks any concrete and tangible plans to deal with the multiple crises of food, fuel, climate, finance and economy. Unfortunately the G8 leaders have once again failed to hear the cries of people living on the brink and must recognise that while they dine lavishly, over 1 billion people will sleep cold and hungry, mothers are forced to choose which child to feed, and by the end of the G8's 3-day meeting, 75,000 children will have died needlessly from preventable causes.

Though it is a welcoming sign that there was a greater transparency in reporting G8 progress towards the Millennium Development Goals, the G8 fails to recognise the need for swift action and systemic change to overcome the multiple crises affecting people across the world.

The response so far is like rearranging the deckchairs on the sinking Titanic, and from summit's statement it is clear they are now rushing for the lifeboats to save the privileged few – leaving the rest of the other to drown. The level of support for bank bailouts in one year is more than the total support for poverty eradication in the last 50 years. If the G8 fails to act with urgency and courage, and not puts people first, it betrays its own citizens and the rest of the world; and it raises yet again the illegitimacy of the G8.

The expectations from G8 leaders were actions in the following areas:

Accountability -- Rapid delivery on previous promises including specific details on how the G8 will meet Gleneagles commitments due in 2010.

A global package to support men, women and children living in poverty, deal with the triple-threat of food, financial and climate crises.

Urgent action to address the funding gap of over $15 billion to reach the goal of universal access to primary education.

Some of the concrete resolutions included agreement to keep global temperature rises below 2 degrees, and reduce emissions by 80 percent by 2050 in developed countries. However that too is without any indication of clear plan to achieving these goals with ambitious short-term targets. It is also recognised that failure to tackle climate change will thwart any efforts to eradicate poverty, with millions of poor people already suffering the effects of climate change; rising food prices and resource based conflict. In another bright spots of the summit, the statement commits $20 billion over 3 years for agriculture development, which is higher than expected. This aid for food must reach at least $23bn a year (by 2012) to reach the MDG goal of halving hunger by 2015.

The G8's disjointed approach to tackling climate change has so far led to a disappointing outcome at a critical meeting and reveals how rocky the short road to Copenhagen is going to be. A sustainable, durable and effective agreement on climate change rests on G8 members of MEF putting substantial resources aside for developing countries, above and beyond ODA, and setting clear short-term milestones for reducing emissions. The question is what is the G8 practically going to deliver on climate change by 2020?

At the conclusion of a G8 summit was heading for disaster, a last minute announcement of $20 billion to tackle the food crises provides a small glimmer of hope within a Summit that been characterised by a lack of ambition and no connection to the depths of crises affecting billions of men, women and children across the world. This commitment was only possible when emerging economies in the G20 bailed out the G8 with additional resources, an embarrassing situation for the world's leading economies. The $20 trillion of support for corporate bailouts in the past year is more than total spending on poverty eradication in the last 50 years, it can only be expected that the small promise of support for the food crises will not fall victim to the fate of previous commitments, which remain mostly undelivered. The inability of G8 countries to meet historical promises is a complete failure of moral leadership.

In other disappointments the Summit also failed to offer any concrete solution to Africa where the economic crisis is costing $245bn this year alone. The Africa discussion was relegated to an insultingly token session.

It is also important that the G8 and the largest industrialised countries must ensure that developing countries are given the necessary resources to leapfrog their growth to new technologies. Resources for mitigation and adaptation, above and beyond Overseas Development Aid, must now be distributed to ensure the poorest, including millions of men, women and children, do not pay the price for climate destruction wreaked by the richest countries.

G8's inaction in crucial areas with no timetable to meet its ODA commitments by 2010 and no financial support to guarantee a planet-saving deal is made possible at Copenhagen. It is not expected that the next meeting of the G20 in Pittsburgh will provide clear plans with short-term targets to overcome climate change and eliminate poverty.

On political side the summit also discussed the situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan and regional dimensions of the issues facing west and central Asia. The summit reaffirmed its commitment to promoting stability and development in both countries and the wider region, strengthening their capacity to counter terrorism, illicit trafficking and crime. For Pakistan the leaders assured their assistance to UN and humanitarian agencies to support a comprehensive strategy for providing relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction to IDPs. There are neither clear or concrete commitments nor any timeframe given to materialise this promise.

Early this year, I had the opportunity to be a part of The Citizens Foundation's (TCF) Rahbar programme which was a set of mentoring workshops conducted under the auspices of the TCF schools. Established in 1995 by a group of like-minded citizens in Karachi, the TCF aims to provide quality education to the less-privileged youth, focusing mainly on primary and secondary education.

The TCF Rahbar Programme was conceptualised to link people from different walks of life, who have a strong and genuine desire to be agents of change, with a group of 8th-grade students. Kids of this age were chosen because they would soon enter an adolescent life and assume charge of their own academic progress and of their family.

Eight mentoring sessions were held every Saturday for approximately three hours. This continued on for eight weeks. It was hoped that at the end of the exercise, both mentors and students would have gained exposure to each other's worlds. It was also meant to enable the students to make informed decisions in the future.

I was informed about the programme by an old friend who had taken part as a mentor in the Karachi instalment -- the project had come to Punjab for the first time. As I entered the premises of this school near Wagha Border, I was surprised at the beauty of the campus building which could put many of our public and private schools to shame.

"Why should the architecturally sound and aesthetically beautiful buildings be made just for the rich, leaving makeshift schools for the poor?" I wondered. As I sat in my chair, rubbing my palms to keep me warm in the cold, I was introduced to a group of individuals of different ages and 'shapes and sizes'. I was told that we were now part of the 'elite' -- a group of mentors with the responsibility of giving students some food for thought. Two mentors were to be attached with a group of five to six kids to ensure that each student got individual attention. This also made the groups manageable for their respective mentors.

Most of the exercises we took provided us with an opportunity to interact with the students who, with time, began to open up.

At the outset, the focus was on understanding an individual's past and present, the series of the events that occurred in their lives, and the people who shaped their personality and traits. We got to share our experiences and fears and tried to help each other in finding ways to deal with them.

What impressed me the most about the programme was its interactive approach. The aim was to find out, as much as possible, about children in a group -- their likes and dislikes and aims in life.

My favourite activity was 'Genie in a bottle' wherein students were asked to make three wishes. Students and mentors took turns. Although most of the wishes we made were similar, the ingenuity with which everyone expressed themselves was very touching.

The classroom discussion on career paths and progressions was also very interesting. It was built around the 'what if' scenario, meant to provoke the students to think in terms of success and failure. The crux of the argument was the importance given to learning skills as opposed to just education in order to enable a person to earn their livelihood. This particular exercise was completely grounded in reality, especially for girls who had not been able to finish their education because of societal pressures.

As a part of an outdoor activity, the students were shown the elite police force training sessions, a theatre, the science museum and the Lahore Fort. The purpose of these outdoor activities was to enable the students to develop interest in sciences as well as arts and examine their career choices in depth. Since both the mentors and the students went together, it was a lot of fun and frolic, reminiscent of my school bus excursions.

The role of mindset and social behaviour in determining career paths was also discussed. In our conventional schools, we are hardly ever taught how to deal with failure or with conflicts as a result of which we usually label ourselves as 'losers' and 'victims of circumstance'. The message incorporated in the programme was that instead of taking a reactive approach, a positive and pro-active stance should help these soon-to-be adolescents achieve better in life.

At the end of the session, mentors were required to collects from the students the letters they had addressed to themselves to be read at a later point. These letters that supposedly carry the promise of change, will be opened at the year's end in a mentor-student re-union, and discussed.

Working in the development sector for quite sometime now, I have become accustomed to the harsh realities of life. Although the mentoring program did not have a 'wow factor' for me, it did make me realise that we should find ways to spread whatever knowledge we have about the world, to the children of our country regardless of where they hail from.

Sitting at APWA headquarters in Karachi, in the busy Sadder area, for an interview with Begum Tazeen Faridi, Patron, APWA, where she was supposed to come for a regular monthly meeting at 11.30am, I heard her usual strong voice echo in the reception room at 11.15am. The lady reached ahead of schedule -- a habit she has never abandoned during the past many decades. According to the APWA ladies sitting there, Begum Faridi, as she is lovingly called by all her colleagues and friends, still takes keen interest in the affairs of APWA despite being in her late 80s.

Dressed in a casual printed pastel blue Shalwar Kameez, with no "Begum Sahiba" look on her face, holding her brown walking stick, Begum Faridi was both amused and worried when told that a journalist was waiting to interview her. Of late, she has started avoiding press, as she herself admits, "I have lost track of a lot of events and their details." After recognising me, she became relaxed, because we had often met on many occasions in the past.

Begum Faridi is a staunch supporter of women's rights declaring them as "human rights" but she conditions that if women lead their lives according to the cannons of Islam they will automatically be able to get these rights. "We never understood Islam in its true sense. The rights for all are enshrined in the basic teachings of Islam and are documented in the statue book called the Holy Qur'an, long before the historic Human Rights Charter of the United Nations was written." She says that the implementation of all these laws is only possible if women and youth raise their voice unanimously and political representatives take up the issue in the parliament.

Born in 1920, Begum Faridi's mother came from Kakor Sharif and father from Lucknow; her religious background has a lot to do with her mother's family. Educated at Lucknow University and having excelled in many languages the major being English, French and Persian, Begum Faridi did her MA in Philosophy and postgraduate diploma in applied Psychology. She won a gold medal in social psychology at the University. Begum Faridi inherited leadership qualities from her mother Begum Habibullah who was a known name in the politics of the Indian Subcontinent.

Begum Faridi assumed her first leadership role as the President of Union at Lucknow University. Later she started working for Muslim Students Federation. She takes pride in having worked with the Quaid-e-Azam and Ms Fatima Jinnah in the Pakistan Movement. With a beaming face she vividly remembers her first meeting with Ms Jinnah. "I got to know Ms Jinnah through Raja Sahib of Mehmoodabad when I was a kid. Later as I grew up, I saw Ms Jinnah many times with my mother and also alone till the time she died. In the Jalandhar session of Muslim Students Federation, Fatima Jinnah came with the Quaid. The students from Aligarh and people from all over the subcontinent had come to participate in the session. We were all sitting in the front row and the Quaid-e-Azam delivered his speech which was listened to by the audience with utmost concentration. That was the first time I saw Ms Jinnah very closely."

Begum Faridi emphasised on calling Fatima Jinnah as Dr Fatima Jinnah who has great contribution in education sector in general and medical profession in particular. As she puts it: "To me Ms Jinnah is not only important for the work she did, she was also a symbol to look up to for any selfless work. Both Quaid and Ms Jinnah are the symbol of Pakistan Movement and Pakistan is the result of those strong roots that were put down by these two great personalities."

Having an experience of working in both public and private sectors, Begum Faridi held various coveted posts both in national and international organisations. She worked with the Social Welfare Planning Commission of Pakistan for 11 years (1956-67), as Advisor and also served as Minister of Social Welfare in the Sindh cabinet during Zia's regime. She was member committee of Honour International Council of Women (ICW), and also the member of ICW board, and thrice World Vice President ICW. Besides she was also the Member Statutory Body of NGOCC in Population Welfare. She was elected to the Chairmanship of the Working Party to study social action in relation to non-government agencies interested in the Eradication of Prejudice and Discrimination called by the Secretary General of the United Kingdom in Geneva, 1959, for non-governmental agencies with consultative status to the United Nations and was leader of Pakistan delegation. In 1960, she represented the Government of Pakistan at the session of the United Nation Status of Women's Commission.

Since its inception in 1949, Begum Faridi's association with APWA is significant and she held many prominent positions in the organisation. She is one of the pioneering women who took short course with Dr Elmina Lucke, who started social work courses in Pakistan. Later she took advance training in the same discipline from the USA and did many projects on education and social welfare. Her social work and voluntary work led her to serve the government in the capacity of Advisor to the National Council of Social Welfare, and also as president and Vice President, Sindh Social Welfare Council and Honorary Member Social Services Co-coordinating Council (SSCC), Karachi.

Begum Faridi travelled extensively and also represented Pakistan at the first Beijing Conference, where three areas -- health, education and income generation opportunities for women -- were discussed in detail and the member countries were advised to make plans to implement these in letter and spirit.

Begum Faridi finds the roots of gender discrimination in the society in the behaviour of a woman herself, who discriminates between her male and female offsprings and gives preference to son over daughter while distributing food, making clothes or giving education. This simply distorts the power balance in the family and later in the society. "Only collective effort of people can bring a change and break these stereotypes."

She sees a broader role of women in the society. "The educated women can serve the society as professionals while those who have the tendency to adopt leadership role can join the politics. "The women have many opportunities open to them; all they need to do is to grab them according to their strengths while not losing hold on self-criticism, patience and perseverance to remove their own shortcomings."

She believes that women are born leaders and their educational, social or economic status simply accentuates their innate leadership qualities. However, different types of leadership require particular sets of traits among women. While using her voting right, she should know whom she is electing, what she or he will be able to do for her rights. There are examples in history where women with no formal education emerged as great leaders only on the basis of their experience while there are countless others who wasted their formal education and became a burden on the society. "If a woman acknowledges her strength, she will lead from the front," she opined.

She noted with concern that true contribution of women in the society was never acknowledged. "We mistakenly measure the contribution of male and female in monetary terms only and find an imbalance. The contribution should also be measured in term of values because the women give the vales to the people. The initial character building is in the hands of mother and for those formative years of child, her contribution cannot be measured in monetary terms. With this count, the women's contribution is no less than men," she concluded.