Kathmandu, November 30, 2017: International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) under the support of Ministry of Environment is set to organize International Conference on Resilient Hindu Kush Himalaya Developing Solutions towards a Sustainable Future for Asia from December 3-6, 2017 in Kathmandu.
The high-level leadership panels of ministers from Nepal, Bhutan, India, and Bangladesh will be participating in the conference. Also, as many as 330 bureaucrats, policymakers, ambassadors, young scientists and the representative people living or working in the Hindu Kush Himalaya will be among the participants to discuss the solutions to develop resilient mountain life.
According to the program coordinator Nand Kishore Agrawal, the conference will highlight the importance of mountain ecosystem to the entire world and draw its attention to tackle the challenges of inaccessibility, vulnerability and fragility. “The people in the mountains have been facing various challenges. In this conference, we will not only have series of panel discussions but provide the platform to demonstrate the ideas the people have come up themselves to overcome the difficulties. We have named this session as ‘Market Place.’ We are looking forward to hear and witness the ideas that will help to mitigate the effect of climate change and natural disasters,” said Agrawal.
There will be a separate panel of twenty members to prepare Action Agenda for Resilient Hindu Kush Himalaya. The agendas will be presented in different UN based conference and the high-level officials from different countries will use it as guidelines in their respective countries.
ICIMOD had organized a Posture and Photography competition where the participants were asked to demonstrate resilience building solutions. A total of 92 postures and 151 photographs were received for the competition, among which the best 20 are sorted out that will be exhibited at the conference.
The Director General of ICIMOD, David Molden, believes that the conference will help to find new ideas to promote the livelihood of people in mountains. “Despite the hardship, there are numerous possibilities lying in the mountains. For example, medicinal herbs are found nowhere than the snow-capped peaks. It is the time to explore them. We need to bring the world closer so that we can make the best utilization of resources. Platforms like this will help to raise awareness and set a common goal,” opined Molden.
The program will be held at ICIMOD premises.
By: Prashant Bhandari
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