Gwadar, July 09: IUCNP Balochistan Programme is striving to devolve the Balochistan Conservation Strategy to the district level in harmony with the Local Government system.

Accordingly, the strategy for sustainable development of Gwadar is being developed in the form of Integrated Development Vision. To ensure reflections from the people of Gwadar, a series of one-day consultative meetings was held at all Tehsils of Gwadar. Staff of IUCNP who facilitated the process included Shah Faisal, Communications Coordinator, Mohammad Zaman Khan, Coordinator Qila Saifullah and Abdul Rahim Baloch, Asst Coordinator IUCN district office Gwadar.

First workshop in this connection was held at Ormara on July 4th, the second one at Pasni and the third one was held at Pishukan. Forth workshop was held fifth at Tehsil Gwadar on July 9th. The workshops were attended by vast number of people from Govt. line departments like Fisheries, PHED, Forest, Education, Health, etc. Members of the civil society included lawyers, academia, social workers, and politicians. During these workshops, various sectors including the mega projects in Housing and town Planning, Social sector Services including Health, Education and Sanitation, and Water and other natural resources were discussed.

These workshops led to positive discussions by the participants and sector recommendations for each area were developed. In some cases, sector specific strategies were also formulated.

This series will be concluded by the coming workshop at district level. It is expected to be attended by a large number of people from the government as well as civil society. The strategy for sustainable development of Gwadar will incorporate the recommendations made during the consultative process and will truly reflect the voices of the most important stakeholder, i.e. the people of Gwadar.