ISLAMABAD: The Senate of Pakistan on Monday rejected a resolution of Senator Sania Nishtar of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) for setting up a cross-sectoral task force to identify gaps in financing for the food system.
Chairman Senate Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani, on behalf of the minister concerned, urged the mover to defer the resolution as the minister wanted to respond to it personally.
Sanjrani said that the minister could not attend the session due to some government obligations. However, Senator Sania Nishtar insisted to proceed with the resolution and called for a vote. The outcome of the vote showed that only 11 senators voted in favour and 22 against the resolution.
The resolution reads as: “Acknowledging that Article 38 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan stipulates that the State shall secure the well-being of the people and provide them with necessities of life, irrespective of sex, caste, creed or race, by raising their standard of living; “Observing that in pursuance of Goal No. 2 of the Sustainable Development Goals, Pakistan has committed to achieving “zero hunger”; “Noting with concern that despite being an agrarian economy, Pakistan is far from reaching this goal, with the country being positioned at number 84 out of 113 countries in the Global Food Security Index 2022 and currently facing record food inflation of 46.8%.
“Recognizing Pakistan’s growing vulnerability to climate change, which will further threaten food security, as demonstrated by the devastating 2022 flood which resulted in an additional 7.6 million people experiencing food insecurity with 48 percent of households losing their stored cereal stock; “Acknowledging that apart from the good work done in the shape of formulating the National Food Security Policy of 2018, Pakistan needs an action plan to unify, consolidate, and streamline all efforts toward the goal of ensuring adequate, affordable, safe, and nutritious food for all through sustainable food production, improved land use and reduced food wastage.
“The Senate of Pakistan, therefore, urges upon the Government to immediately create a cross-sectoral task force in the country to identify gaps in financing towards our food system and develop a clear understanding of the country’s financing needs in line with Pakistan’s global commitments ahead of COP-28.
“The House also demands that Pakistan should engage with global partners to unlock investments from public, private, and multilateral development banks and philanthropic sources to shift to good food finance and to actively participate in the co-investment platform for food systems transformation that is to be launched at COP-28.”
