Conference on resilient HKH from Sunday

Lalitpur, Nov. 30: With an aim to identify, discuss, and recommend the building blocks of resilience solutions suitable for mountain context, the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) is organising an international conference on ‘Resilient Hindu-Kush Himalaya (HKH).

The four-day conference will be focused on understanding the change and raising awareness on resilience from mountain perspective.

“It will develop options and opportunities for developing resilience building solutions for the KHK context, and foster partnerships for action by linking to global processes and strengthening regional cooperation,” Dr. David Molden, Director General of the ICIMOD, said at a media briefing about the conference.

Mountain characteristics like inaccessibility, fragility and marginality require specific solutions for resilience building that address socio-economic and environmental challenges in the mountain setting.

“Climate change and other drivers of change in the HKH have already begun to impact ecosystems and communities and often manifest in communities through an increasing vulnerability and exposure to natural disasters such as floods, droughts and landslides,” said Nanda Kishor Agrawal, Coordinator of the Himalayan Climate Change Adaptation Programme under the ICIMOD.

“There is a need to strengthen approaches for building resilience in the mountains, as resilience is required for achieving many of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and neglecting mountain resilience will inevitably led to sustainability challenges in the plains.”

The HKH provides water, livelihoods, and ecosystem services to more than 210 million people and provides water to more than 1.3 billion people – a fifth of the world’s population – living in downstream river basins.

The conference will bring together about 300 scientists, academicians, politicians, bureaucrats, business leaders, development practitioners, researchers, young scholars, media, community leaders and women.

The Conference will feature high-level panel discussions and internationally renowned though leaders, innovative solutions marketplace, daily news bulletins to share learning with a wider audiences, satellite events on specific resilience themes.

It will also feature poster and photo competition where 92 posters and 151 photos around the globe will be featured, and the best will be awarded.

ICIMOD is organising the event in cooperation with the Ministry of Population and Environment, and the European Union.