Gangtok Declaration underlines right of hill people to improved livelihoods in harmony with environment

SUSTAINABLE MOUNTAIN DEVELOPMENT SUMMIT CONCLUDES 
GANGTOK, 27 May: The ‘2nd Sustainable Mountain Development Summit’ of Indian Mountain Initiative [IMI] hosted by Sikkim concluded on Saturday with the announcement of ‘Gangtok Declaration’ and a momentum to carry on for the third summit proposed to be held at Kohima, Nagaland next year.
“We resolve that the mountain States in India have not received the attention due to them and we recommend that greater focus and emphasis be given to the Sustainable Mountain Development agenda without delay and continued for the next 20 years,” the ‘Gangtok Declaration’ records.
The ‘Gangtok Declaration’ on sustainable mountain development was presented here at Chintan Bhawan by Summit convener, Lok Sabha MP PD Rai before the delegates after two days of engagements on water, mountain livelihood and communities & forests.
Mr Rai placed the draft of ‘Gangtok Declaration’ with ten mandates for IMI at the valedictory session for approval by the delegates.
The declaration also undertakes to work through long term partnerships with multiple stakeholders at different levels. “The partners and collaborators of IMI may have their own charter which may be broader than the mission of IMI, yet they will adopt policies and plans to build a common yet differentiated agenda in achieving the goals,” the ‘Gangtok Declaration’ underlines.
The IMI is a civil society movement that aims to bring stakeholders of the mountain and hill States on a common platform to come together to discuss issues related to the development of the mountains and hill regions and communities, evolve consensus on priorities and action plan. It had convened its inaugural summit in Nainital, Uttarakhand last year.
“Unique needs and aspirations of each state, mountain region and their people will be taken into account by IMI in an inclusive way with the aim of making fundamental shifts in their understanding and behavior,” the ‘Gangtok Declaration’ reads, highlighting that hill and mountain people are at the centre of concerns for sustainable development and are entitled to improved livelihoods in harmony with the environment.
It was also agreed that the each partner State will cooperate on building awareness and capacity for action on adaptation and transfer technologies and practices for sustainable development. The role of women of mountain areas in livelihood generation and protection of environment has also been recognized by the ‘Gangtok Declaration’ with youths given a role to sustain the IMI initiative.
The declaration further seeks developing appropriate institutionalization mechanisms to build movement and momentum towards achieving the goals of IMI through an inclusive organization structure, network, systems and process.
The Declaration also recognizes and supports the role of communities and their traditions and commits to enhance their impact on sustainable development. Avoiding individual or bilateral concerns of the stakeholders not core to the IMI agenda has also been included in the ‘Gangtok Declaration’.
Before the ‘Gangtok Declaration’ was placed, delegate Sushil Ramola summed up the outcome of the 2-day summit.
“One of the main outcomes of the summit here is that it has given momentum to the IMI,” said Mr. Ramola. The summit has given continuity to the IMI goals and Nagaland has already taken the initiative to host the third summit, he announced.
There has been a clear commitment from individuals, organizations and elected representatives during the summit and these commitments would definitely take IMI forward, he said, pointing out that preparations for the Sikkim summit have developed processes and systems for the upcoming summits.
Formal and informal interactions took place between the delegates from different States which will go a long way in achieving the IMI goals, he added.
The two-day long summit was organized by Ecotourism and Conservation Society of Sikkim [ECOSS] and co-organised by Central Himalayan Environment Association [CHEA]. Over 250 delegates from eleven Himalayan States and Darjeeling hills participated in the summit along with parliamentarians and legislators.