The School of Economics and Social Sciences (SESS), in collaboration with the Center for Business and Economic Research (CBER) at the IBA Karachi, hosted day three of the 2nd Annual International Conference titled, ‘Development: Discourses and Critiques’. The three-day conference was held from March 25-27, 2022 at the IBA Karachi, Main Campus.
Addressing the conference, Executive Director, IBA Karachi, Dr. S Akbar Zaidi welcomed the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, His Excellency, Dr. Arif Alvi and thanked him for coming to the IBA for the second time this month. Dr. Zaidi commended the conference participants for submitting around 350 papers on development and said that this was a beneficial step for Pakistan. He also said that to encourage diversity of thoughts, 150 students from across Pakistan were invited to participate and to share their papers on various themes. Dr. Zaidi also said that he was proud to say that women were adequately represented in this conference as per the essence of diversity. He appreciated the dynamic female participants and the women leaders at IBA for their contributions to the discourse and the community at large. Sessions on women empowerment and disability further added to the multifaceted theme of the conference.
Speaking at the concluding ceremony of the conference, Dr. Alvi said that effective communication plays a significant role in development as it helps us overcome the challenges faced in the development process. Appreciating Pakistani women, he said that they have immense talent and that 70 to 80 percent of them get admission into Pakistani medical colleges on merit. He also said that the art of communication is vital in empowering women and for placing them on the path of development. Dr. Alvi concluded his address with appreciating the conference for bringing together diverse discourses with an acknowledgement of its impact on future policy-making.
This year’s conference theme invited works from a wide range of disciplines to critique, question, and reconsider the experiences of transnational, national, and sub-national actors with the development process.
The conference hosted presenters and participants from diverse backgrounds, including Skardu, Malakand, Sukkur, Gilgit, Quetta, and Islamabad from Pakistan, and multiple professors from esteemed universities from the USA.