Stakeholder Consultation and Steering Committee Meeting to declare the Karezes of Balochistan as World Heritage held at Quetta- Pakistan

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The Stakeholder Consultation and Steering Committee Meeting were held on 31 July 2019 at Quetta, Pakistan. The meeting was chaired by Secretary (Culture), Government of Balochistan, Mr. Zafar Ali Buledi and attended by Director UNESCO Pakistan, Ms, Vibeke Jensen; President ECOSF, Prof. Manzoor H. Soomro; Chairman Pakistan Council for Research in Water Resources (PCRWR), Dr. Muhammad Ashraf and about 140 representatives from Balochistan Government, UNESCO, PCRWR and other stakeholders/institutes/persons. The objective of the meeting was to discuss and consult with all the stakeholders to declare the Karezes of Balochistan as World Heritage.

The Secretary (Culture) Mr. Zafar Ali Buledi welcomed all the distinguished guests for attending the meeting and thanked them to discuss very important matter of Karezes of Balochistan.

It was shared during the Meeting that there are only six World Heritage Sites in Pakistan and no Heritage Site for Water has been declared so far. Chairman PCRWR Dr. Muhammad Ashraf briefed the Meeting about the background and current status of the Karezes of Balochistan.

All stakeholders deliberated on the way forward to proceed further to achieve the goal of declaration of the Karezes of Balochistan to be a World Heritage Site. President ECOSF Prof. Manzoor Soomro appreciated the efforts of UNESCO and PCRWR to highlight the Karezes of Balochistan at International level and suggested that Government of Balochistan may take the responsibility of the matter whereas the technical support be provided by PCRWR to achieve the goal.

It was informed that it would be first cultural landscape site in Pakistan, if the site of Karezes is declared as World Heritage, it would be a proud moment for Pakistan.