University of Peshawar becomes one of the eight universities to be admitted from the Himalayan-Hindukush countries to the Himalayan University Consortium. A signing ceremony was held at the Kathmandu University, Nepal on 31st October, 2018 to admit new members in the annual meeting 2018.

 

Prof. Dr. Muhammad Asif Khan represented Chairman Higher Education Commission Prof. Dr. Tariq Banuri in the annual gathering of the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) being held at Nepal.

 

Prof. Dr. Muhammad Asif Khan the current Vice Chancellor University of Peshawar and former Vice Chancellor of Karakorum University is working keenly for the Upper Indus Basin Group, ICIMoD and Hazard Studies group since 2011 to strengthen Pakistan Universities presence for this  international and regional platform for meaningful cooperation and academic collaboration.

 

It is important to mention, that Karakorum University and Agriculture University Peshawar were the founding members of the Himalayan University Consortium, back in 2007.

 

The eleven years old Consortium intends to undertake activities such as: the development of a postgraduate fellowship programme among member universities and institutions, the development of mountain-focused curriculum in suitable subjects, the development of a programme for the exchange of faculty members, joint teaching of a generic course on sustainable mountain development that covers topics such as knowledge networking and policy advocacy, and promotes sustainable mountain development in the region.

 

The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) is a regional intergovernmental learning and knowledge sharing centre serving the eight regional member countries of the Hindu Kush Himalaya – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan – and based in Kathmandu, Nepal. Globalization and climate change have an increasing influence on the stability of fragile mountain ecosystems and the livelihoods of mountain people. ICIMOD aims to assist mountain people to understand these changes, adapt to them, and make the most of new opportunities, while addressing upstream-downstream issues.