NAP and madrassa reforms
It has been over six months since the government put forth its 20-point National Action Plan (NAP) aiming to take a comprehensive approach to counter the growing intolerance and violence in Pakistan....
View ArticleDetente with Iran
The deal brokered with Iran over its nuclear capacity is a major international event the ramifications of which are being discussed the world over. The ongoing analysis concerning this development...
View ArticleRethinking Pak-Saudi relations
The Middle East is currently undergoing a tumultuous phase in its modern history. The US invasion of Iraq, the Arab Spring and the subsequent upheaval it unleashed across the region, and the US-Iran...
View ArticleUAE’s anti-discrimination legislation
The UAE government, this past month, has enacted an anti-discriminatory law with much fanfare. While the new law has been justified by the need to prevent hate speech, the context within which this...
View ArticleContending with paedophilia
During these past few days, the disturbing problem of child sexual abuse has been brought to the fore of public attention through the media expose of atrocious instances of paedophilia, initially in...
View ArticleSave our wetlands to stave off future flooding
Pakistan has experienced yet another year of heavy floods, which have been wreaking havoc in the country since the beginning of this decade. The increasing links being drawn by climate scientists and...
View ArticleIncrease aid to curb migration and refugee crises
Outright conflict and lingering societal inequities across the developing world are fuelling a growing exodus of people desperate to reach countries in the developed world. The record number of...
View ArticleFood production is not the problem
Given the exponential growth in the productive capacity of humanity as a whole, it is nothing short of ludicrous that we have not yet been able to end world hunger. The World Bank has recently...
View ArticleThe concept of resilience
While the concept of resilience is fairly new within the development and humanitarian sectors, it has gained increasing significance in a short period of time. Large amounts of funds are now being...
View ArticleVulnerability risks for the already vulnerable
We live in a world fraught with a widespread sense of precariousness, be it in terms of an economic, environmental, or political sense of security. When instability does strike, its consequences can...
View ArticleWill computerising land records benefit the poor?
During this past week, the chief minister of Punjab held a meeting with senior bureaucrats to review the Land Record Management and Information System (LRMIS), expressing satisfaction with the progress...
View ArticleIs capping private school fees a sensible policy?
The government’s attempt to prevent private schools from increasing school fees has brewed up a storm of contention over these past few weeks. In apparent response to the outcry of parents of private...
View Article‘Decarbonising’ development
The consensus concerning the evident risks of climate change grows with each new weather-related disaster that indiscriminately wreaks havoc on the lives of people around the globe. It is also alarming...
View ArticleThe provision of public services
The Punjab government has decided to use the Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) model in an effort to improve its abysmal performance in the health sector. The provincial government seems confident...
View ArticleOut with MDGs, in with SDGS
This year, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), launched by the UN in 2000, are scheduled to expire. The UN is now going to put forth the Sustainable Development Goals (SGD) which are meant to...
View ArticlePending IMF and World Bank reforms
Created soon after the end of the Second World War, the IMF and World Bank are powerful international financial institutions which hold immense sway in orchestrating efforts to deliver the elusive...
View ArticleIs the World Bank ignoring human rights issues?
With its slogan of “working for a world free of poverty”, the World Bank, with its lending portfolio of billions of dollars per annum, is perhaps the most influential international stakeholder in the...
View ArticleClimate change shockwave
Global consensus concerning the dangers of climate change is growing. Moreover, the pace of climate change is faster than earlier expected, and the magnitude of the risks and costs associated with...
View ArticleKarachi in 2030
Pakistan’s largest city, Karachi, has always been our commercial hub and a melting pot for the nation’s ethnic diversity. While current population estimates, as well as population growth forecasts...
View ArticleKarachi’s housing problem — is there a solution?
While ensuring equitable land usage is a challenge for all urban planners, attempts to address this problem are particularly cumbersome in developing countries like our own. Our biggest city, Karachi,...
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