Development, culture, patriarchy
In 2016, while working as a consultant, I was in Buner, observing the shift of the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) from debit card payments to biometric payments. A long…
Development divide
IMBALANCED human development lies at the root of the polarisation and perennial conflict witnessed in Pakistan. A recent report District Vulnerability Index for Pakistan, released by the Population Council late…
Prioritising development
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are businesses that generate revenue, provide employment and generate income streams by making finished goods and/or services available to the consumer market at prices that…
Cost of development
While the global political arena was peaking with tension and anxiety, the Capital Development Authority stirred a crisis of its own at home, effectively saying, “Hold my chai”. Some 29,000…
What kind of development?
Pakistan’s urban expansion has long been framed as a sign of progress. High-rise apartments rise where farmland once stood, and gated housing schemes stretch across city peripheries. Yet behind the…
Token feminism in development
WOMEN in Pakistan constitute 48.5 per cent of the population but face systemic disadvantages in education, healthcare and economic participation. To realise the country’s full potential, increasing women’s economic participation…
Development 2.0: the case for PPPs in Pakistan
Over the past few years, policymakers and academics have shown renewed interest in Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) as a way of addressing fiscal limitations and speeding up infrastructure construction and the…
4th International Conference on Financing for Development Debt and Climate — II
Sadly, unlike the lack of media coverage, and very little discussion of policy circles on this – both on the government, and opposition sides, and in the academic arena –…
Development challenges
DURING the watershed events of early May, Pakistan has once again proved what it is capable of. The repercussions amount to redefining the balance of power in the region and…
AI & human development
ARTIFICIAL Intelligence (AI) is reshaping societies, economies, and governance. But as the UNDP 2025 Human Development Report, Whose Tech? Our Choices, reminds us, this transformation is deeply human. UN Secretary…
