US seeks to weaken global development finance efforts
The United States is seeking to weaken a global deal aimed at helping developing countries struggling with the impacts of climate change and other issues, an internal United Nations document…
Joining the social connectivity dots
People are strange. I am socially awkward. I want “me” time. I am a private person. Wish I was an extrovert. These are some comments that we hear from people…
Development in a post-aid world
If you visit the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya, you will come across Kibera, one of the largest slum dwellings in the world. Housing approximately 250,000 people across an area of…
Zakat as non-state social welfare
THE last few years have proven to be immensely difficult for low-income households in Pakistan. High rates of inflation and low economic growth have exacerbated poverty and heightened the importance…
Climate-smart social protection
PAKISTAN’S social protection system is at a crossroads. Traditional social protection systems, while providing critical support for poverty reduction, are not designed to address the compounding challenges of climate-triggered disasters. The country’s…
A silent revolution in development
‘Revolution’ is a term used rather loosely lately. From a regime change in Bangladesh to a green initiative claiming to transform agriculture in Pakistan, so many big and small changes…
SEZs and economic development
During the decade of the 1980s a paradigm shift took place in the minds of economic policy makers; the movement in thought process was rooted in the idea that economic development…
Education and development
About 60 per cent of Pakistan’s population is functionally illiterate, as surveys count even those who can merely sign their name as literate. If computer and digital literacy were the…
Subtracting fake news from social media
In an age where truth seems negotiable and subject to multiple interpretations, lies and fake news travel at lightning speed. Research from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) reveals a…
Internet outages and economic development in Pakistan
The emergence of social media has changed the manner in which people express themselves and their opinions. In Pakistan, the virtual public square has become Facebook, X, and Instagram. These…
