Women in development
Sustainable development is defined as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. In 2015, the UN General…
AI is learning women, not just images
It began innocently, a viral ‘Saree Portrait’ trend sweeping through South Asia. Women across Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka uploaded their photos to AI apps that transformed them into…
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…
Women in parliament
We remember sitting with a young woman councilor in Sindh, who hesitated to speak in council meetings despite knowing her constituency’s issues inside out. “There’s an invisible line I can’t…
Women in parliament
We remember sitting with a young woman councilor in Sindh, who hesitated to speak in council meetings despite knowing her constituency’s issues inside out. “There’s an invisible line I can’t…
Not about women
A LITTLE over a decade ago, in 2013, Lila Abu-Lughod’s book Do Muslim Women Need Saving? caused a stir, admittedly for its provocative title. The anthropologist dove into understanding the…
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…
VCs for fostering leadership development to improve higher education
Heads of various higher education institutions highlighted the importance of fostering leadership development for the grooming of future academic leaders to drive the transformation of the higher education sector. They emphasised…
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…
