When LMKT reached out to me to lead the National Incubation Center in Karachi, I was skeptical.

It is funded by the government, will be managed by a consortium of private sector entities and will be housed in a public university. Being answerable to the Board and to our funding organization, IGNITE, how can I build the innovation economy?

I did due diligence on LMKT and LMKR and Ignite. I researched National Incubation Centers in Lahore (LUMS) and Islamabad (Mobilink) and . NED University where NIC was going to be housed.

With all the possible pitfalls, it was too good an opportunity to pass. The parallels to Silicon Valley were obvious: Stanford University was getting funding for research from various government agencies, they built the Stanford Research Park to commercialize this research, and so started what became Silicon Valley with multi-billion-dollar companies like Apple and Google and Facebook.

Karachi is Pakistan’s largest city and commercial hub. It has its challenges, but it is home to probably the largest number of young people in a city. Karachi needs not just an incubator, but tens of technology community hubs where young people can come together and discover opportunities. Opportunity is the spiritual equivalent of hope, which is a driver of progress and growth.

The 20,000 sq ft NIC Karachi is one small step in the right direction. As a next step, we need to think in terms of such spaces available at low-cost, in parts of the city where young people can freelance for global clients, start small service companies and build startups.

Critics of this approach raise questions like efficacy of incubators. They also question the the success ratio of startups that go to an incubator If we want to make Karachi the innovation capital of South Asia, with millions of young people serving global clients, building products, solving national problems with technology – we have to dream with a generous heart. We toned to think big and work in an integrated manner to achieve this goal. We need 100 sq ft of space per person. If we want 1 million people to be involved in the global innovation economy, we need 100 million sq ft of space.

While Karachi has millions of young population, they lack the required skills. Our educational institutions do not have the capacity to train 1 million young people in the next 5 years. This is a single largest obstacle to making progress. Technology hubs that provide low-cost space to young people will become centers of both innovation and learning. These technology companies should also be engaged by the government to deliver skill development content. The world that we live in demands that we not only learn but also unlearn and learn new things on an ongoing basis. We’re an accelerator, but rapidly becoming a community hub for young techies. But without sustainable funding and support, we cannot accelerate the process of becoming globally competitive – not for Karachi or anywhere in Pakistan. The establishment of NICs in major cities of Pakistan have provided space, mentoring and networking facilities to young entrepreneurs that has helped to usher a wave of entrepreneurship in Pakistan.

But why should the government invest and enable this innovation ecosystem? A freelancer earns $18,000 per year on average. With a million people engaged in the global economy, Karachi can potentially export $18 billion dollars of digital services. The return on innovative products is promising.

In order to realize Karachi’s technology potential, the city needs Special Technology Zones that can provide affordable space and other related services in the center of the city. The second most important issue is to enhance the scale and scope of venture funds in Pakistan. Lastly, judicial and taxation’s systems need to be modernized to understand the intellectual property rights and other dynamics of knowledge economy.

As a committed Karachiite who has seen the ups and downs of this city, I ask all well-wishers of my city to come together and invest in our youth and the future of our city. It is important because the City of Lights needs a break, our youth need hope and to build a successful Pakistan, the country needs a thriving Karachi.

Shahjhan Chaudhary is the Director of the National Incubation Center Karachi.

The post Building the Innovation Economy first appeared on Learners’ Republic.

Climate_Resilient_Cities_for_Sustainable_Pakistan

Twenty first century belongs to cities as the global landscape has been urbanizing rapidly. According to UN Habitat, presently 55 percent of the global population is residing in urban settlements and it is projected to be 68 percent in 2050. The unprecedented pace of urbanization coupled with unplanned development has turned cites into concrete jungle. Cities are encroaching on prime agricultural land and green zones of this planet. Unplanned urbanization
has brought other environmental problems including deforestation, water scarcity, urban flash flooding, heat waves and smog. UN Habitat report “Hot Cities: battle-ground for climate change” highlighted that urban settlements are contributing 70 to 80 percent to greenhouse gas emissions and wreaking havoc on global ecology. As a result, the ecological crises have led to climate change on this planet.

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change elucidated that the anomaly of climate change primarily evolved due to human interventions such as burning fossil fuels and industrialization. Over the decades, these man made activities are altering the global climatic patterns. The adverse impacts of climate change are striking all over the globe; particularly Asia and Africa are more vulnerable to the natural calamities. Increasing in global temperature has
added to the severity of extreme weather events and has led to displacement of large populations. In particular, climate change has alternated the global water system.

In last two decades, Pakistan has become a hotbed for climatic trepidations due to myopic governance along with futile city and regional planning policies. Statistics of Global Climate Index 2018 has listed Pakistan among top 10 countries, which are most vulnerable to climatic maledictions and extreme natural disasters.

The recurring tendency of natural disasters in Pakistan is putting stress on urban economy and life, by affecting livelihoods of people. In 2010 floods, the economic losses are estimated to be around $10 billion besides loss of precious lives. This year once again monsoon rains have wrecked metropolitan cities of Pakistan by urban flooding. Particularly, Karachi City which is considered as an economic backbone of the country is presently facing the curse of torrential rains. The death toll reached to 27 and many urban residents got injured due to flood incidents. The substandard electricity distribution added to the death toll of humans and sacrificial animals alike. The pivotal concern for city planners is to critically analyze the whole picture of the city after the flood. Poor governance and lack of sanitation and garbage disposal mechanisms in the city have enhanced the climate change vulnerabilities for the citizens of Karachi. Indeed, the water management and drainage system of any city in Pakistan has not evolved with changes in population that negatively affects the climate resilience of cities.

The grave situation of climatic changes triggered the idea of climate resilient cities at international forums and incited urban planners to realize cities planning and designing through climate resilience lens. Land use and building control practices are important tool for the adaptation of climatic changes. Building and land use bylaws can ensure the elements of sustainability such as enforce rainwater-harvesting practices at individual household level, urban farming, and multimodal public transport planning which discourage the usage of cars.

Further, rainwater harvesting has gained prominence globally. Rainwater harvesting is a systematic process of rainwater collection from the rooftops of the buildings and surface run off by pipes and storage tanks installed in buildings. The water preserved from rainwater harvesting process has potential to be used for the domestic, commercial and agricultural purposes except drinking. In first phase all public buildings, and other public places may be adapted to the rainwater harvesting system followed by extending implementation to housing units.

The present government has launched clean and green Pakistan drive, which is a good step towards building climate resilience. However, there is an urgent need to develop a holistic policy framework. The town planning practitioners and urban planners may guide local development agencies and communities for the adaptation of environment friendly spatial and infrastructure planning. Climate change phenomenon is a ticking bomb that has can potentially have grave
implications for the quality of life of people and survival for a large part of population in not so distant future.

About Author

Usman Bajwa is an MPhil scholar of City and Regional Planning at University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore. Presently, he is serving in Urban Unit as an Urban Planner in Urban Development Sector.

The post Climate Resilient Cities for Sustainable Pakistan first appeared on Learners’ Republic.

plastic_bag_ban_islamabad_pakistan

Brilliantly narrated by renowned natural historian Sir David Attenborough, the final episode of BBC’s series Blue Planet II on plastic pollution, reinvigorated the debate on the irreversible damage plastic pollution is doing to our planet.  A large part of the problem is single use plastics which include the ubiquitous disposable carrier bag.

Learning from examples in many countries, authorities in Islamabad, have put a ban on plastics. In the first phase carrier bags are banned effective from August 14, 2019. The ban does not yet extend to plastic bags for disposing garbage, hazardous waste and those that carry liquids and essential food items like dairy products. Fines have been imposed on the manufacturers, sellers and users of single use plastic carrier bags.

Principally the intention behind replacing single use plastic from our lives with more environmentally responsible options is appreciated. However, for effective implementation of the policy and making a successful transition to environmentally responsible alternatives, some issues need to be highlighted. One overarching issue is sequencing of actions that precede and follow enforcement of any policy.

Awareness:

To raise awareness among users of plastic bags, posters have been placed on roadsides that are more in English than Urdu. To reach out to larger segments of the population in Islamabad, it should cater to a diversity of audience. In our case, it ranges from people who may not be literate in English language and have overall low level of literacy to gas guzzling consumer classes bordering on climate change denial.

Banning plastic bags and putting a penalty on usage alone is not enough. Educating both young and adults through a more holistic awareness campaign is important. Organizing sessions in public and private educational institutes to educate young minds can be an effective strategy. There has been some useful discussion on social media, however it is more effective to reach certain demographics and the impact is diluted as it reaches a saturation point. Options such as more focused discussion on television and radio prime time shows and news bulletins may help disseminate relevant information to stakeholders at large. Formal events organized to raise awareness so far have limited participation and fail to propagate the information to a wider targeted audience.

Ease of transition and alternatives:

At the same time, the authorities need to ensure that the alternatives are readily available to make successful transition. As of now, many retailers do not know replacement options for polyene bags or where to source these from on sustained basis even when options are known. Launching an awareness campaign for retailers to address these issues will help them make a smoother transition to environmentally sustainable carrier bags.

In the first few days of the ban, authorities have been confiscating plastic bags from large shopping centers. Only a few high-end stores and retail chains have made the transition to both free and paid biodegradable or cloth bags. Others have switched to paper bags which is not a sound choice given that it takes cutting trees to source these and are not durable and waterproof to be used multiple times. Since the goal is to replace plastic bags with more environmentally friendly choices, there needs to be more understanding of which alternatives to plastic serve the purpose and those that do not. Factors such as recyclability and carbon footprint of producing the alternative bags need to be carefully studied.

Another aspect is impact of the ban on the manufacturers and sellers of plastic bags and possible loss of livelihood it can cause. How prepared are factories that are producing plastic bags to make transition to producing biodegradable bags? Is there an estimate for loss of business and jobs due to the ban, and are there any mitigating measures that are being implemented or considered to deal with this issue?

At the level of authorities, all ministries and agencies need to be taken on board when formulating a policy. A recent fortunately short-lived notification by Civil Aviation Authority, made plastic wrapping for all checked in luggage mandatory on all flights from Pakistan. This sent a contrary signal amid announcement of plastic bag ban.

Lessons learnt from designing policy, its implementation and challenges faced in enforcing plastic bags ban in Islamabad at various levels need to be documented. The knowledge and experience can be used as a case study by other cities and provinces in Pakistan that intend to eradicate single use plastic bags at an even larger scale in their jurisdictions.

About the author

Hiba Zaidi is one of the founding members of Learners’ Republic and public and economic policy practitioner.  Email: hiba.h.zaidi@gmail.com

1 More on plastic vs paper vs fabric bags debate http://www.allaboutbags.ca/papervplastic.html?fbclid=IwAR0-qFySrfmXgFqb6DQVDzuz7Mgbp5UEowlbFnAL_RQlqYkCS-FdLepcr9s

https://qz.com/1585027/when-it-comes-to-climate-change-cotton-totes-might-be-worse-than-plastic/

https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/12/17337602/plastic-tote-bags-climate-change-litter-life-cycle-assessments-environment

The post Polyethene Bag Ban: Implementation and Implications first appeared on Learners’ Republic.

Photo Credit: AFP/Getty Images

You might have seen the video of a purple, pixie-haired football player celebrating her FIFA world cup win and talking about equality that was all over social media. That’s Meghan Rapinoe; Co-captain of the United States women’s national soccer team (USWNT). This year the US team won its fourth World Cup title to date and their second consecutive title win.

USWNT’s rustle for equal pay dates back to 2015, when they won their third World Cup. The players of USWNT get $110,000 each for lifting the World Cup compared to $407,608 each for the men. The disparity does not start here; there are differences in male and female earnings for national soccer players when each individual player is called to play for the World Cup, when the team qualifies for the World Cup, advances to knockout stages and wins qualification games. On average, the maximum a male player can earn is a staggering 4.27 times higher than the maximum a female can earn.

The US Soccer Federation (USF) contend that the pay structures for men and women are disparate, and hence complicated to compare. For instance, women are paid an annual salary of $100,000 per player; men do not earn a salary and rely entirely on bonuses and win earnings. The women assert that salary accounted for, the bonus structure is such that it puts men far ahead. Both male and female teams are required to play 20 friendlies per year. According to the NY Times, the pay is so skewed that yearly earnings for men if they lose all 20 friendlies is more than the yearly earnings of women if they win all 20 friendlies! This holds after factoring in the women’s yearly salary. USF is not the only organization responsible for discrimination.

International tournaments are no different. The prize money for the 2018 men’s FIFA World Cup was $400 million, whereas female players received $30 million this year. FIFA President Gianni Infantino said the organization will double it for the next women’s World Cup, but Rapinoe has her doubts and said there would still be a long way to go. “It certainly is not fair,” she said. “We should double it now and use that number to double it or quadruple it for the next time.”

Photo Credit: Getty Images

The USWNT generates more gate revenues (through ticket sales) and attracts higher ratings than their male counterparts. Last year they brought in $1.9 million more in gate revenues than the men’s team. Other revenues are mainly attributed to sponsorships and broadcasting, which can be tricky to thread out as US Soccer sells sponsorships and broadcasting as a joint package. Nonetheless, there is ample reason to believe that revenue has been further boosted due to the recent success and shoot to stardom by the women’s team. According to Nike CEO Mike Parker, “The USA Women’s home jersey is now the No. 1 soccer jersey, men’s or women’s, ever sold on Nike.com in one season”. In 2015, 25.4 million people in America tuned in to watch the FIFA World Cup Final between Japan and US, making it the most watched soccer match – male or female – in the history of the country.

In March 2019, the USWNT sued the USF for pay discrimination. During the Victory Rally for their 2019 World Cup win, the President of USF’s speech was interrupted by chants of ‘equal pay’ from the crowd. Mediation began but USWNT spokesperson Molly Levinson said the meetings ended abruptly and a trial looks likely. “It’s clear that USF … intend to continue to compensate women players less than men. They will not succeed,” Levinson said. “We want all of our fans, sponsors, peers around the world, and women everywhere to know we are undaunted and will eagerly look forward to a jury trial.”

The USWNT is not waging a new war; gender-based pay discrimination spans decades and the entire range of sports. The USWNT, in their fight for equal pay, join the likes of distance runner Kathrine Switzer (disguised herself as a man to compete in the 1967 Boston Marathon, since women were not allowed) and tennis maestros Billie Jean King (who challenged and defeated Number 1 ranked male tennis player and known chauvinist Bobby Riggs in a famous match known commonly as battle of the sexes, 1973) and Venus Williams (helped win equal pay for women in Wimbledon, 2007).

Photo Credit: AP

These women have garnered support, respect and love across the globe. They have won 4 World Cups out of the 8 World Cup tournaments held for women, and 4 Olympics gold medals out of the 6 Olympics soccer events held for women. A win against pay discrimination would be a win for us all. Rapinoe has gone down as the face of the Women’s Football World Cup 2019, and the voice of it.

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Maha Ahmad is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Economics, NUST, and ex Vice Captain of the Islamabad Women’s football team.

Ifrah Allaudin is an Economics graduate and a Manchester United supporter. She is a Management Trainee at Brainchild, Islamabad

The post Megan Rapinoe on Equal Pay: Old Wars, New Battles first appeared on Learners’ Republic.

In my book published last year, I argued that if we intend to eliminate poverty and improve public service delivery, an immediate administrative re-structuring is required at the local level -moving a step down the hierarchy, from union council and making village as the basic administrative unit of the state. This is essentially not a new idea, but I situated it more within the state system rather than relying upon local governments alone which I apprehend shall remain fragile and practically dysfunctional in Pakistan for many years in the future. I proposed this structure in more general terms for the entire country but more specifically for Punjab with which I am most acquainted and also had the privilege to lead the design and implementation of a large-scale education programme to reform 54000 schools for seven years.

Poverty is essentially rural in Pakistan:

Economists typically approach poverty as an income deprivation problem (which is largely true) but little effort is made to understand what might have been the cause of such awful statistics. As sociological theorist Hugh Ladder explains, there are generative mechanisms in society (and state) always causing/informing empirical reality and if we ignore those underlying factors, we will not be able to fully comprehend reality.

However, there is no need to sustain the same early design of the colonial structure of the executive (administrative) branch of government which cannot deliver in villages. Designed to exclude citizens in the affairs of the state in post 1857 raj days, the present state structure ensures preference for an urban centric development and the exclusion of villages. This led to almost stagnant human development indicators in Pakistan especially in rural areas despite relatively good GDP growth rates. Since 1990, neither economic growth nor changes in the form of governments and structure of policy apparently could significantly change development in our villages.

photo credit: Tahir Awan

Local government would not last long in Pakistan.

Although an autonomous local government at village level (proposed in the Local Government Ordinance 2001 as the fourth tier of government and sparingly pilot tested during Musharraf period) can resolve many of these problems, in Pakistan this experience has never lasted long. Local governments will remain fragile at least in the next fifteen years to prove that they can withstand political change in the country. Since local government is a provincial subject, based on evidence we now know that all important players in the power equation do not want decentralized and empowered local governments in letter and spirit. Chief Ministers want control of development in districts and do not want local governments due to political reasons, Chief Secretaries (and his Deputy Commissioners in districts) do not want it either for reasons of control as well as fears of weak public financial management system inside local governments to manage large amount of money well and the member of the national assembly and provincial assembly also think that their influence on development funds in their districts will erode if local elected members and their District Chairman/Nazim are seen as more influential than them in managing local level development. These MNAs form political parties vote for the Prime Minister and no one can go against them to restore local governments in true spirit.

photo credit: Tahir Awan

The present Prime Minister luckily is a one-man force to support and champion local governments all along but in Punjab at least many interest groups are already hell bent to either delay elections and or make amendments already in the new law to make it spineless. Except present prime minister, no other mainstream leader even in his own party at national or provincial level has ever asserted for local government or have even attempted to do something meaningfully.

Making rural development low stake and embedding in the structure of the state:

Keeping this in mind, I propose a new system: an extension of the executive branch of the state by adding an effective outreach function which could treat the citizens not as subjects but equal partners in development. That would entail the creation of a permanent village level institution called Village Social representing 300 households with each member representing 15 households as an administrative entity of the state Each member would have a legal status and a bank account and will have the sole responsibility of delivering development and improving their sanitation, maintain cleanliness. Village socials will be created automatically through an administrative order with each village organizing themselves in a body and starting the registration and opening up of bank account. Village Social will report to a new structure created inside executive branch at Union, Tehsil, District and Provincial level. An Assistant Commissioner (Community Outreach), Deputy Commissioner (community Outreach) and Secretary (community outreach) inside Planning and Development reporting to Chairman (P&D) will automatically accept people as equal stakeholders. Each Tehsil Assistant Commissioner will be supported by Technical Assistance of specialized development Organizations (NRSP, Plan, Hands etc.) with integrated rural development expertise and outreach capacity. The technical assistance will be outsourced to these organizations through competitive bids.

photo credit: Tahir Awan

Treating villages as an extension of state’s institutional set up with control over funds and their decision-making will jump start village human development, improve local economy, will make state’s fiscal policy more effective and improve GDP. It can transform villages at a rapid pace.

Eventually, Pakistan will have to solve the problem of under development and weak economy because without a strong functioning rural economy and an active engaged population in development work, we cannot claim to become a state we want to be.
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Javed Ahmed Malik is the Country Representative of Democracy Reporting International and is based in Islamabad. He can be reached at javedkaemail@yahoo.com

The post Transforming Villages first appeared on Learners’ Republic.

Talk talk talk …. ugly talk. The demons in my head that I have had to live with for thirty three years are monsters that do not seem to have a name. ‘Demons’ have come from somewhere outside, because I refuse to acknowledge them as mine or own them. That is the only way I can survive living with them.

I have asked doctors what they are. All the psychiatrists, psychologists, analysts, and counsellors cannot name them. “Depression,” said one. “Severe depressive disorder,” said another. No, no… it is not depression. This talks to me. Tells me that I am going to hell because I have killed somebody. I know I have not killed anyone, except that rather large ant yesterday, feasting on a spilled bottle of vitamin syrup. You see, I can beat them. I can still think, and I can out-think them.

But sometimes I cannot, and there is no respite. If demons exist, what would they be doing in my head? They are not thoughts, because that would mean they are mine. But I refuse to believe that they are!

I cannot focus or concentrate. I wake up in the middle of the night; they do not let me go back to sleep. Oh, please do not think I hear voices.

Why am I trying so hard to define them? Maybe if I know who, or what, they are, it will help me get rid of them.

This account will not scare you or chill you to the bones. It is just that I live with someone in my head that I do not want to. It is horrible, he/she/it/they believe in things I do not believe in. I am sharing my mind, that is something even after thirty three years a stranger to me.

How can I tell you of the despair I live with? My depression is controlled with medicines, but this other thing cannot be because it has not been diagnosed as I see it. “Obsessive thoughts,” was how one doctor put it. But why cannot they understand? They are not thoughts. THEY ARE NOT MINE!

It is not connected to my faith. I rather like what I think of my relationship with God. I do not even believe in hell, not the fire and brimstone kind.

So, what has saved me? One thing that distinguished me from others who go through life long of suffering is my family’s support. My parents when I was young, my brother when he was alive and now my sister. In my family, there is no stigma, only love.

Once this ‘demon’ said to me, “there is no God.” I trembled and burst into tears. I have always believed in God. Or did I? I ran to dad. He thought for a bit, then said, “you do believe, otherwise there would not be this conflict in your mind.” I felt the mountain lifted off my shoulders. He considered my dilemma without judgment just as he would with any of his other children coming to him with questions.

Sometimes, the ‘demons’ do shut up for a bit but not completely. It is just that when I am really busy, like while taking a class, I cannot really think about hell. My mother helped me realize this. One day when I did not want to go to school, my supportive mother suggested that I go to school and distract myself. While there was no way anyone could understand what I was going through, it helped that my parents were with me. That is how I have survived and would not have made it without their support.

Mum was right, I did go to school. The ‘demons’ did go away for a while. We were studying a scene in which Caesar’s ghost comes to Brutus and tells him he’ll see him at the next battlefield. Brutus calmly replied, “Why, I shalt see thee at Phillippi, then.” I thought about the acceptance in Brutus’ words. He knew he did something terrible, and that punishment will come. Yet he accepted.

I thought about acceptance. Would it feel any better if I accepted whatever is wrong with me? But I cannot! For one, I have not done anything wrong like commit a major sin (unless one counts my gluttony). So why should I be punished? I chose acceptance but only so that I could cope. The strategies that worked for me may or may not work for others. These are:

1. Fight fight and fight until I am in control
2. The love and company of my many and varied fur babies (pets)
3. Take up reading to transition into another world, so that there is no space left in my mind for these thoughts.
4. Travel helped me cleanse my mind.

I will NOT accept them! They will not win.

But I still wish I knew what to call them.

The post Demons in my head – Experience and coping strategies first appeared on Learners’ Republic.

According to World Health Organization, mental disorders in Pakistan account for more than 4% of total disease burden and around 24 million people need psychiatric assistance. These statistics herald a mental health emergency in the country especially when there is just 1 psychiatrist available per 10,000 people with mental disorders.

This article briefly reviews some aspects of provincial mental health acts and gaps/issues in the mental health system in Pakistan. This is discussed in the advent of recent incidents that occurred because of underlying mental health issue or cases where the victims are vulnerable to developing one after experiencing something traumatic in their lives.

To quantify the scale of the mental health problem, suicide has become a global epidemic that costs a life every 40 seconds worldwide. A study published in 2018 identified depressive disorders to be the third leading contributor to overall mental health issues in global burden of disease in East Mediterranean region only. The situation is equally grave in Pakistan with estimated suicide rate of 2.9/100,000 in 2016 (WHO statistics). The prevalence of mental health issues is high among young adults especially students, mainly due to family and societal pressures.

Reviewing the relevant laws and policies, the provincial mental health acts in Pakistan state that in case of failed suicide attempt, the individual is required to undergo psychiatric assessment. However, according to Section 352 of Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), suicide is still considered a criminal offense with a punishment of one-year jail time and/or PKR 10,000 fine. A bill tabled in Senate last year tried to decriminalize suicide attempt but it was deferred on religious grounds. By law, attempted suicide cases need to be reviewed by medico-legal centers (MLCs). However, due to embarrassment, fear of harassment and stigmatization, most people do consider approaching MLCs.

According to WHO-AIMS report in collaboration with the Ministry of Health (2009), number of psychiatrists and psychologists in Pakistan was 0.2 and 0.28/10,000 persons respectively with only 1% of psychiatrists and psychosocial professionals available specifically for addressing child mental health issues. These numbers are alarming especially with need to deal with increased cases of child sexual abuse and incidents involving pedophiles in the country. The horrific incidents of child abuse and murder in Kasur are ugly manifestation of the problem. There are many other victims and survivors of such heinous acts and their families who suffer from physical and emotional trauma.

Unfortunately, the provincial mental health acts do not specify the basic rights and provision of services for vulnerable groups including children. In some cases, even if psychiatric assistance is sought, there is discrimination on basis of gender, religion, culture or caste and there is no authority to ensure that such people get the penalty stated in the law commensurate with the crime committed.

Another pressing issue in Pakistan is the rise in incidents of violence including domestic violence, emotional or psychological abuse, and widespread physical abuse. A recent study reveals stark figures related to child abuse among students of a university in Punjab. It showed a higher percentage of male students being the victim of all kinds of abuse as compared to females (physical abuse 68% males, 46% females; emotional abuse 53% males, 54% females; sexual abuse 44% males, 39% females). Even more discouraging were the results of an anonymous online Survey (2018) conducted by Dawn, where most people considered stigma and lack of social support as barriers for seeking professional help in case of psychological trauma. Moreover, it was also reported that psychiatric/psychological help is both inaccessible and unaffordable.

These findings indicate a dire need to reform mental health system in Pakistan. While some changes may take time to implement, desperate times require for desperate measures and prioritization by the federal and provincial governments and respective institutions. To begin with, there is a need to decriminalize suicide, conduct awareness campaigns/conferences and organize free camps to reduce stigma and enhance social support. Moreover, more research needs to be conducted to have more reliable national statistics related to mental health disorders and related issues.

Mental health services can be made more accessible through free helplines and provision of tele mental health services using internet for screening, treatment and counselling for prevention of mental health disorders. Mobile community mental health teams can also be trained to cater the mental health needs of the community especially in the remote areas. Lastly, psychological first aid training can be given to ancillary staff like nurses, speech and occupational therapists, and lady health workers. In addition, by adopting “train the trainer” model to train internees and fresh graduates in the field, the dearth of psychiatrists/ clinical psychologists in Pakistan can be overcome to some extent.

The author has M.S in Clinical Psychology and has research interest and work experience focusing on autism. She is currently serving as a Clinical Supervisor/ Psychologist in Islamabad.

The post Mental Health in Pakistan: Current Situation and Need for Reforms first appeared on Learners’ Republic.

There is no denying that solid waste management has become a daunting task across the world. In Pakistan, heaps of garbage have become part of landscape along the roads, railway tracks, inside drainage and waterways. The population explosion followed by inadequate management practices have left this issue unaddressed. The annual waste generation in Pakistan has crossed 48 million tons per annum, increasing over two percent every year. Karachi manifests the worst of this crisis with a lack of resources, capacity and political will all adding to the problem. The question emanates who is to blame for this imbroglio – government, private sector, experts or public? In reality, no one is free of blame and responsibility.

While it is easy to rest the responsibility solely to authorities, our academia and other experts in the field may play their role in educating the public on innovative ideas of producing compost from organic waste or energy from rest of the waste. This is successfully being implemented in many countries. However, we may need to adapt solutions according to local needs as the composition of waste generated in Pakistan may be different compared to other countries. To get desired results, there is a need to raise awareness on how waste can be segregated into groups at household and workplace level. Firstly, different color bins can be placed in offices and commercial areas by mentioning category of waste – organic (food waste), inorganic (recyclable and non-recyclable). At the second stage, residential areas can be targeted. This can potentially generate revenue from organic waste in the form of fertilizer and rest may be sold as recyclables. However, the role of informal garbage pickers should not be ignored as it is a source of livelihood for them. Government along with concerned stakeholders must devise a mechanism to include them in a formal set up and provide them incentives such as personal protective equipment and basic aid to ensure their safety and wellbeing while contributing to waste disposal. Additionally, the authorities may impose fines on littering in public places to penalize and discourage irresponsible behavior.

There is no better time to inculcate responsible habits than in early years of schooling. Students and young minds are potentially the most promising agents of change in the society. The educational institutes may be encouraged to update the syllabus at every level to sensitize and educate young and upcoming generation. Relevant courses need to be offered at universities with help from experts from in the field to share solution based ideas based on local and international experience and research. The link between educational and research institutes need to be established to collaborate on solutions for dealing with waste disposal. This would help fill the gap between market and institutions.

In a similar vein, Masjid (mosque) and other places of worship are established platforms to reach out to masses and sensitize them to harness fruitful results. Friday prayer and other weekly sermons can potentially be an effective medium for advocating civic responsibilities in public. It can provide a platform across the socio-economic backgrounds to reiterating the lost message that “Cleanliness is half the faith’. The authorities may disseminate literature in easily understandable national and local languages on how the message can be propagated and practiced in our daily lives. For instance, during festive events like Eid-ul-Azha, our masjids can play better role on reminding citizens of their responsibilities to dispose carcasses in a safe manner.

However, at the government level, significant additional resources and manpower is required for primary and secondary collection of waste. One way to mitigate this problem is to provide incentives to the public to participant at various levels. Secondary collection points can be established at proposed locations where waste can be collected through machinery and reward must be there with respect to weight and appropriate segregation of solid waste. This will save the primary collection cost and time. Pilot projects to initiate this may include low income areas first, as they are more likely to respond to incremental source of additional income.

It may take changing of habits and practices of waste disposal but if done right can help change in culture related to civic responsibility for waste disposal in the country. Adequate waste management practices reap multiples benefits by protecting environment and reducing incidence of disease. Rather than only considering waste disposal to be the responsibility of the authorities, it is our responsibility too at individual and collective level to dispose waste effectively and play a part in keeping our surroundings clean. The slogan ‘My waste, my responsibility’ needs to be raised and adopted at every level.

Haider Ali is a young professional working as a Health Safety & Environment Officer in Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre (SKMCH & RC), holds a degree in MPhil Environmental Science from Government College University, Lahore. He can be reached at haider-92@live.com

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As a development practitioner coming from a high-income country but not one of the happiest countries, I have been interested in learning how we could make countries ‘developed’ and people happier at the same time. Then, I encountered a book on this topic by Stefano Bartolini translated from Italian into Japanese but does not yet seem to be translated in English. This is a very brief summary of the book I translated from Japanese into English.

Prof. Bartolini’s “Manifesto for Happiness – from a consumer society to a relationship-rich society”

The book talks about paradox that economic prosperity will not necessarily bring happiness, as materialism causes people lose social capital by reducing time and physical and emotional space to nurture personal and social relationships. Materialism places an importance on extrinsic motivation (e.g. money, consumer goods, economic success) and ignores intrinsic motivation (e.g. friendship, solidarity,
social responsibility). The book touches upon ‘defensive growth’ which occurs as a result of market economy making consumers buy goods and services in order to compensate no-longer-available common assets which used to be freely available. For example, you fly to a resort where you can enjoy clean air and beautiful sea, because you live in a polluted city. You buy home entertainment for children because it is dangerous to play outside.

The author proposes a post-materialism society and presents several policy options to improve quality of lives. The book suggests creating a society focusing on relationship, such as creation of ‘relationship-rich cities’ where residents can walk around or use bicycles and public transport by limiting entry of vehicles. Those cities have playgrounds, parks, sport facilities, sidewalks besides river, sea, or lake rather than shopping malls which promotes a consumer society. It also proposes a change in educational system and school curriculum to increase time to spend outside of school, more focus on creativity, critical thinking, and innovation than ‘results-orientation for cognitive knowledge.’ In this era, countries which succeed to transform its educational system will gain a comparative advantage.

It also talks about the importance of reducing advertisement, especially banning ads for children, as it is one of the main causes of wide spread of materialism. The book calls for a change in democracy by restricting political parties’ access to mass media and reduce political parties’ expenditures so that dependency of politicians on large corporations will be reduced. It also proposes a change the way we work – it should be less stressful and more meaningful, and it should create better personal and social
relationships. The book provides real-life examples from all over the world but importantly notes that we have not yet seen a comprehensive, holistic change at a country-level.

More ideas and books

In Pakistan, I recall Nadeem ul Haque’s book “Looking back: How Pakistan became an Asia Tiger by 2050” had a section on cities, in which he recommended very similar things as Bartolini. In UK, Tim Jackson wrote “Prosperity without Growth” which I recently obtained a copy and am looking forward to reading it. In Japan, there are two authors whose books I enjoyed reading in the past 4-5 years: Ryo Yamazaki, Community Designer and Yoshinori Hiroi, Professor of Kyoto University discussing sustainable welfare society.

The original Italian version of this “Manifesto for Happiness” was published in 2010, and its Japanese version was published in July 2018 and noted that an English version with latest analysis and a focus on American readers is under preparation. As of Sept 2019, the English version does not seem to be available yet.

About the author: Naoko Takasu is a development practitioner, worked in South Asia, Middle East, Southeast Asia and now lives in Central Asia, wrote this blog at her personal capacity. 

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The Australian Inferno– The Forecast is Grim

Apocalyptic wildfires-  countryside turned into charcoal –  over 1 billion animals killed on ground;  marine heatwave killing life in ocean-holiday beaches turned into evacuation zones-thousands lined up for food and water while air is unbreathable under a discolored sky.

Welcome to the Australian Inferno or the New Normal?

 Yes, our house is on fire. Worse, there are all indications that makes it our new normal.

Though this forecast is grim, but have we sleepwalked into this?

The answer is NO!

Scientists have been warning what would happen. In 2006, Sir Nicolas Stern predicted occurrence of frequent climatic catastrophes if we fail to limit global temperature to 1.5⁰C above pre-industrial levels. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in its various reports including the recent report Climate Change and Land has pronounced Australia to be the most fire prone continent. In addition, the Bureau of Meteorology and the CSIRO ( Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization have concluded that, since 1910, Australia has warmed by 1⁰C and; this change has contributed to the frequency and intensity of the fire weather. The IPCC report further explains that warmer temperature means accelerated evaporation-less rainfall-more dry fuel load-humidity-increased wind speed-longer summer and elevated risk of bushfires. In other words, a complete recipe for climatic catastrophe.

Though divestment from fossil fuels is on the rise, Australia remains one of the largest exporters of coal and natural gas. In addition, Australia produces 1.3 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas even though they it inhabits just 0.3 percent of the world’s population. Last year, when Mark Carney, Governor Bank of England, and Goldman Sachs were promoting transition towards sustainable finance, the Australian government stopped funding Green Climate Fund. In addition to this, Australian government continued to subsidize coal and other fossil fuels-again paying no attention to the predictions of Climate Council that by 2030, climate change can wipe out $570bn from Australia’s property market.  As climate scientist, Joelle Gergis has elucidated, what is happening in Australia is irreversible; it has the potential to reconfigure life on the planet as we know it. Simply put: Australia’s coal loving Prime Minister has decided to join Trump and Bolsonaro in climate change denialism and has put the future of the entire world in jeopardy.

This climate change denialism reinforces an important lesson: burning your own country is possible through  greed, siloed thinking and political unwillingness. Naturalists like David Attenborough have warned that our children are going to see many places and species ONLY in pictures. Providing impetus to the debate, Greta Thunberg’s “school strike for climate” has brought out millions out on the streets worldwide in just a year since its inception. Bill McKibben’s new math on climate change is scarier than the previous one. However, when it comes to practical solutions to limit global warming below 2⁰C,  Madrid COP25– witnessed entrenched nationalism winning over multilateral commitment.

This also means, first and foremost, as famous economist, Mariana Mazzucato has put it, “In the case of climate change,…we need to start thinking of ourselves as fundamental problem solvers once again…In a society wracked by populist discontent, it is critical that all citizens participate in transforming our society for the better” as our house is on fire.

Ayesha Umar is a graduate student of Development Studies at York University with research focus on Innovation and Regional Economic Development. She can be reached at umaenaum@my.yorku.ca

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