Today, as I write this article, it shocks me that Pakistan is only left with 1.53 years to achieve Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Government of Pakistan has adopted 16 targets and 41 indicators. Time series data is available for only 34 indicators and it reveals that Pakistan is on track to achieve the targets on 11 indicators, […]
Sidra’s ordeal
Tears welled up in the eyes of Sidra’s father as he spoke about the illness of his 10 year-old daughter and his inability to meet the cost of her treatment. Lean, pale and restless, Sidra tossed and turned in pain on the hospital bed. She seemed extremely undernourished and deprived of all life’s amenities. She seemed […]
Juma Khan, the refugee
Juma Khan was forced to migrate from North Waziristan to the city of Peshawar, and a few years later, to the outskirts of Islamabad, just to make a living. He was born in Pakistan to refugee parents from Afghanistan, and despite having spent 38 years in Pakistan, was still tagged as a refugee. He was illiterate, had […]
First day of life
Pakistan has the highest number of children that die during child birth or on the first day of life. Unfortunately, it is the top country in the world that’s been unable to meet security requirements for newborn babies, yet there is no official notice of this. According to the latest Save the Children report “Ending […]
Grandmother’s eggs
Last month, a high powered technical Symposium on maternal and child health concluded at the flooded Oxford University Egrove Park with a message that can be captured in just one Cartoon. Projected as the last slide of Stephen Kennedy, the opening speaker’s presentation, the cartoon was framed in the setting of a racing track with a […]
Governance — Going granular
At the end of each year, analysts tend to review past performance of governments and sectors and whip forecasts and recommendations for the future. In doing so, they generally view things with a technical analytical lens where performance metrics, indicators and benchmarks come into play. Metrics matter deeply for performance with quantitative and qualitative data, […]
Pakistan’s digital present
A Dubai-based bank announced a job opening for South Asian applicants, where the copious number of Pakistani applications exceeded expectations, while the number of Indian applicants was… well, it did not exist. There was not a single Indian that wanted to work at that ‘bling-bling’ Dubai job. Why? Because the Indian youth does not need […]
Pakistan’s Population: New Realities and Challenges for Human Development
Pakistan is currently the 6th most populous country in the world and is on the verge of becoming the 5th most populous. In terms of demography, it is a ‘young country’, where 50% of its population is below the age of 20, which means that there are 235 million people in the working age group. […]
WHO Releases World Health Report 2013: Research for Universal Health Coverage
The World Health Organization launched the “World Health Report 2013: Research for Universal Health Coverage” in Beijing on August 14th, 2013. This report resonates the 2010, World Health Report on “Health Systems Financing: The path to universal coverage”. The interest in universal health coverage has only grown since then as Dr. Margaret Chan, WHO Director […]
Book launch of Capturing the Demographic Dividend in Pakistan
Pakistan is one of the fastest growing nations in the world. It risks being the fifth most populous country in the world, given the current status of the rapid population growth according to a report by UNFPA. Rapid population growth poses an economic challenge to a country as it requires more resources for sustainable development. […]