By: Asiya Jawed Protest after attack on journalist Asad Ali Toor in May 2021.  Photo credit: Khizer Habib In Pakistan, press freedom has been under strain for several years and the space for journalists has been specifically shrinking since the 2018 elections. During 2020, it was vital for the public to receive accurate news regarding the pandemic. But as the government built a narrative of effectively handling the crisis, journalists were harassed, kidnapped, beaten and arrested in an effort to silence critical voices. In this blog, I will discuss how Pakistani journal ..read more

 By Asiya Jawed and Haleema Hasan  Students in Karachi stage a protest against online classes  Source: Scroll.in  In April 2020, a month after the first coronavirus cases were detected, 300,000 schools closed in Pakistan and 46 million Pakistani students were forced to stay at home. Almost six months later, schools had only partially opened whilst students and teachers were still acquainting themselves with online learning methods.  Source: Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement 2018-19 In this blog we review what 2020 looked like f ..read more

 By Haris Gazdar Women and girls in Qamber, Shadakot, north-west Sindh. Picture credit: Wikimedia Commons. This blog is based on a response by the author at the annual Sustainable Development Conference of the Sustainable Development Policy Institute on 14th December 2020. Question What major policy changes in existing national policies and programs you would like to see at federal and provincial government level to move towards universal social protection in Pakistan?  Who do you think will be the main stakeholders? And do you find any torchbearer in this regard who can ..read more

 By Syeda Haleema Hasan and Asiya Jawed Picture credit: Marcos Cola, Pixabay Trigger warning: abuse, assault, r*pe, kidnapping. As we laud Pakistan’s fight against the pandemic, we shouldn’t overlook how the country is failing its children. Even though children are less susceptible to get infected with COVID-19, the virus is insidiously impacting them in myriad ways. Some of the effects of the pandemic have made their way into public discourse, such as the educational costs and health risks. However, COVID-19 has had a deeper impact on children. There is evidence that measures t ..read more

 By Asiya Jawed "Halima Leghari, President, All Sindh Health Workers and Employees Union with other health workers at the October 2020 protest in Islamabad" Health workers around the world today are glorified for saving other people’s lives while risking their own during the Covid-19 pandemic. Yet the basic human rights of these vulnerable heroes are being undermined, as Amnesty International warns of another crisis in which thousands of health workers are dying to save others. The shortage of lifesaving protective equipment, coupled with unfair pay and lack of benefits in numerous co ..read more

By: Syeda Haleema Hasan Photo by Wasim Gazdar Photography Last month, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan assuredthat the country’s economy was on the path to recovery as the pandemic’s intensity lessened. The state has adopted measures to curb the virus and mitigate its disastrous effects, including imposing lockdowns and introducing economic relief packages. However, Pakistan’s Covid-19 response is largely missing one half of its population: women. The pandemic’s disruptive impact disproportionately affects women and any recovery failing to incorporate an intersectional, gendered a ..read more

by Haris Gazdar image by Asif Hassan/AFP “If consciously or otherwise you were brought up believing that Karachi in 1947 was "a land without people for a people without land" this must be a disturbing time for you.  Commiserations.  And if in your imagination Karachi was not part of Sindh, commiserations again. Check Google Maps. What is Karachi? A settlement on the sea shore, occupying land between the Hub and Malir Rivers, to the north of the farthest reach of the Indus delta.   You assumed, without ever caring to actually know, that you were entitled to the water that flows ..read more

By: Kabeer Dawani  Earlier this month, the Federal Government of Pakistan amended the Drug Pricing Policy of 2018 in a bid to reinstate the government’s control over medicine prices and end automatic, inflation-adjusted increases. This follows public outcry in January 2019 over price increases and ongoing debates around affordable healthcare in the wake of the COVID pandemic. Medicine pricing has long been a controversial issue in Pakistan. Currently all pharmaceuticals have strict price ceilings, which, combined with a policy of price rigidity, has incentivised manufacturers to set ve ..read more

By: Syeda Haleema Hasan  A family of 7 live in a one-bedroom home in machar (mosquito) colony, a slum in Karachi during a 3-day lockdown on March 22, 2020. Saiyna Bashir for The New York Times. Pakistan’s first Covid-19 case was confirmed in late February. Over the next four months, and amidst varying responses to the virus, Pakistan has emerged amongst the countries most affected by the pandemic. Classified as a lower middle income country by the World Bank, it faces an exacerbated impact of the virus due to various factors, including poor infrastructure, limited reso ..read more

By: Komal Qidwai A Covid-19 Ward at Civil Hospital, Karachi. Photo Credit: Health and Population Welfare Department, Sindh As Pakistan’s Covid-19 tally rises above 100,000, hospitals across the country are running out of capacity and the burden on frontline providers is growing. Through our interviews with experts and on-going tracking of news and social media content, we have identified some major areas of concern regarding the safety and rights of frontline healthcare providers. Starting in May, a stream of violent attacks began against healthcare providers and facilities by angry ..read more