FOSTERING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENTIN SAOUTHSIA RESPONDING TO CHALLENGES LAHORE — PAKISTAN 338.927Ayesha Salman, S. S. Aneel, U. T. Haroon Fostering Sustainable Development in South Asia: Responding to Challenges/ Anthology editors: Ayesha Salman, Sarah S. Aneel, Uzma, T. Haroon.-Lahore: Sang-e- MeelPublications, 2011 . xviii, 336pp. 1. South Asia - Development Economics. I. Title. © SDPI & Sang-e-Meel Publications All rights reserved. No Part of this Publications may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, digital, electronic, mechanical, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the Publisher. 2011 Published by: Niaz Ahmad Sang-e-Meel Publications, Lahore. Anthology editors: Ayesha Salman Sarah S. Aneel Uzma T. Haroon Cover design by: Nasir Khan Disclaimer The findings, interpretations and conclusions expressed in this anthology are entirely those of the authors and should not be attributed to the Sustainable Development Policy Institute or Sang-e-Meel Publications.Any text that has not been referenced or cited as per the authors’ guidelines is the sole responsibility of the author/s. ISBN-10: 9 6 9 - 3 5 - 2 3 8 1 - 4 ISBN-13: 978-969-35-2381-2 Sang-e-Meel Publications Phones: 37220100-37228143 Fax: 37245101 http://www.sang-e-meel.com e-mail: [email protected] 25 Shahrah-e-Pakistan (Lower Mall), Lahore-54000 PAKISTAN & Sustainable Development Policy Institute 38 Embassy Road, G-6/3, Islamabad Tel: (92-51) 2278134, 2278136 Fax: 2278135 iii CONTENTS Section I: The Politics of Policy Research in Developing Countries Research in difficult settings: Reflections on Pakistan 3 Saba Gul Khattak Flower, queens and goons: Unruly women in rural Pakistan 45 Lubna N. Chaudhry Discourse, donors and development: The conundrum of policy 83 research in Pakistan Raza Ahmad and Ammar Rashid Section II: Food Insecurity and Political/ Military Conflict Nexus Food security and governance nexus in Pakistan 115 Roshan Malik Food insecurity and conflict in Nepal 141 Bishnu Upreti, Safal Ghimire and Yamuna Ghale iv Section III: Sustainable Access to Safe Drinking Water Assessing sustainable access to safe drinking water in Sindh, 173 Pakistan F. H. Mughal Partnership for safe water initiative for the promotion of 185 Household Water Treatment (HWT) options in Nepal Padmaja Shrestha, Bhushan Tuladhar, Biju Dangol, Roshan Raj Shrestha and Bipin Dangol Section IV: Civil-Military Unrest in South Asia: Reflections Civil-military relations and political transition in Nepal 203 Bishnu Upreti Civil-military relations in India: Emerging trends 227 Asha Gupta Section V: Social and Environmental Issues in Pakistan Climate change impacts and adaptation in Pakistan: case of Shigar 253 Valley Aneel Salman v Section VI: ICTs and Women Empowerment The Gender digital divide in rural Pakistan: How wide is it and 295 how to bridge it? Karin Astrid Siegmann Annexure: Conference Programme 319 vi vii PREFACE This year’s anthology covers a diverse range of topics that analyze, in depth, the possible solutions and reasons for the six “Fs” crisis that face the South Asian region today. I am referring to the “six Fs”, food, fuel, fiscal and frontiers crises, as well as functional democracy and fragility of climate. I would like to emphasize that independent research is considered vital and it is imperative that the government considers supporting research and public policy organizations so that they can help policy makers and leaders listen to the independent voices of communities through research based projects and case studies as reflected in the current anthology. This anthology focuses on possible mechanisms that will serve as catalysts for positive change with regard to pro-poor governance and human and food security. The diverse range of topics covered in the anthology include the energy crisis, food security, climate change and the difficulties researchers encounter when trying to carry out independent research. The relationship between food security, conflict and governance is explored as is the impact of climate change with the plethora of natural disasters that South Asia has faced in the last few years. It is crucial to identify these links and relationships in order to get to the root of the reasons for the most urgent issues that need to be addressed, such as food insecurity and conflict management. With the current wave of religious, ethnic, provincial conflict, and a huge energy deficiency clustered within a general civil unrest we need to look at peace and sustainable development in more complex terms rather than simply using a one sided approach. This volume contains selected papers (after a thorough peer review and editing process), presented during the Twelfth Sustainable Development Conference viii (2009) of the SDPI. It covers a range of topics that pertain to the issues discussed above. The anthology unmasks the many layers of the multifaceted problems that tap into the heart of what the possibilities for positive change are, paving the way for policy discourse on these important topics. The topics covered include the politics of policy research, the various setbacks faced by researchers and research communities due to various reasons including the indubitable effect of the different slants of research in various circumstances and by various stakeholder communities that can sometimes taint policy making or skew it in different directions. The relationship between governance and food security is looked at in depth enforcing the argument that lack of food security and poor governance are interlinked and that ultimately poor governance and food insecurity culminate in serious security threats and end in an increase in conflict and poverty. Coupled with this is the interaction between civil society and the military: the role of the military is explored vis a vis the government and political parties and various perspective based on historical facts are adopted on the importance of this relationship and its impact on the politics of Nepal and India in particular. The devastating consequences of drastic changes in climate in the form of the depletion of natural resources are looked at with suggestions on how governments must adopt policies that have a bottom-up approach to alleviate this pressing concern. Lack of safe drinking water and the serious affects on the health of individuals resulting in millions of deaths every year are also prioritized with suggestions on various tried and tested methods of providing safe drinking water to the poorer populations who do not have access to it. I invite our readers to take this important journey with us in trying to decipher the causes of conflict in the endeavour to attain peace and security through ix sustainable development. Perhaps together we can secure a brighter and safer future for South Asia. Dr. Abid Qaiyum Suleri Executive Director Sustainable Development Policy Institute 38 Embassy Road, G-6/3 Islamabad, Pakistan x xi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Acknowledgements to the Donors The Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) acknowledges the financial support of the following institutions for the Twelfth Sustainable Development Conference and for helping to bring out this publication: The Swiss Development Corporation (SDC), Royal Norwegian Embassy, Canadian International Development Agency, Oxfam GB, Actionaid Pakistan, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs, and the Boston University Frederick S. Pardee Center. Acknowledgements to the Referees In publishing this anthology and the valuable feedback/review provided in each of the chapters that form part of it, the Sustainable Development Policy Institute is indebted to distinguished referees who generously spared their time in the publication process of this book. A brief introduction of each referee is given below: • Mr. Abrar Ahmad graduated from University of Engineering and Technology Lahore (Taxila Campus). He has done his Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering with MS in Engineering Management. He has expertise in the energy sector, technology audit and project management. xii • Dr. Aneel Salman is a Fulbright Scholar, who has done his doctorate in Ecological Economics from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, New York, USA. He is also a Research Fellow at the Centre for Public Policy and Governance, Forman Christian University, Pakistan. • Dr. Anita Gurumurthy is a founding member and Executive Director of IT for Change (ITfC), an India-based NGO engaged in policy research and advocacy on Information and Communication Technologies for Development. Her academic work has been in the areas of gender, public health, globalisation and the information society. • Dr. Anupama Saxena is presently working as an Associate Professor of Political Science and In-charge-Director of Women’s Studies and Development Centre at the Guru Ghasidas University, Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, India. • Dr. Asha Gupta is a political economist working as a Director at the Directorate of Hindi Medium Implementation, University of Delhi. She is a recipient of UGC Career Award in Humanities, Shastri Indo- Canadian, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Norwegian and Salzburg Seminar Fellowships. • Dr. Avanish Kumar is an Associate Professor and Area Chair, Public Policy Management, Management Development Institute, Gurgaon, India. xiii • Dr. Bishnu Raj Upreti, Ph.D., is the Regional Coordinator of South Asia Coordination Office of the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) North-South. Author of