Title Back Title Title inside Pakistan : The Next Generation November 2009 Contents Acknowledgements i Foreword ii Overview iii Key findings iv Chapter 1 Peril and Promise Pakistan’s future in an uncertain age 1 Chapter 2 Portrait of a Generation Beliefs, attitudes and aspirations 10 Chapter 3 Dividend or Disaster Understanding the policy challenge 19 Chapter 4 Making a Difference Transforming the lives of the Next Generation 28 Chapter 5 The Greatest Generation? Tapping the potential of the young 36 Annex One Next Generation Contributors 45 The youth must not forget who they are and wht they Annex Two r a part of.. They must keep Methodology 52 the cultural heritage alive in thier hearts..... Dont forget your identity if you Footnotes 54 do, the world will forget you....... hey, it rhymes!! Furqan Acknowledgements Foreword The following research was commissioned for Next Generation Report: Dr. Bernadette Dean, the Next Generation report: Principal, Kinnaird College, Lahore; Asad Inspirational. Influential. A change maker. A help a nation that is tired of poverty and n Survey Report for the Next Generation Jappa, Director International Linkages, leader. hunger, of disappointment and hardship. The Project, Tehseena Rafi and Silal Shafqat, University of Gujrat, Pakistan Country report shows how eager and willing are Nielsen, Pakistan Director University of Central Lancashire; Prof. Words almost never applied to a fresh-faced young people – whether from the teeming n Changing Factors: Political & Democratic Dr. Malik Hussain Mubbashar, Vice Chancellor twenty-something. The same youth who cities or rural outskirts – to take on the Activism of Youth in Pakistan, Iqbal / Chief Executive, University of Health makes up half of Pakistan's population and responsibility of deciding their own future. Haider Butt, Senior Partner, Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan; Ameena Saiyid, who stands to inherit the country tomorrow. Development Pool, Lahore, Pakistan; Managing Director, Oxford University Press, A country that today has urgent internal and When we look at the next generation who and Sabiha Shaheen, Executive Director, Karachi, Pakistan; Dr. Qurat ul Ain Bakhtiari, external challenges; with resources that have are to take our place we would be well BARGAD Founding Director, Institute of Development been underutilized; where the present is advised to realise as a nation that our power n Youth Employment and Economic Growth Studies & Practices, Quetta, Pakistan; Shireen uncertain and the future unclear. lies in their empowerment. in Pakistan, Dr Rehana Siddiqui, Chief of Naqvi, Director, School of Leadership, Karachi; Research, PIDE, Islamabad, Pakistan Bilal Ahmad Rana, Project Coordinator, Youth This report is unique, in that it comes directly Abrar-ul-Haq n Understanding demographic Parliament of Pakistan: Dr Samina Amin from those who hold the power to determine opportunities & threats for young people Qadir, Head of English Programme, Fatima Pakistan's future: the youth. They just don't in Pakistan: the economic, social & Jinnah Women University. have the authority to exercise that power… political impact of youth participation yet. Over twelve hundred members of the Next and /or exclusion, Arshad Bhatti, Generation provided us with detailed and Director, Connective Action – Informing This report is a landmark put together by the insightful written contributions to the report Policy, Reforming Practice; and Kaveri youth of the country, gifted researchers and through the open source consultation Harris, Researcher, Options UK and eminent Pakistanis with funding by the process or in workshops. They are Research Fellow, University of Sussex British Council after months of painstaking acknowledged in Appendix One. n The Next Generation Report – The Policy research and data-collection. Environment, Sabina Ahmad and Kulsum This project was developed and Babri, Value Resources implemented by the following team from the It is because of this effort that I am honoured British Council: Sue Beaumont, David Martin, to pen this foreword, and also because I can We would like to thank the following Task Mark Stephens, Shazia Khawar, Fasi Zaka, see this report igniting a much needed Force members: Moeed Pirzada, broadcast Salman Cheema, Fatima Farooq, Nasir Kazmi, debate on what can be done to invest in the journalist H; Ashfaq Ahmad, Secretary of Sadia Rahman, Nasir Nazir, Obaid Khan, youth so they aren't left short-changed. Youth Affairs (2008), Govt. of Pakistan; Abrar Alamzeb Khan, Amna Ashraf, Mariam Khan, ul Haq, Chairman, Sahara for Life Trust; Asif Muneer, Khurram Saeed, Ahmad Ali and It forecasts Pakistan's prospects over the next Mohsin Nathani, Country Head, Barclays Bank; Sarwat Azeem One of the major challenges twenty years and identifies the country's “The journey of a thousand Ahmad J. Durrani, Vice Chancellor LUMS; which the next generation of miles begins with a single step." most pressing long-term challenges: Pakistanis need to keep this Dr.Rehana Siddique, Chief Researcher, PIDE; David Steven from the Center for Pakistan needs to know is to have answers to the questions, population explosion and untapped adage in mind and no matter Sabiha Shaheen, Executive Director, BARGAD; International Cooperation at New York and enough knowledge about demographic potential, resource scarcity, how trying the circumstances, Arshad Bhatti, Director, Connective Action, Dr. University was policy advisor to the project, the political/economic we need to keep believing that condition of the country social turmoil, distressing gender inequality we can pull through. Tariq Rehman, Quaid-e-Azam University, Dr. with research and editorial assistance from Rabia and the country's growing isolation in the WAQAS ABID Pervaiz. Victoria Collis, Jane Frewer, Michael Harvey, international community. Matthew Kent and Mark Weston. The following provided valuable advice on Images are contributed by Fayyaz Ahmad and The next generation wants to change that to ii shape, content and recommendations for the students of Kinnaird College. Overview Key findings Pakistan: The Next Generation aims to spark there are welcome signs of a new willingness Peril and Promise and just 5% receive any higher debate on how the country can transform to invest in the next generation. The n Pakistan is a young and increasingly education. itself to harness the potential of its young international community has also failed urban society. Half its citizens are under n In our survey of the next generation (18- people. Pakistan, pursuing a myopic and narrow- twenty; two thirds have yet to reach 29 year olds) a quarter of respondents minded agenda that has not delivered any their thirtieth birthday. are illiterate. Half believe they do not The project, led by a Task Force of eminent tangible improvement in the security of n The population has trebled in less than have the skills for the modern labour public figures, marks the most ordinary people. Indeed, it has had the fifty years. It will grow by around 85 market. Even those with good comprehensive investigation ever into the opposite impact. million in twenty years (roughly the qualifications are struggling to find attitudes and needs of Pakistan's youth. equivalent of five cities the size of decent employment, and are struggling Our report argues that it is time for a fresh Karachi). against discrimination and corruption. We have thoroughly reviewed existing start. We all need to unite behind a new n Birth rates remain high by regional n Disillusion with democracy is research and supplemented this with new mission to meet the needs of the next standards, especially in rural areas. pronounced. Only around 10% have a studies from some of Pakistan's leading generation. Never again will Pakistan have Pakistan's demographic transition (from great deal of confidence in national or academic institutions. such a high proportion of young adults in its high to low mortality and fertility) has local government, the courts, or the population. They offer us a substantial stalled. police. Only 39% voted in the last We commissioned a representative opinion dividend, which we cannot afford to leave on n The economy must grow by 6% a year to election; while half are not even on the poll of Pakistan's young people, exploring the table. meet the needs of its growing voters' list. how the next generation thinks, feels and population. 36 million new jobs are n The next generation loves Pakistan, reacts. The most hopeful message emerging from needed in just ten years. At present, despite the country's failings. It is also our report is the strength of the voices of the Pakistan ranks 101 out of 133 countries civic minded, with nearly half believing Perhaps most importantly of all, we have next generation itself. With the country at a on the Global Competitiveness Index. education's primary purpose is to learn interviewed large numbers of young people perilous point in its history, many young n By 2030, Pakistan will be more urban to be a good citizen or to gain a broad and given them a chance to tell their stories. leaders are determined to play their part in than rural, creating huge demand for understanding of the world. What do they want from the future? What building a brighter future. infrastructure. Energy use could n Many young leaders are no longer obstacles do they face? And how can they quadruple; water will be an increasingly prepared to wait for others to act. They help build a stronger Pakistan? “Sixty-two years back there was a nation in scarce resource. are actively seeking opportunities to search of a land,” one young person told us. n Pakistanis are losing confidence in the build a stronger, more peaceful and In Spring 2009, we launched an interim “At present, there is a piece of land in search future. Only 15% believe the country is prosperous society, and to develop a report to provoke further discussion, inviting of a nation.” heading in the right direction. 72% feel new relationship with the rest of the ideas, input and critique from opinion economically worse off than a year ago.