In Pakistan, electricity shortages, bad for years, have reached crisis proportions. The crisis is the product of multiple factors, from worn out power plants to crumbling transmission lines and from decades-old policy mistakes to circular debt in billions. One reason, however, stands above the others: lack of effective electricity governance. Sustainable power management, where electricity…
Iqbal Ahmad Bhurt, a 44-year-old social worker, has made a notable contribution to the society by helping the citizens raise their voice for improved public service delivery. Bhurt’s interventions in Dadu and Khairpur districts of Sindh province have enabled the local communities to ask questions from and follow up with their elected representatives. While the…
Fayyaz-ul-Islam, a 38-year-old pharmaceutical representative-turned-development practitioner, has built the capacity of local communities in Mardan district to seek information from government departments under the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Right to Information (RTI) Act 2013, leading to marked improvements in social service delivery. One of the primary reasons for irregularities by public officials in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province was…
Kawish Latif Jokhio, a 28-year-old social activist from the underdeveloped and remote Badin district in Sindh province, has dedicated his energies to ameliorating the condition of scheduled caste Hindus, who face discrimination at the hands of both upper caste Hindus and Muslims. To help the members of this marginalized community – living in Badin district…
Shaheed Benazir Park in Talhar taluka (sub-district) of Badin district in Sindh province is now open to visitors, thanks to Marvi Abida who raised her voice to ensure that local women and men have access to the public facility established using development funds. More importantly, as a result of Abida’s efforts, two days of the…
Sarwar Bibi, a 46-year-old mother of eight who has never been to school, broke the cultural barriers when she contested and won the 2015 local government elections on a women’s reserved seat in Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The extent of her achievement is best explained by the fact that the community…
When the management of Divisional Public School (DPS), Sahiwal increased the tuition fee by 20% in September 2015, the parents of the students were outraged. It was the third time in a single year that the school’s management had increased the fee. However, both the school’s management and Board of Governors paid no heed to…
On March 01, 2016, USAID Citizens’ Voice Project’s partner organization Pak Women presented the draft proposing amendments to the Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Procedure and Conduct of Business Rules, 1988. The amendments proposed by the Mardan-based organization are designed to improve the performance of the legislature and legislators; and strengthen the participation of citizens,…
The education sector in Pakistan has traditionally received little attention from the legislators. In Punjab, the most populous province of the country, the role of the legislators in contributing to educational governance has been limited at best. The lack of legislative oversight of the education sector can be attributed mainly to: (a) limitations of the…
The Centre for Governance and Public Accountability (CGPA), a USAID Citizens’ Voice Project partner organization, has been successfully managing a toll-free helpline to facilitate the citizens in exercising their constitutional right to information. The helpline has been functional since March 2015, when a memorandum of understanding was signed between CGPA and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Right to…