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Monday 23 May 2016

USAID Global Development Alliance: Partnering with Private Sector for Sustainable Development Impact


Deadline: 18 November 2017
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in partnership with the private sector is seeking concept papers from eligible entities for Global Development Alliance (GDA) Annual Program Statement (APS) which is designed to catalyze, facilitate and support such collaboration.
This APS is an invitation to co-creation that USAID extends to the private sector and other organizationsinterested in working closely with the private sector to achieve significant and sustainable development results and impact.
Characteristics
§  Focus on Development Impact
§  Based on Complementary Interests and Objectives
§  Market Based Approaches and Solutions
§  Extensive Private Sector Collaboration: Co-Creation and Shared Responsibility
§  Significant Private Sector Contributions for Increased Impact
§  Increased Scale, Efficiency, and Effectiveness
Eligibility Criteria
§  USAID welcomes applications from many types of organizations including U.S. and non-U.S. private businesses, business and trade associations, foundations, U.S. and non-U.S. Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), faith-based organizations, international organizations, U.S. and non-U.S. colleges and universities, civic groups, regional organizations, etc.
§  All applicants must be legally recognized organizational entities under applicable law.
§  An individual cannot apply as an applicant.
How to Apply
§  The application procedure consists of two phases:
§  Concept Papers
§  Full Applications
§  Based on the Concept Papers, USAID will determine whether to request a full application from an appropriate partner in a proposed alliance.

For more information, please email to goodgovernanceforum@gmail.com

Tuesday 17 May 2016

Transparency International welcomes Anti-Corruption Summit pledges and calls for immediate action


(Note by NK: There is very little if any discussion on media in Pakistan about this summit and it is not known to people who represented Pakistan in this summit and what he said.)

Transparency International welcomes the many commitments made today by the governments at the Anti-Corruption Summit as a positive step forward in the fight against corruption and calls for concrete actions to start immediately.
“This is a good day for the fight against corruption, but there is more to do. Well done to the countries that have shown leadership; but it is hard to credit those who still fail to make sufficient progress. We need to build on trust and a common agenda between governments, business and civil society so that we deliver more than words. We need actions to create change,” said Jose Ugaz, Chair of Transparency International.
Major gains include 12 additional countries signing up to public registries containing information on the real people who own and control companies or committing to explore doing so. An international centre to share information between law enforcement agencies tracking corrupt money and an international forum to speed up the return of stolen assets are welcome initiatives to get the money back into the countries it was stolen from.
Transparency International called for ambitious and concrete commitments from leaders before the Summit. We have seen that some have risen to the challenge whilst others seem content with the status quo.
While 11 new jurisdictions have agreed to share information on beneficial ownership behind closed doors, key countries are missing, including major economies such as the US.
José Ugaz, Chair of Transparency International, said:
“Exposing corruption is not enough. We need to stop impunity for corruption. The corrupt need to face the consequences of their crimes. 
“We called on countries to be ambitious and concrete in their proposals to prevent and punish corruption and protect those who stand up against it. Some countries have risen to the challenge and others have not.
"As of today, six more countries will publish public registries of the real owners of companies, with another six committing to explore doing so. This would make it harder to hide, transfer and benefit from corrupt money.
"We also welcome the fact that some governments will tackle secrecy in government activities by making information on procurement and contracting open by default.
"The UK has shown great leadership in gathering together more than 40 countries and the heads of key institutions. However it has not managed to get its own overseas territories to sign up to the same standards of transparency on company ownership that the Prime Minister has rightly so championed.
"The Summit has galvanised global attention on corruption and how to fight it. The real issue of how corruption works  -- secrecy -- is being tackled. More governments have committed to ensuring that information is made public making it harder for the corrupt to hide their illicit wealth. But we will need to see the laws in place and enacted before we can claim any victories.”
KEY POINTS:
Transparency: The Anti-Corruption Summit was the first of its kind to bring leaders together to tackle corruption. Significantly, the Summit was filmed in its entirety and was inclusive of governments, business and civil society. This is a standard that all Summits should try to adhere to.
Sport: Sports bodies have woken up to the need for reform and realised corruption can no longer be swept under the carpet. The initiative to launch an International Sport Integrity Partnership in 2017 must include all sports stakeholders from sponsors to athletes to international bodies to independent civil society groups.
International Centre for Law Enforcement collaboration: Corruption is a cross border crime that requires a joint-up response. This centre has potential to pool expertise, resources and knowledge to collaborate on investigations and punish perpetrators. The Centre must be open to receiving information submitted by whistleblowers and civil society groups in a safe and secure way.
Beneficial ownership transparency for real estate and public contracts: We strongly welcome the UK initiative to require full transparency of the companies who currently own or will purchase property in the UK, helping to close the door to corrupt cash. We welcome the fact that other countries also intend to shore up their own property markets so they don’t open the door to corrupt cash from overseas.
Press contact(s):
Chris Sanders
T: +49 30 34 38 20 666

Contributed by Shah N. Khan

Saturday 14 May 2016

Technology management in Pakistan military: Dr Mahmud Awan



NOTES



"Need to Know" is a good maxim but it does not inspire any confidence or trust in people who are excluded. It is practiced by the military but also by civilian 
organizations and it always creates contradictions. A good example is the reaction to my earlier post on Ojhri Camp disaster and its impact on the political and military history of Pakistan. Some readers have jumped to the defense of the military without even understanding the content of the Post. With friends like these, Pakistani military does not need any enemies. I have an old relationship with Pakistan army that dates back to my childhood. My ancestors fought both in the First World War and the Second World War and my direct relatives have fought in every war since the creation of Pakistan. Quite a few of them have died defending the country. That is why when I talk of the Pakistani military having a colonial outlook, I am talking about my own family. I never joined the military but I have received more awards from Pakistani military than many generals, admirals, and air marshals put together. The reason is I have made my expertise and technologies available to the military in more ways than one. The love is mutual. That is why I have called for more openness and transparency in military affairs. Soldiers and masses were kept in the dark in ancient times because they would not participate in combat if they knew the ground realities. 21st century is different because warfare now is global even if the combat is between two neighbors. My trainees in GHQ and JSHQ are often surprised to see my presentations that my children prepare for me about technology management in Pakistan military from publicly available sources because this information is suppressed inside Pakistan. Foreigners know more about Pakistani military than Pakistanis do. This has to change. Instead of attacking critics, Pakistani military has to learn to embrace divergent points of view. My son Abdur Rehman Awan (shown in the attached photos) joined me in my last lecture series at GHQ and JSHQ and now he considers himself incorrectly as an "expert" on Pakistan.
Dr. M. Mahmud Awan 5/12/14

Action – not rhetoric: By Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif


May 13, 2016
As the PML-N government, led by Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, nears the completion of its third year in public service, some of the landmark achievements of the government should be shared with the nation.
There is no denying the fact that the past three years have been a time of monumental challenges. Resuscitating Pakistan from the abyss of daunting crises after years of misrule and bad governance was never going to be an easy task.
A combination of three challenges – terrorism, energy and economy – not only impeded Pakistan’s progress but also threatened its survival. We knew that the challenges were great but greater was our resolve to overcome them. Right from the word go, we got down to business in all earnestness. We never looked back and continued to march on.
During the last three years, significant successes have been achieved on each of these fronts. International think-tanks and publications that previously wrote Pakistan off are acknowledging her turnaround today.
While I leave the comment on our marvellous achievements on security front for another day, I want to walk you through an amazing story of dedicated public service, wherein new benchmarks of transparency, openness and unwavering commitment have been set.
Today the government’s success in achieving macroeconomic stability has won global acknowledgement. This is testified by a recent report published by Moody’s Investors’ Service; the report retained Pakistan’s credit outlook at B3 stable. It is for the first time in the past decade that Moody’s upgraded the country’s credit outlook from stable to B3. This improvement has been followed by a similar acknowledgement from Standard and Poor’s.
This remarkable resilience of the economy, which is the result of astute management, has to be seen in the backdrop of energy and terrorism challenges which hurt the economy grievously.
No other area has solicited the government’s policy focus more than the resolution of the energy crisis. From the launching of the National Power Policy to initiation of work on power-sector projects, the government has taken solid steps to significantly reduce power outages in the country. The ongoing work on the coal, RLNG, hydel and solar power projects aims to diversity the energy mix.
While this work is part of the overall reform package, we, here in Punjab, are doing something in our jurisdiction that is unheard of in a country where corruption and misrule has been the name of the game.
For the first time in Pakistan’s history, the PML-N government led by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, has introduced a new culture of savings in mega projects through prudent contracting. Considering every penny a public trust, we have made sure that the taxpayers’ hard-earned money is not only well spent on projects of public welfare but maximum concessions are also solicited from the lowest bidders through further negotiations.
Under the PPRA rules, the government awards a contract to the lowest bidder. However, in case of projects being implemented in energy, transport and infrastructure sectors in Punjab, the government has gone a step further and engaged with the bidders to obtain more financial concessions.
On the whole, the PML-N government has performed the rare feat of saving a whopping sum of Rs215 billion in the mega projects. What is important is that these savings are not notional but tangible.
Just to give you an idea of what milestone has been achieved, it is important to mention that in case of gas-fired power projects being constructed at Bhikhi, Balloki and Haveli Bahadur Shah, the final negotiated costs come down to about half of what was incurred on similar gas projects installed to date in the country. The cost of various IPPs ranged from $800 to $930 per kilowatt. Compared to these, RLNG-fired projects are being built at half the price. Thus a sum of Rs110.93 billion has been saved in these three projects alone.
Likewise, in case of the under-construction Lahore Orange Line project, Rs78.50 billion has been saved. The Orange Line project marks history’s three biggest departures. First, it is for the first time in the bilateral history of Pakistan and China that tendering has taken place in a government-to-government mode of cooperation with the full support and cooperation of the Chinese government.
Second, the tendering was followed by negotiation with the lowest bidder. The Punjab government secured a saving of $600 million through negotiation with CR-NORINCO (lowest bidder) by mutually settling on $1.47 billion (without contingency) as the project cost of the OLMT.
Third, for the first time the Chinese government has handed over all of the civil works of the project to the Punjab government, which has further resulted in an additional saving of Rs6 billion in the sub-tendering.
So the point being contended here is this: when was the last time such phenomenal savings were secured? When was the last time transparency, accountability and honesty were displayed at such a level? In fact, on the contrary, such projects have in the past been the source of hefty commissions and kickbacks at the tendering and contract awarding stages.
Transparency and openness in policies adopted by the government explain why Pakistan jumped from its previous 50th position to 53rd on Transparency International’s (TI) Corruption Perception Index 2015 (CPI).
It is my resolve to spend these savings into social sector development. During the remaining two years of my mandate, you will see a palpable change in how educational institutions function and hospitals deliver services to the people, how police stations interact with citizens and how the overall well-being of people improves.
This is how real change is brought about by putting people at the centre of public policy. Action, not rhetoric, is leading the way in our government’s efforts to uplift the lives of our people.
The writer is the chief minister of Punjab.
Facebook: facebook.com/shehbazsharif
Twitter: @CMShehbaz

Thursday 12 May 2016

IWMF’s Reporting Grants for Women’s Stories: Empowering Women Journalists



May 10, 2016
Deadline: Ongoing
The International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF) is currently inviting applications for its ReportingGrants for Women’s Stories with an aim to empower women journalists to access untold stories through new means of funding that emphasizes gender balanced reporting.
These grants provide opportunities for women journalists to pursue international stories of importance through gender-sensitive coverage of underreported topics.
Funding Information
§  Grants average ranging up to $5,000 USD.
§  Grants will be awarded to cover reporting-related costs including travel (flights, ground transportation, and drivers), logistics, visa fees, and payment for fixers/translators.
Eligibility Criteria
§  Women journalists from anywhere in the world and who are currently working as journalists can apply for support.
§  Applicants must have three or more years of professional work experience and must currently be working as a journalist with journalism as their primary profession.
§  Teams of journalists may apply, however the submission must be from a woman journalist and their team must include at least 50% women.
§  Staff journalists and teams of staff journalists within news organizations are eligible to apply for funding, but these grants will give special consideration to freelance journalists.
How to Apply
All applications must be filled out online via the IWMF’s online application system.
For further assistance, please email to ggfpakistan@gmail.com

Tuesday 10 May 2016

20 Ways for You to engage with the United Nations: Grants, Conferences and Networking Opportunities


The United Nations (UN) refers to NGOs and the civil society as the ‘third sector’ after government and the private business. It has always given high importance to NGOs in research, policy-making and execution of programs worldwide. The UN believes in building partnerships with NGOs and supporting them in terms of grant opportunities, networking, conferences and capacity building.

UN offers a range of opportunities for NGOs to collaborate and address sustainable development challenges worldwide. One of its most important programs on civil society collaboration is the ECOSOC that offers you an opportunity to enter into its database of NGO partners and attain a consultative status. With this opportunity, you will also be able to attend various international conferences and events of the UN.
UN-shaking-hands
Funding opportunities for NGOs at the UN are available every now on then. Some of the best funding programs are the UN Democracy Fund, UN Women grants, UN GEF Small Grants and UN-HABITAT YouthGrant. These opportunities are announced annually during different times of the year and there is a strong focus on funding small and medium-sized organizations in developing countries to address issues related to democracy, youth, good governance, environment, climate change and women empowerment.
Fellowship opportunities for NGO professionals are also announced from time to time. The OHCHR fellowships not only introduce selected fellows to human rights knowledge but they also provide an excellent understanding of the UN system and its approach towards sustainable development.
Apart from the above funding and fellowship opportunities, there are also dedicated channels opened up by the UN for NGOs to enter into partnerships. The United Nations Non-Governmental Liaison Service and the United Nations Youth Delegate Programme are some of these programs that enable selected NGOs to participate in various conferences and events and ensure long-term benefits of capacity bulding and networking.
In this guide, we look at various channels, including funding and networking opportunities that offer NGOs the prospects of partnering with the UN for better delivery and sustainability. Please note that some of these programs are now closed and they are no longer accepting new applications until further notice. Nevertheless, we have listed them here so that you can prepare early as they open up for the next year. Also you will find out information about two upcoming conferences where NGOs are invited to attend them.
For assistance, please email to ggfpakistan@gmail.com

66th Annual UN DPI/NGO Conference in Gyeongju, South Korea

May 8, 2016
The 66th United Nations Department of Public Information (DPI)/Non Governmental Organization (NGO) Conference will be held in the City of Gyeongju, Republic of Korea from 30 May to 1 June 2016. The Conference title is “Education for Global Citizenship: Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals Together.”
The Conference will take place in the first year of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted by United Nations (UN) Member States in September 2015 to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensurehuman rights and prosperous and fulfilling lives for all, as part of a new sustainable development agenda to be achieved by 2030.
This year, 2016, is a globally unprecedented opportunity to spark these transformational changes, following also on the successful conclusion of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change(UNFCCC) 21st Conference of Parties (COP) agreement in Paris in December 2015.
Co-sponsored by the NGO/DPI Executive Committee, the Conference is an important opportunity to mobilise global civil society around the Sustainable Development Goals. Conference participants will strive to define culturally appropriate international and regional messaging, learning and advocacy strategies, partnerships and governmental accountability frameworks including financing for development.
By focusing on education for global citizenship, the 66th UN DPI/NGO Conference aims to build on the centrality of education and global citizenship as the bedrock of
sustainable development and climate action. The 66th UN DPI/NGO Conference is the first in the Conference’s history to be held in Asia. The first 60 conferences were held in New York at United Nations Headquarters, as was the 65th conference. In between, the conference was held in Paris, Mexico City, Melbourne and Bonn.
The deadline to apply for this conference is 20 May 2016. For more information, visit UN DFP/NGO Conference.

Saturday 7 May 2016

Election of Sadiq Aman Khan as London's Mayor: Dr Mahmud Awan

                                             NOTES
"What type of Bible do you want to swear in", was the question asked by the Queen's Office when Sadiq Aman Khan was going to be inducted in the British Cabinet for the first time back in 2009. Sadiq's reply was. "The Quran". The Palace spokesman said, "We haven't got one", narrates Sadiq, "So, I took one with me". There should be no questions of this kind today as Sadiq has won a decisive victory becoming the new Mayor of London. It was foolish of Prime Minister Cameron to inject racism into this election.
It is a stunning defeat for his Conservative Party as many of the top conservatives such as former Chairwoman Saeeda Warsi abandoned their party's anti Muslim racist stand and voted for Sadiq. It was even more foolish for Pakistan's Imran Khan to campaign against Sadiq to support his former brother in law, Zac Goldsmith who lost badly. I congratulate Sadiq and his wife Saadiya for running a principled campaign. They have made all British Pakistanis proud. Son of a city bus driver father and a seamstress mother who sewed clothes for a living, Sadiq and his daughters worked hard to reach today's victory. His parents are smiling in Heaven today as they would have loved to see this day as their 45 years old lawyer son has achieved more at such a young age than many can dream of in their entire lifetime. Sadiq will be running a complex city, supervising police, transport, and housing infrastructure with a sizable budget of 23 Billion dollars. I wish him great success as he will help rebuild the image of his Labour Party and position it for victory in the General Election against the Tories.
Dr. Mahmud Awan 5/6/16

FAFEN Survey: Perception of Corruption in Government Institutions

As many as 64 percent of Pakistanis are of the view that certain level of corruption prevails in government departments. These views were expressed in a survey conducted by the Free and Fair Election Network in February 2016.

The FAFEN survey interviewed 6,030 randomly selected people at 603 locations stratified in all National and Provincial Assembly constituencies as part of the socio-political profiling exercise conducted to understand the voting behavior and factors influencing it. The unique research, also involving Key Informant Interviews and Focus Group Discussions, is meant to develop socio-political profiles of all National Assembly constituencies detailing the way people vote as well as determinants of their electoral choices. The profiles will be a rich resource for political parties, media, academia and interested citizens ahead of the next general elections.
The profile of the respondents largely matches the profile of Pakistanis aged 18 years and above. The survey findings are generalizable to the adult Pakistani population nationally and provincially. However, the findings cannot be generalized for Islamabad Capital Territory and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. As many as 49 percent of all respondents were in Punjab, 16% in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 8% in Balochistan, 22% in Sindh, 1% in Islamabad Capital Territory and 4% in Federally Administered Tribal Areas.

Among those surveyed, 46 percent were adult women and 54 percent adult men. About 59 percent of the interviewees were between the ages of 18 and 35 years and 41 percent were above 35 years. While the proportion of the survey respondents who had attained education up to the primary level or above was 62 percent, there were 34 percent survey respondents who either never went to school or had dropped out before completing their primary level. As many as 3.8 percent respondents had attended madrassahs and 0.2% vocational institutions.
FAFEN will release detailed socio-political profiles in July 2016. However, it plans to share some of the important findings of this survey in a series of public releases to inform the public discourse on pertinent national issues. Corruption has been selected as the theme for the first public release in view of the ongoing public debate on the issue against the backdrop of the Panama Papers Leak.

As many as 6,030 randomly selected people were asked whether or not they had interacted with any of the 25 listed departments over the past six months. These departments include Education, Health, WAPDA, Sui Gas, Police, Court, Revenue, Election Commission, Irrigation, Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), Zakat and Ushr, Post Office, PTCL, Forest, Traffic Police, 1122, National Highways and Motorway Police, NADRA, Municipality, Utility Stores, Railways, PIA, Income Tax, Water and Sewerage and Local Councils(Union Council,Union Committee, Rural and Neighborhood Council).

As many 3,971 respondents – 2,305 men and 1,665 women – responded in the affirmative. Of these 3,971 respondents, 1,751 were in Punjab, 999 in Sindh, 703 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 276 in Balochistan, 29 in Islamabad Capital Territory and 213 in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).

Only those respondents who said they had any interaction or engagement with any of the listed government departments were asked about their perception of corruption levels in the government departments in order to ensure that the response are based on some objectivity.
In February 2016, nearly two-thirds of the people who had engaged with government offices believed that corruption levels in as many as 25 selected government departments were either very high or somewhat high. Men (72 percent) tend to be higher in percentage in their belief that corruption prevails in the government departments as compared to women (54 percent). This is perhaps due to a generally greater interaction and engagement of men with government institutions.

Balochistan stands significantly ahead in public perception about the corruption levels in the government departments as compared to the other provinces and regions. As many 82 percent of respondents in Balochistan, 74 percent in Sindh, 72 percent in Islamabad Capital Territory, 68 percent in Punjab, 52 percent in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and eight percent in Federally Administered Tribal Areas said they believed corruption prevailed in government departments.
There were 332 instances where the respondents directly witnessed public employees accepting bribe. Highest incidence of public officials accepting bribe was witnessed in Punjab where 206 – around 12 percent of the respondents who had recently engaged with government offices – stated to have seen government officers taking bribe. It was followed by Sindh where 106 (10.6%) respondents engaged with public offices saw such an incidence. Only four percent respondents in Balochistan and one percent in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa witnessed such incidence in their respective provinces.

To download report in English, click here      |         To download report in Urdu, click here

Professional volunteering

Professional volunteering: Use your skills and knowledge to help create a world without poverty

When you volunteer overseas, you’ll be able to use your talents to inspire more people than you’d ever imagined. Your volunteer job is planned as part of a sustainable country-wide strategy, so you can be confident that the work you are doing will have a wide and lasting impact. Your placement will be designed to complement other projects, to create lasting change across the country.

Friday 6 May 2016

On World Press Freedom Day, A View From Asia

On World Press Freedom Day, A View From Asia

Farmers Hold Keys to Ending Poverty, Hunger, FAO Says

Farmers Hold Keys to Ending Poverty, Hunger, FAO Says

US Pakistan Relations losing warmth

Pakistan wants good relations with USA but blocking paltry aid for an ally in war on terrorism who has suffered many times more than any other ally is disappointing, Aid to Israel is umpteen times higher.
-------------------------
WASHINGTON: The United States has ‘absolutely no intention’ of diminishing its relationship with Pakistan in any way, says the US State Department.
At the Tuesday news briefing, the department’s spokesman refused to criticise Pakistan for saying that it would look for other options if a deal for buying eight F-16 fighter jets from the United States fails.
“These are sovereign decisions that nations make with respect to their defence needs, and it’s up to Pakistan to speak to how they’ll fulfil their defence needs,” said spokesman John Kirby when asked if Pakistan bought fighter jets from China, would it strain its relations with the United States.
“As for the relationship, as I’ve said many, many times, it’s an important one. It’s critical; it’s vital in that — particularly in that part of the world; and it’s a relationship we have absolutely no intention of losing focus on or diminishing in any way,” he said. “But these are obviously sovereign decisions that Pakistan has to make,” he added.

State Dept spokesman refuses to criticise Pakistan over F-16 deal comments


When another reporter reminded him that a Pakistani minister had described the US aid to Pakistan as “peanuts,” Mr Kirby said: “I would just simply say that, again, it’s an important relationship. We’re going to continue to support that relationship”.
The official defended the assistance that the United States has provided to Pakistan despite a strong opposition from certain lobbies in Congress.
“We fully stand behind the kinds of support that we have provided to Pakistan over the last many years with respect specifically to their counterterrorism capabilities and counterterrorism needs,” he said. “And we’re going to continue to look for ways to improve that cooperation as best we can”.
Last week, Congress prevented the US administration from subsidising the $700 million F-16 deal.
Under the arrangement, Pakistan was to pay $270m for the eight aircraft while the US was to provide about $430m from its foreign military financing facility.
Pakistan has expressed its inability to pay the entire amount.
Published in Dawn, May 5th, 2016

FAFEN Survey: Perception of Corruption in Government Institutions

As many as 64 percent of Pakistanis are of the view that certain level of corruption prevails in government departments. These views were expressed in a survey conducted by the Free and Fair Election Network in February 2016.

The FAFEN survey interviewed 6,030 randomly selected people at 603 locations stratified in all National and Provincial Assembly constituencies as part of the socio-political profiling exercise conducted to understand the voting behavior and factors influencing it. The unique research, also involving Key Informant Interviews and Focus Group Discussions, is meant to develop socio-political profiles of all National Assembly constituencies detailing the way people vote as well as determinants of their electoral choices. The profiles will be a rich resource for political parties, media, academia and interested citizens ahead of the next general elections.
The profile of the respondents largely matches the profile of Pakistanis aged 18 years and above. The survey findings are generalizable to the adult Pakistani population nationally and provincially. However, the findings cannot be generalized for Islamabad Capital Territory and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. As many as 49 percent of all respondents were in Punjab, 16% in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 8% in Balochistan, 22% in Sindh, 1% in Islamabad Capital Territory and 4% in Federally Administered Tribal Areas.

Among those surveyed, 46 percent were adult women and 54 percent adult men. About 59 percent of the interviewees were between the ages of 18 and 35 years and 41 percent were above 35 years. While the proportion of the survey respondents who had attained education up to the primary level or above was 62 percent, there were 34 percent survey respondents who either never went to school or had dropped out before completing their primary level. As many as 3.8 percent respondents had attended madrassahs and 0.2% vocational institutions.
FAFEN will release detailed socio-political profiles in July 2016. However, it plans to share some of the important findings of this survey in a series of public releases to inform the public discourse on pertinent national issues. Corruption has been selected as the theme for the first public release in view of the ongoing public debate on the issue against the backdrop of the Panama Papers Leak.

As many as 6,030 randomly selected people were asked whether or not they had interacted with any of the 25 listed departments over the past six months. These departments include Education, Health, WAPDA, Sui Gas, Police, Court, Revenue, Election Commission, Irrigation, Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), Zakat and Ushr, Post Office, PTCL, Forest, Traffic Police, 1122, National Highways and Motorway Police, NADRA, Municipality, Utility Stores, Railways, PIA, Income Tax, Water and Sewerage and Local Councils(Union Council,Union Committee, Rural and Neighborhood Council).

As many 3,971 respondents – 2,305 men and 1,665 women – responded in the affirmative. Of these 3,971 respondents, 1,751 were in Punjab, 999 in Sindh, 703 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 276 in Balochistan, 29 in Islamabad Capital Territory and 213 in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).

Only those respondents who said they had any interaction or engagement with any of the listed government departments were asked about their perception of corruption levels in the government departments in order to ensure that the response are based on some objectivity.
In February 2016, nearly two-thirds of the people who had engaged with government offices believed that corruption levels in as many as 25 selected government departments were either very high or somewhat high. Men (72 percent) tend to be higher in percentage in their belief that corruption prevails in the government departments as compared to women (54 percent). This is perhaps due to a generally greater interaction and engagement of men with government institutions.

Balochistan stands significantly ahead in public perception about the corruption levels in the government departments as compared to the other provinces and regions. As many 82 percent of respondents in Balochistan, 74 percent in Sindh, 72 percent in Islamabad Capital Territory, 68 percent in Punjab, 52 percent in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and eight percent in Federally Administered Tribal Areas said they believed corruption prevailed in government departments.
There were 332 instances where the respondents directly witnessed public employees accepting bribe. Highest incidence of public officials accepting bribe was witnessed in Punjab where 206 – around 12 percent of the respondents who had recently engaged with government offices – stated to have seen government officers taking bribe. It was followed by Sindh where 106 (10.6%) respondents engaged with public offices saw such an incidence. Only four percent respondents in Balochistan and one percent in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa witnessed such incidence in their respective provinces.

To download report in English, click here      |         To download report in Urdu, click here

Thursday 5 May 2016

The Grand Nawaz Strategy: Shaheen Sehbai

GRAND STRATEGY: This info which has come frm very credible sources n analysts. I will b writing more on Twtr. Enjoy.

Global Innovation Fund: Transforming Ideas into Impact

The Global Innovation Fund invests in social innovations that aim to improve the lives and opportunities of millions of people in the developing world.
The fund is always open to the best approaches to solve any major development problem in low- or lower-middle income countries to scale up commercially, through the public/philanthropic sector, or through a combination of both in order to achieve widespread adoption.
Through its grants and risk capital, the fund supports breakthrough solutions to global development challenges from social enterprises, for-profit firms, non-profit organisations, international organisations, researchers, and government agencies.
GIF is nonprofit innovation fund headquartered in London. It is supported by the Department of International Development in the UK, the United States Agency for International Development, the Omidyar Network, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency and the Department for Foreign Affairs and Trade in Australia.
Grants Information
  • GIF offers grants, loans (including convertible debt), and equity investments ranging from USD $50,000 to $15 million.
  • For-profit institutions requesting grants must give compelling rationale on why they are requesting grants rather than risk capital such as equity or debt, such as why the innovation can be considered as a public good that benefits society.
Eligibility Criteria
Anyone may apply, including teams from social enterprises, for-profit companies, non-profit organizations, government agencies, international organisations, and researchers in any country.
For assistance, please email to goodgovernanceforum@gmail.com

What about the Pakistani Journalists who took Bribe?

Note: In the light of the latest disclosures about the bribes taken by a group of Pakistan journalists, I am reposting my article written on this subject some time back. no action has been taken by the government in this regard

May 3, 2016
What about the Pakistani Journalists who took Bribe?
By Saeed Qureshi
Let us start from the premise that journalists are not angels. They need money because they are less privileged. We all know that 19 prominent Pakistani journalists from print and electronic media took bribe from the notorious property tycoon and founder of the so called “Bahria Town” Malik Riaz.  The total amount given by Malik Riaz runs into crores of rupees. These leading journalists are still working on positions without any qualms of conscience. Neither these bribed journalists expressed any remorse or resigned their posts, nor did the owners of the concerned newspapers, periodicals and channels think of sacking them.

These journalists are still debating and discussing the national issues and dishing out their moral sermons, wise discourses and astute opinions via their newspapers, journals and channels. They are vibrantly exhorting their countrymen how the business of the state should be conducted and how the people of Pakistan should lead their life morally and socially; whom they should vote for and who was the rascal and who was upright in the political field.

They have conveniently put aside the disgrace and the stigma of compromising and selling their professional integrity and inviolable ethics to the fleecing crooks in business and industry. These crafty business magnates are not to blame because they need a congenial media to ignore their atrocious money making bonanzas. Malik Riaz is a good, amiable and intelligent businessman who is building residential colonies equipped with modern civic amenities, and where the safety and protection is ensured.

That is a good job to do and we need such modern colonies and neighborhoods where people can live with peace of mind. But the irksome, detestable and hard to digest is the sleazy manner these media stalwarts offered them for sale of their services and thus defacing their sacred profession.
Yet another list of 282 journalists, channels and newspapers has come to light that demonstrates how the media has been up for grabs of money for a dishonorable swap of their services in favor of the government and special interest groups.

The money disbursed to these journalists by the Information Ministry is reported to be Rs. 177 million. Besides one of the private TV channels received a hefty amount of 300 million rupees for putting their portal at the disposal of the Information Ministry and the government in power. It clearly surmises that the entire media empire is for auction. Reportedly, another list of 155 journalists who benefited from the largesse of the Information Ministry is on the way of being revealed in the near future.

I am aware of a mega graft case that happened way back in the 80s. This case was seldom reported in the press and went rather unnoticed. A mammoth amount of 25 crores (then roughly five million US dollars) was given by the Saudi ambassador to the editor of a local newspaper to drum up support for the Royal Saudi Government’s position against Saddam regime. It was the time when the United States had mounted the first Gulf war (2 August 1990 – 28 February 1991) in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.

The Saudi government was on the side of the invading forces and had even provided bases to the coalition forces from 34 nations led by the United States. But still it was becoming difficult for the Saudis to win broader support in the Islamic countries especially in Pakistan where a sizable population liked Saddam Hussain.

The said Islamabad-based editors used his newspaper generously and unabashedly for a sustained smear campaign against Saddam Hussain and in favor of Saudi action. He was also instrumental in arranging meetings and venues for the Saudi and Kuwaiti ambassadors in Pakistan to explain the Saudi stance to the media and political figures.

Within a matter of couple of months, the said editor who was driving an old ramshackle car bought three brand new corolla cars and purchased a palatial mansion in a posh sector of Islamabad for about 8 crores rupees. The rest of the money was deposited in a Dubai bank. This is how in once in a life bonanza a journalist cum editor cashed his clout. He is perhaps now the richest among the journalists both from the past and the present.

Until 2001 when I migrated to the United States, Islamabad was rife with rumors about several journalists who were working for certain embassies as informers. One such journalist otherwise a seasoned, experienced and well mannered person was apprehended by one of the premier intelligence agencies for his association with the embassy of a hostile country. He was
extensively tortured and later the poor chap died in a hospital.

The apex court of Pakistan has done marvelous job by taking suo-moto cognizance of the bribes doled out by the federal Ministry of Information in exchange for lenient and favorable media coverage about the government. But is there any chance for the bribed money to be returned to the national exchequer? Let us watch how the legal wind blows upon the beneficiary 282 journalists, the media lords and the TV channels.

One would expect that the Supreme Court might admonish the Ministry of Information for buying the services of the media corps with official funds. But it should also warn the journalist community to desist from the trappings of the buckets full of easy money that only tarnishes their image. It is also an outright dishonesty and shameless betrayal of their profession that is like walking on the edge of a sword.

But all said and done, journalists too are human beings and can be dazed by the glitter of money. We know that some of the leading TV anchors draw monthly emoluments as much as a million rupees or more. I believe that they would shun such ugly enticements if individuals like Malik Riaz and his elk throw at them like crumbs.

The writer is a senior journalist, former editor of Diplomatic Times and a former diplomat.This and other articles by the writer can also be read at his blog www.uprightopinion.com