International Development - Toward rural women’s economic empowerment

Toward rural women’s economic empowerment

Posted by Ivy Mungcal on 27 September 2012 09:42:32 PM


Woman in rural Nepal

Woman in rural Nepal. The United Nations has launched a program meant to empower women living in rural areas. Photo by: Nyaya Health
In the next five years, the United Nations’ contributions to efforts to empower women living in rural areas will be coordinated through a new program focused on economic integration and food security.
The Accelerating Progress toward the Economic Empowerment of Rural Women was officially unveiled Sept. 27 at a side event of the U.N. General Assembly meeting in New York, USA. The program, which is set to run through 2017, will be led by U.N. Women, the World Food Program, the Food and Agriculture Organization and the International Fund for Agriculture and Development.
The launch of this program was among commitments submitted by U.N. Women at the U.N. Conference on Sustainable Development held in June in Brazil. It will be piloted in Ethiopia, Guatemala, Liberia, Nepal, Nigeria, Rwanda and Kyrgyzstan.
U.N. Women and its partner agencies aim to achieve four objectives: improve food and nutrition security in rural areas, boost rural women’s access to financial services, empower rural women to become more economically and politically engaged, and catalyze legal, budgetary, land and policy reforms that support women.
Michelle Bachelet, the executive director of U.N. Women, identified some of the activities and strategies that will comprise the new initiative. The program, she said, will work with governments to give women more access to better agriculture tools, host awareness campaigns, and provide policy assistance to help countries mainstream gender equality in relevant sectors.
“The program taps into the respective strengths of our agencies: FAO’s policy assistance on agriculture and food security; IFAD’s rural investment programs; WFP’s food assistance innovations; and UNWomen’s technical expertise on women’s economic empowerment,” Bachelet explained at the launch event.

International Development - Toward rural women’s economic empowerment

Young Citizen Journalists Conclude Training

Young Citizen Journalists Conclude Training


Islamabad, September 29, 2012 – The first-ever Youth TechCamp in Pakistan concluded today after three days of hands-on, interactive training in civic journalism and social activism.
“I am really excited about Youth TechCamp because I believe I can help my community and my country as a whole through social media and citizen journalism,” said a young boy named Ali from Quetta, beaming with excitement at the event on Thursday. Iqra from Khyber Pukhtoonkhwa agreed: “As I belong to a small city where the resources to learn about technology are rare, this TechCamp is helping me to learn what I had always wanted to, but never had the chance before.”
A signature series hosted by the U.S. Department of State to increase digital literacy, Youth TechCamp Pakistan provided 40 young Pakistanis with three days of training with top Pakistani technology experts who are experts in civic journalism and social activism. The young participants are alumni of the U.S.-sponsored Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES) Program, through which Pakistani high school students spend one academic year living and studying in the United States.
Ambassador Richard Hoagland, Charge d’affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Pakistan, visited the Youth TechCamp Pakistan to meet the students and hear about their expectations for the Camp. “Youth TechCamp Pakistan encourages young people – yourselves – to leverage connection technologies to make a positive impact in your communities and around the world,” said Ambassador Hoagland. “These sessions will give you the tools you need to be citizen journalists and give a voice to your generation -- be brave and use these skills,” he said.
Youth TechCamp is sponsored in collaboration with iEARN, and is a signature part of Secretary Hillary Clinton’s 21st Century Statecraft policy which seeks, among other things, to build the technical capacity of civil society worldwide. Youth TechCamp Pakistan is the third such TechCamp ever held in the world, after similar events in Washington, DC and Bangladesh.

Defense.gov News Article: Deputy CIO: Computer Users Must Practice Cyber Security

Deputy CIO: Computer Users Must Practice Cyber Security

By Claudette Roulo
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Sept. 28, 2012 – National Cyber Security Awareness Month in October lasts just 31 days, but practicing good cyber security is important 365 days a year, the Defense Department’s deputy chief information officer said yesterday.

Because users engage with the network on a daily basis, good cyber security practices should be second nature, Robert J. Carey, DOD’s deputy chief information officer, said during a joint American Forces Press Service and Pentagon Channel interview.

This means “changing our culture to be more mindful of the fact that the information needs to only be transmitted to those who are fit to consume it [and] who are authorized the right accesses,” he said.

Specific cyber security practices vary depending on the type of users, but Carey said there is one overriding concept: everyone is responsible for protecting information.

Commanders rely on information relayed through electronic networks to make life-and-death decisions, but, Carey asked, what if they couldn’t trust that information?

“What if [they] trusted it but it was wrong?” he said.

Understanding how that information traversed the network -- whether it came from the person it’s supposed to have come from -- is essential to commanders, he said.

And while information technology can be a complicated subject, with an equally complicated lexicon, Carey said his office is working to ensure that DOD adopts policies and strategies that help users at all levels to understand exactly why cyber security is so important. This way, he said, they can be confident that they’re taking the right steps to protect information.

“The most important link is the user. Each of us, when we engage the network, is either an asset or a vulnerability, depending on our actions,” he said. “The human becomes the weakest link, and so the more we can strengthen that weakest link, the better we will be.”

Responsible network access means users are aware of what they’re clicking on, Carey said.

“If you click on a link that you don’t know where it came from and suddenly bad things happen ... well the link has already provided the information to your computer,” he said, “so now you have bypassed a lot of the protections that the system has.”

The Department of Homeland Security has adopted “Stop. Think. Connect” as the motto for National Cyber Security Awareness Month. Carey said the program asks users to consider their actions and remember that what they do online may affect others.

“If you're ... cutting corners and you're doing the wrong things, you can be a vulnerability to this big thing called the network,” he said. “People don't realize the extent of it. They think if my machine has a problem that that's the extent of it. It's generally not the extent of it.”

Network users should ask themselves if they’re doing the right things or exhibiting the right behaviors to perform risk management of the information they’re going to access, he said.

This thought process should continue even when people aren’t accessing the network from their workplace, Carey added.

“At home you don't think about security,” he said. “When you get on your computer at home and you engage the internet, it's highly unlikely that you have a firewall [and] it's highly unlikely that you have a smart card to log on, so the layers that afford us security aren't generally present.”

People may feel annoyed when security layers are added to the home experience, but, Carey said, “that operational overhead is a necessary evil to ensure that the information stays protected.”

"If we can keep the information secure, the layers, they're just a necessary part of the accessing process," he added.

Carey said that every user is front and center in the battle to ensure networked information remains secure.

“It is ... a cost of doing business in the information age; you just have to be aware,” he said.

Related Sites:

Defense.gov News Article: Deputy CIO: Computer Users Must Practice Cyber Security

UNICEF reaches 183,000 people daily with safe drinking water; urgently needs funds to continue and scale up flood response

PRESS RELEASE

UNICEF reaches 183,000 people daily with safe drinking water;
urgently needs funds to continue and scale up flood response

Islamabad, 28 September 2012 – UNICEF has begun reaching 183,000 flood-affected people every day with safe drinking water in Punjab, Balochistan and Sindh provinces after heavy monsoon rains caused widespread flooding. The UNICEF response supports the Government of Pakistan’s on-going flood response in the worst-hit districts.

Preliminary satellite imagery results from the Multi-sectoral Initial Rapid Assessment – a joint initiative between the government and the humanitarian community – indicate that 2.8 million people in 15 districts have been affected by the latest floods, including 1.4 million children (of which 392,000 children are under the age of five).

“Children from very poor families are among the worst affected by the severe flooding and they need our immediate help,” said UNICEF Pakistan Deputy Representative, Karen Allen. “UNICEF urgently needs $US15.4 million to both scale up its water, sanitation and hygiene response to reach around 400,000 people over the next three to six months and to provide critical education, child protection, health and nutrition services.”

Using funds from an emergency loan facility, UNICEF and partners have begun providing safe water via water trucking to 120,000 people in Jaffarabad and Naseerabad districts in Balochistan, 4,000 people in Dera Ghazi Khan district in Punjab and 59,000 people in Jacobabad and Kashmore districts, Sindh. UNICEF and partners have also installed water bladders in Jacobabad, with additional bladders due to arrive shortly across flood-hit areas of Sindh. In addition, 23,200 families in flood-affected districts of Balochistan, Sindh and Punjab will be provided with hygiene kits comprising soap, sanitary towels and water purification tablets this week, as well as jerry cans and water buckets to support safe water storage and prevent outbreaks of water-borne diseases.

Displacement due to damaged or destroyed homes is a serious concern for the health of vulnerable children, as the loss of access to safe water increases the likelihood of contracting and spreading water-borne and other diseases, such as diarrhoea, malaria, measles, polio and pneumonia. Accordingly, in addition to responding by providing safe drinking water and sanitation, UNICEF and partners are assisting the government with life-saving health and nutrition interventions.

The Multi-sectoral Initial Rapid Assessment results indicate that three quarters of children in five seriously affected districts are missing out on schooling, as schools have been damaged or destroyed or are being used to shelter displaced families. UNICEF and partners are awaiting funds in order to establish temporary learning and protective spaces where children can continue their learning in a safe environment.

“Some of the affected children are living in areas that are experiencing devastating flooding for the second or third time over the past three years, and these new floods have disrupted their recovery,” said Ms Allen. “The government and humanitarian partners, including UNICEF, are providing emergency assistance, but it is essential that we both continue and scale up the response to meet the huge needs of children and their families left vulnerable by these new floods. We are calling on the generous partnership of the international community to help us meet these needs.”

About UNICEF

UNICEF is on the ground in over 150 countries and territories to help children survive and thrive, from early childhood through adolescence. In Pakistan, it works with the government, NGOs and other partners to support child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. It has provided vital relief and reconstruction support to help individuals rebuild their lives after emergencies, such as the 2010 and 2011 monsoon floods and the October 2005 earthquake. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.

[Pak-Media] PR:UNICEF reaches 183,000 people daily with safe drinking water; urgently needs funds to continue and scale up flood response - sminhas07@gmail.com - Gmail

Disquiet on the Jordanian Front - Sada

Disquiet on the Jordanian Front
September 27, 2012 David Fox and Katrina Sammour
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September has witnessed a massive—and potentially irreversible—shift in strategy among segments of Jordan’s opposition movement: a number of political activists are now openly and repeatedly calling for a limitation of the monarchy's powers—with a small (though extremely vocal) minority even explicitly calling for the abdication of King Abdullah II. In a strikingly blunt statement by the organizers of the 8 September protest in East Amman's Haya al-Tafileh neighborhood—who gathered in response to arrest of a number of fellow activists a day prior and later reorganized on September 11 and 13 at Amman’s Interior Ministry Circle and Second Circle—accusations struck at the king's carefully curated international image as a modern, democracy-building reformer. Their Facebook statement reads, in part: "You are disguised in the costume of freedom and democracy, while hiding inside of you is absolute fascism and control over the destiny of this country and the livelihood of its people. We can no longer be patient with this repression of our arrested sons, with no guilt other than demanding freedom and social justice for all Jordanians, and fighting corruption that is royally sponsored." [Full Arabic original and English translation available here]

Abdullah II has tolerated Jordan’s street protests in the past; the monarchy has even scapegoated a few of its institutions as targets for public discontent—namely, the parliament and the prime minister. But the monarchy itself (and the intelligence and security forces backing it) has been off-limits to public rebuke. Criticism of the king, however, has gradually mounted over the past year: Abdullah has had to solicit more and more foreign aid from the International Monetary Fund and his U.S. and gulf backers to overcome economic shortfalls and a record budget deficit. The monarchy has failed to deliver on meaningful political reform—at the heart of these protests—and patience in the street for tangible reforms has long been running out. This has led to an increased questioning of whether the king is part of the problem, rather then part of the solution.

September’s crackdown on criticism of the monarchy comes as no surprise; over the past year there has been a tightening squeeze on activists. In January, an 18-year-old from Madaba was given a two-year sentence (later pardoned “by royal decree”) for burning a poster of King Abdullah in public. In March, protesters in Amman were arrested for chanting anti-monarchy slogans, while a journalist and an editor from a local online news outlet, Gerasa News, were arrested this past April when an article implied that the king had actively interfered in parliamentary corruption proceedings. Even the constitutional changes Abdullah approved to limit the responsibilities of the State Security court to high treason, espionage, drug trafficking, and terrorism are being subverted, as activists arrested this past September have been charged with terrorism-related offenses—rather than crimes of conscience—and have thus lost rights to trial in the civilian court system.

To date, as many as 15 activists have been detained for lese majeste—slandering the royal family—among other charges. As documented by Human Rights Watch, activists are being arraigned by the State Security Court—traditionally an institution sympathetic to the views of hardliners in the kingdom's security and intelligence apparatus. Many of them are young, liberal, and secular Jordanians, which partially explains the almost reckless abandon with which some groups are attacking the monarchy. These are not the directionless, disaffected Arab youth implicated in anti-regime violence in revolutionary Egypt, but rather the well-educated, Facebook-savvy liberals akin to key Egyptian activist and Google marketing executive Wael Ghonim. They may not appreciate US foreign policy in the region, but they admire America's democratic institutions and believe that elements can be incorporated into Jordan's own political system. Several opposition leaders are even dual US-Jordanian citizens—including 25-year-old activist Abdullah Mahadin, who was arrested on September 11th and remains in detention.

The passage of a draconian press and publications law targeting the abundance of online media outlets is yet another manifestation of the regime’s regression in the face of increased demands for reform. Independent media outlets must now be registered with the government—requiring a hefty fee of JD1000 (around $1,400)—and sites will now be held responsible for remarks made in comments sections. In one disturbing provision of the law, outlets must keep records of all electronic data related to comments for six months, presumably to allow Jordan's intelligence service to locate and prosecute individual commentators.

What remains to be seen is whether the traditional opposition bloc of the Islamic Action Front (IAF)—Jordan's Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated political party—will join the criticism of the monarchy and pledge its organizational might to this new vocal contingent. The IAF has the ability to rally thousands of protesters in the streets, but the organization owes its existence to political expediency and strong survival instincts. If the IAF feels that ramping up rhetoric against the monarchy could lead to its destruction via a government crackdown, it will likely stay on the sideline. While the IAF has shown a willingness to negotiate with the monarchy in the past, it has maintained a call for boycott against the parliamentary elections well before September’s arrests. A statement from IAF head Hamza Mansour has made it clear that it will not cave to pressure from the regime, despite the king’s remarks that such a boycott will render the party irrelevant:

"We are boycotting the elections to show our opposition to an election law that is regressive and out of line with international standards for elections. This law attempts to restrict the opposition in general, and the Islamic opposition specifically . . . If the government is willing to change the election process whereby the people can be the decision makers when it comes to the formation of the Upper and Lower Houses of Parliament, as well as the choices of government ministers, we are ready to participate."1

While Mansour's statement lacks the passion witnessed this month from the emerging group of vocal activists, the refusal of the IAF to budge on its advocacy for a true constitutional monarchy is indeed promising. Despite the fact that they are being incarcerated at an alarming rate, the abdicationists among the secular opposition have shifted the entire nature of the reform debate in Jordan. IAF leaders can now casually discuss shaving away the powers of the monarchy, while King Abdullah has pointedly referred to himself as a "constitutional monarch" in two recent high-profile interviews. Eventually, he will have to prove his willingness to limit his own powers, which could mean leading a transition to an elected prime minister and upper house of parliament—rather than royally-appointed ones.

If this new brand of vocal, anti-monarchy opposition hopes to truly pressure King Abdullah into turning promises into actual reforms, there is no doubt that they will need the support of the IAF to gain ground. To a certain extent, the IAF is already behind them. Previously, the Brotherhood had been willing to take part in the zero-sum politics of the parliamentary electoral reform process, but recent statements from party heads indicate that it is no longer willing to play the game it has long decried as rigged. Even with strong words from youthful activists and the passive support of the IAF, the hodgepodge of secular activists behind September's protests have yet to build the critical mass of public support necessary to truly challenge the king. Their ability to maintain momentum is blockaded by a patient, deliberate security apparatus that is wily enough to show restraint at public events covered by the international media—while also discreetly arresting key advocates of abdication out of the spotlight.

Despite the perception of high drama, September may pass as yet another anti-climactic moment in the country's quest for reform. In recent months; Jordanians have watched in horror as Syria has descended into civil war, with refugees streaming across their border in the tens of thousands. In this light, the future of this small but vocal group and their chance of gaining momentum look rather bleak. The elections—now pushed back until the beginning of 2013—are at least something to distract from the difficulties of day-to-day life and the missed opportunity for reform. For most Jordanians, no matter how flawed they believe their political system to be, it beats dodging bullets.

David Fox is a Amman- based report writer for the Quds Center for Political Studies and a freelance journalist and blogger. Katrina Sammour is an administrator at the King Hussein Cancer Foundation.

Disquiet on the Jordanian Front - Sada

Pakistan: Unauthorised Amnesty International activities | Amnesty International

Document - Pakistan: Unauthorised Amnesty International activities

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

PUBLIC STATEMENT

Index: ASA 33/015/2012

25 September 2012

Pakistan: Unauthorised Amnesty International activities

Amnesty International has become aware of the misuse of its name and logo in Pakistan. We are aware of a number of individuals and organisations operating under various names which might appear to be associated with Amnesty International, including ‘Amnesty Pakistan’ and ‘AI Pakistan’. At least one such organisation is collecting membership fees from individuals.

These activities are not authorized by Amnesty International and none of these organisations represent Amnesty International in Pakistan in any way. Whilst Amnesty International has a very active Pakistan team that visits the country several times each year, it does not have an office or permanent base in Pakistan, nor does it have representatives authorised to speak on its behalf residing in Pakistan.

If you are in doubt about the identity or authority of an Amnesty International delegate, or would like further information about Amnesty International’s work on the human rights situation in Pakistan, please contact the International Secretariat via our website http://www.amnesty.org/en/contact or call +44-20-74135500.

Amnesty International acknowledges and appreciates the desire for people in Pakistan and elsewhere to take part in its human rights movement. Pakistan residents wishing to join Amnesty International are invited to register as international members through the organisation’s website http://www.amnesty.org/en/join. This is at present the sole route to membership within Pakistan and many other countries and is free of charge. International members in Pakistan are not authorised to speak on behalf of or in the name of Amnesty International.

For the last 50 years, Amnesty international has worked for the promotion, protection and respect of human rights throughout the world. Its actions are impartial and independent of any government, political ideology, economic interest or religion.

Document - Pakistan: Unauthorised Amnesty International activities | Amnesty International

ATTENTION Karachi activists - Father Daughter Incest Case

A gory picture episode has surfaced again to test our social and moral values or perhaps our overall humnitarian prisms. I wounder how many get reported and if at all how many ends up seeing the light of justice?

Dr Rakhshinda Parveen of SACHET forwarded me this letter letter which i thought should be circulated amongst civil society for a civil response.



Dear Members come of the Civil Society,

WAR requests civil society support in father-daughter incest case. Bail application set for 27th September 2012, 9.30 am, court of 1st ADJ South.

Last week, WAR was approached by Zeenat*, a resident of Defense Housing Authority Karachi, and a mother of four children. Zeenat told WAR that on 19thSeptember 2012 she was informed by her 14-year old daughter Mahjabeen*, that herfather had been sexually molesting her for a period of two years and that on the 16thof September 2012 he sodomized her. Consequently, a medico-legal examination was conducted on the 18th of September, and FIR (456/2012) lodged by Mahjabeen on 20th September 2012.



The matter was set for S164 statements in the Magistrate’s Court, Karachi, on the 26thof September. The same morning WAR’s lawyer was notified by the Investigating Officer (IO)that a bail application had also been enrolled. When WAR’s team arrived at the city court, they were faced by the accused’s legal team, which consisted of Adv. Habib-ur-Rehman (ex-Principal SM Law College) and other senior advocates. The accused and his family being influential people are using all their resources to mount pressure on the prosecution and investigating officers, and will attempt to sabotage this case in any possible way. The accused’s family members also tried to intimidate the complainant’s mother, and publicly ravished her character in court; saying that she is a fashion designer of bad moral character.



The bail application (No. 1126/2012) in the case of State v Zafar Khan Rana, has now been adjourned to the 27th of September 2012, 9.30 am, in the first court of ADJ South. WAR's Advocate Asia Muneer who is handling the case will be present, and may be contacted on 0321 375 2281. For any other logistical queries, please contact Rukhsana Siddiqui on 0321 827 0073.



WAR calls out to civil society members to once again stand in solidarity with us at this crucial stage in the trial process and be present for the bail application, at 9.30 am.



As always, we count on your support to bring justice to survivors of sexual violence.



Sincerely,



--

Sanaa Rasheed
Cordinator
War Against Rape (WAR), Karachi.
Phone: (+92) 0213 5373008
info@war.org.pk,waragainstrape.khi@gmail.com

Coalition-Afghan Partnering Operations Resuming

Coalition-Afghan Partnering Operations Resuming By Jim Garamone American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Sept. 27, 2012 – Afghan and NATO troops are resuming partnered operations which were suspended earlier this month because of a series of deadly insider attacks, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta announced during a news conference here today. Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta and Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, brief the press at the Pentagon Sept. 25, 2012. DOD photo by Erin A. Kirk-Cuomo   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Marine Corps Gen. John R. Allen, the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, had ordered that all combined operations below the battalion level be approved by regional commanders following attacks by Afghan soldiers and police that have killed 51 members of the coalition this year. However, Afghan and coalition troops are now back to conducting partnered operations as before, Panetta told Pentagon reporters. The military believes some of the insider attacks were perhaps triggered by Muslim anger over an American-made internet video that defamed the Prophet Muhammad. “I can now report to you that most ISAF units have returned to their normal partnered operations at all levels,” said Panetta, who was accompanied by Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Dempsey, just back from a visit to Afghanistan, said partnering efforts are back to the level they were before the difficulties. Around 90 percent of all operations in the country are partnered. Even with the insider attacks, Panetta said the coalition and Afghan efforts are paying off. He said the Taliban were in control of large swaths of Afghanistan and were poised to take more when the coalition surge into the country began in December 2009. Last week, the secretary announced the end of the surge, with the departure of the last of the 33,000 troops who were ordered deployed. There are now 68,000 American service members in Afghanistan. “[The surge] accomplished the primary objectives of reversing the Taliban’s momentum on the battlefield and dramatically increased the size and capability of the Afghan national security forces,” Panetta said. This will continue, said Dempsey, noting coalition troops will continue to partner with Afghan soldiers and police. The Taliban has failed to recover momentum or any territory. “Our Afghan partners are working with us to shut down the threat of insider attacks,” the chairman said. “As one Afghan army commander told me, insider attacks are an affront to their honor, at odds with their culture and their faith.” Taliban insurgents are actively trying to infiltrate Afghan army and police formations, Dempsey said. The insurgent group is also trying to turn Afghan soldiers and police against their coalition allies. Dempsey said coalition forces are adapting to the Taliban’s change in tactics. “That’s what professional militaries do,” he said. “And we are doing it in a way that ensures we continue to be able to partner.” The Taliban wants to break the coalition, the general said, but the coalition’s resolve to stand with Afghan formations is strong. Still, it will be tough going in the country, Panetta said. “The enemy we are dealing with … is adaptive and resilient,” the secretary said. “Their focus has shifted to carrying out high-profile attacks in order to undermine the new sense of security that has been felt by ordinary Afghans.” Panetta expects there will be more high-profile attacks like the one that struck Camp Bastion last week. “The enemy will do whatever they can to try and break our will using this kind of tactic. That will not happen,” he said. Afghan forces are the “defeat mechanism” of the insurgency, Panetta said. “We have an enduring commitment to an Afghanistan that can secure and govern itself and that is never again a safe haven from which terrorists can attack us,” he said. “Our men and women in uniform, our fighting forces, ISAF, Afghanistan fighting forces I think have sent a strong message to the Taliban that time is not on their side.” http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=118036

Financial Tracking Service (FTS) » Tracking Global Humanitarian Aid Flows

It is an interesting site which gives you an idea that which country stands where as for as its humanitarian appeals are concerned as well it shows you the response of various donors to the humanitarian crisis happening all around the globe. a must read for every development organization and concerned individuals

just follow the link at the bottom for actual webpage to be displayed from Reliefweb

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Funding Status of Latest Appeals
2012+ Kenya Emergency Humanitarian Response Plan
$795,005,122
$424,060,369
53 %
Afghanistan 2012
$448,278,798
$176,225,970
39 %
Burkina Faso 2012
$126,062,151
$68,763,825
55 %
Central African Republic 2012
$124,066,651
$71,369,538
58 %
Chad 2012
$572,057,578
$340,247,155
59 %
Cote d'Ivoire 2012
$160,691,683
$88,402,989
55 %
Democratic Republic of the Congo 2012
$791,331,026
$374,470,935
47 %
Djibouti Appeal 2012
$79,310,556
$31,591,994
40 %
El Salvador Flash Appeal (October 2011 - April 2012)
$14,781,209
$5,981,608
40 %
Haiti 2012
$128,058,239
$52,527,482
41 %
Lesotho Food Insecurity (September 2012 - March 2013)
$38,458,738
$6,220,011
16 %
Liberia 2012
$97,912,181
$37,118,994
38 %
Mali 2012
$213,822,578
$100,441,034
47 %
Mauritania 2012
$94,236,507
$39,202,006
42 %
Nicaragua Flash Appeal (October 2011 - April 2012)
$14,840,854
$4,457,651
30 %
Niger 2012
$489,590,629
$257,752,092
53 %
occupied Palestinian territory 2012
$415,418,629
$270,624,253
65 %
Pakistan Rapid Response Plan Floods 2011 (September - March 2012)
$356,759,669
$159,263,288
45 %
Philippines Humanitarian Action Plan 2012
$51,231,830
$33,124,925
65 %
Republic of South Sudan 2012
$1,165,555,798
$630,070,816
54 %
Somalia 2012
$1,164,634,356
$600,413,935
52 %
Sudan 2012
$1,052,446,405
$532,187,570
51 %
Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan 2012
$584,536,989
$285,368,153
49 %
Zimbabwe 2012
$238,444,169
$125,825,683
53 %
Requested More
Committed/Contributed
OVERVIEW OF 2012 APPEALS
(as of 28 Sep 2012 )
Requirements: $8.83 billion
Funding: $4.55 billion
% covered: 51%
Unmet requirements: $4.29 billion

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TOP 5 UNDERFUNDED APPEALS
IN 2012 (as of 28 Sep 2012 )

Lesotho Food Insecurity (September 2012 - March 2013) (16%)

Liberia 2012 (38%)

Afghanistan 2012 (39%)

Djibouti Appeal 2012 (40%)

Haiti 2012 (41%)

TOP 5 DONORS TO HUMANITARIAN
APPEALS IN 2012 (as of 28 Sep 2012 )

United States

European Commission

Sweden

United Kingdom

Japan

TOP 5 RECIPIENT EMERGENCIES
IN 2012 (as of 28 Sep 2012 )

Somalia 2012

Republic of South Sudan 2012

Sudan 2012

Syrian Arab Republic - Civil Unrest 2012

Kenya 2012

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Financial Tracking Service (FTS) » Tracking Global Humanitarian Aid Flows

Increased EU funding for double humanitarian crisis | ReliefWeb

Pakistan
Increased EU funding for double humanitarian crisis
Report
—
European Commission Humanitarian Aid department

The European Union has announced additional funding of €15 million in order to continue delivering immediate relief to the victims of two humanitarian crises in Pakistan. These funds will provide assistance to those affected by the on-going conflict in the north of the country as well as to the victims of three successive years of major flooding in the south. The additional funding brings the European Commission's 2012 humanitarian contribution for Pakistan to a total of €70 million.

Food insecurity and malnutrition, particularly in Sindh province, have been giving rise to serious concern for some time and there is a risk that the new flooding which has occurred over the last two weeks will mean an even more drastic deterioration of the situation. Several hundred thousand of the most vulnerable victims of the conflict and floods, including women, children, the elderly, the disabled and the marginalised, will benefit from the boost.

Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva, responsible for Humanitarian Aid, Civil Protection and Crisis Response said: "These two largely unreported crises in Pakistan are affecting tens of thousands of vulnerable people in the north and the south of the country. They have brought suffering to all those who have fled their homes due to the internal conflict, and to the victims of three consecutive years of devastating monsoon floods which have destroyed livelihoods and left behind lingering food shortages and hunger. Thanks to our humanitarian teams on the ground, we have been able to continuously monitor these twin crises and react accordingly, and are once again boosting our assistance to these voiceless and fragile populations."

The additional assistance to be provided for those affected by both crises will include emergency food and nutritional assistance, safe drinking water and the rehabilitation of public water points, hygiene and sanitation facilities, basic health care services, emergency shelter materials, as well as camp coordination and management. Disaster risk reduction and disaster preparedness components will be integrated in order to try to alleviate the impact of future natural disasters.

The delivery of aid funded by the European Commission Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection (ECHO) department will be targeted to those in greatest need and channelled through its humanitarian partners including UN agencies, the Red Cross/Red Crescent family and International Non-Government Organisations.

Background

In recent years the impact of the monsoon has been devastating in many parts of Pakistan. During the summer of 2011, the country was hit by severe floods, affecting around 5.8 million people. The floodwaters killed livestock, destroyed crops, damaged infrastructure and other assets. They also affected some of the regions that had already been hit by the 2010 floods - the worst in living memory – where the resilience of local people was still very low. Sindh province was particularly hard hit: almost 72% of households still have insufficient food and the level of acute malnutrition in children under five is reported to have reached 17.5%. At least 2.2 million people have again been affected by heavy monsoon flooding in Pakistan in September 2012. As a consequence, there are still serious emergency needs in food, nutrition, water and sanitation, healthcare, and shelter.

Apart from the natural disasters, the country is also affected by several conflicts which continue to displace hundreds of thousands of civilians, generating needs for assistance and protection. Since January of this year, military operations in Khyber agency, part of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), have triggered an additional wave of 361 000 internally displaced people (IDP's) from FATA to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). Overall, more than 741,000 people are now displaced in the North, and the figure may actually be higher as many people do not register or are refused registration. 11% of those displaced are living in three camps while the rest stay in host communities outside, with most in need of some type of humanitarian assistance.

Increased EU funding for double humanitarian crisis | ReliefWeb

The future of UK aid - interactive | Global development | guardian.co.uk

Datablog
The future of UK aid - interactive

Where will the UK spend its aid budget over the next five years - in which countries and on which areas? We've put together the data from each of DfID's country budgets into an interactive, built using BubbleTree code from OKFN and OpenSpending.org. Click through to explore the future of UK aid

• See the original data and analysis behind the interactive

Updated 21 October with figures for India 2011-2015




The future of UK aid - interactive | Global development | guardian.co.uk

Roznama Dunya

Haqqani Network was declared terrorist only after taking senior Pakistani civilian, military and intelligence officials on board, thats why when we declared them terrorists, it was no surprise for anyone: claims senior US State Department Officials

for details click on the link below as it is reported by Daily Dunya on 27 Sept, 2012


http://e.dunya.com.pk/news/2012/September/2012-09-27/LHR/detail_img/13433_46908896.jpg




Roznama Dunya

[PM] PR--Two UN agencies unites to empower women in Pakistan - sminhas07@gmail.com - Gmail

UNIDO, UN Women ink deal for collaboration in Pakistan for Women empowerment opportunities to be increased

ISLAMABAD: Sept 26

The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) on Wednesday signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) to develop a common approach for better coordination and cooperation to work effectively on advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment in Pakistan.
This initiative will support the Government of Pakistan in increasing women’s economic empowerment opportunities. This joint collaboration will work to strengthen women’s economic capacities wherever their rights are violated their opportunities are suppressed and their contributions to the economy are ignored, UN Women and UNIDO under this LOI, will also provide technical assistance to Federal and Provincial departments working for women development and will ensure enhanced coordination with multi stakeholders including the UN system, Civil Society, microfinance institutions and the private sector to improve women’s access to economic opportunities.
On this occasion, Ms. Alice Shackelford, Country Director, UN Women said, “both UNIDO and UN Women have been working on the issues of women’s economic empowerment to bring change in the lives of women and girls”. She emphasized that UN Women works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls, the empowerment of women, and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners in development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security.
UN Women's objective is to enhance national capacity and ownership to enable national partners to formulate gender responsive laws and policies and to scale up successful strategies to deliver on national commitments on gender equality. She said that “UN Women is envisaging a close partnership with UNIDO on its key thematic areas including women’s economic empowerment, women’s leadership in disaster risk reduction and humanitarian response and gender equality in planning, budgeting and statistics”. She asserted that the joint partnership will be very beneficial in augmenting the relations with the private sector as well as other non-traditional stakeholders for better planning on women’s economic empowerment initiatives throughout the country.
Ms. Shadia Bakhait, UNIDO Representative shared that UNIDO has been working towards improving the quality of life of the world’s poor by drawing on its combined global resources and expertise. She said that a “competitive and environmentally sustainable industry has a crucial role to play in accelerating economic growth, reducing poverty and achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
UNIDO’s Women Entrepreneurship Development Programme has been working to facilitate gender-sensitized initiatives that focus on the integration of women in highly non-traditional sectors. The Programme has been implementing innovative strategies to train and connect women as producers and entrepreneurs with the value chain as productive members of the creative industry.
She emphasized, that in doing so, UNIDO has been working on bringing gender parity in the industrial sector by making it more inclusive for women. In order to strengthen its mandate, UNIDO is joining hands with UN Women to augment future interventions and maximize outcomes.
Both Heads of UN Agencies indicated combined efforts towards further enhancing advocacy initiatives for development of the women of Pakistan which includes safeguarding the rights of women, uplifting their status and amplifying gender related issues in policies and relevant programmes. This initiative will also be a step towards, working on capacity enhancement of women in commerce, trade and production. Through a strengthened mandate, UNIDO and UN Women can better coordinate efforts with the private sector, non-government organizations NGOs, civil society and financial institutions to maximize outcomes and reach a common go

Two UN agencies unites to empower women in Pakistan 

Verbosity at the UN: Keep talking | The Economist

Verbosity at the UN
Keep talking

Sep 26th 2012, 16:25 by L.P. | LONDON

FEWER dictators means better timekeeping at the UN General Assembly. In past years delegates braced themselves for the rambling rants of Colonel Muammar Qaddafi (record: 90 minutes in 2009). This year's meeting of the UN's big representative body featured only a handful of long-winded speakers. Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad managed just under 40 minutes, bemusing some delegates and amusing others with his calls for restructuring the UN, which he says is heavily skewed towards a few countries. He also gave his thoughts about the coming of the 12th imam and Jesus of Nazareth.

UN protocol since 2003 stipulates that heads of state addressing the General Assembly must keep within a 15-minute limit. Barack Obama has breached that every year of his presidency with orations of at least 30 minutes. But modern efforts pall against the giants of the past. Cuba’s Fidel Castro in 1960 gave the longest ever continuous speech to the General Assembly, a fatiguing four hours and 29 minutes.

But the lengthiest speech ever at the UN (to the Security Council, not the General Assembly) was in 1957, when India’s representative, VK Krishna Menon, outlined in some detail India’s stand on Kashmir. It took eight hours, spread over three sessions, after which he collapsed.

This year's delegates may not lack opportunity to exercise concentration. Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, is due to address the General Assembly via video-link from his refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London. Concision is not his watchword. If a record is to be broken this year, the odds are on him.


Verbosity at the UN: Keep talking | The Economist

Roundtable: Freedom of Expression on the Internet and its Limitations

Roundtable: Freedom of Expression on the Internet and its Limitations

Islamabad, 25 September 2012: The internet is a unique medium that presents new challenges and questions for Pakistani state and society, especially when dealing with issues like the YouTube video that sparked violent protests across the Muslim world. This was the view of participants at a roundtable on free expression on the internet in Pakistan and its limits, organized jointly by the Jinnah Institute and the Initiative on Internet & Society at the Lahore University of Management Sciences.

The session began with a presentation Abid Hussain Imam of the Department of Law and Policy at LUMS on laws and conventions that apply to the internet in Pakistan. Professor Imam highlighted the unique nature of the internet as a medium, and how it is not forced on the consumer of information. Rather, the consumer has to actively seek content on the internet, which raises interesting questions about liability and responsibility.

The presentation was followed by a lively discussion on the issue, in which many participants agreed that freedom of speech is not an absolute value and its interpretations vary across societies and cultures. These variations require states and companies to come up with appropriate legal and policy responses to ensure respect for all individuals and communities and protect them against hate speech and incendiary content.

Participants included academics, lawyers, government officials, students, civil society activists, journalists, technologists and entrepreneurs.

The discussion was focused on the internet and law in Pakistan, and participants suggested policy measures to assistdsci0483the government in handling internet-related issues. Officials from the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority discussed their organization’s mandate and how decisions are made on internet-related issues by the government. The current system’s shortcomings and possible remedies were discussed.

Dr Adil Najam, Vice Chancellor of LUMS, said that the “Internet is changing -Pakistani society vis-a-vis governance, law, civil society, etc,” and asked if there should be an international law against blasphemy, given that the internet is not hindered by geographical boundaries. Ahmer Bilal Soofi, a prominent international law expert stressed the need to look at international conventions such as Article 20 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which states: “Any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence shall be prohibited by law.”

The discussion also looked at the mechanisms through which states can interact with companies with international reach like Google and Facebook, and how laws are applied in this environment.

Raza Rumi, director of policy and programmes at the Jinnah Institute, highlighted another dimension of the debate, looking at hate material being published by Pakistanis against other Pakistanis. “A large number of consumers of the global Jihad industry are located in South Asia. Banned outfits using the social media call for demolition of Pakistani state since, according to them, it has succumbed to the US-imperialist-Zionist model”. There are concerted campaigns on the social media to silence moderate voices and many such people are under threat, he said, and that this aspect of the issue also needs attention.


Participants agreed that blanket censorship of the internet is a violation of is linfundamental human rights as Article 19A of the Constitution of Pakistan says “every citizen shall have the right to have access to information in all matters of public importance subject to regulation and reasonable restrictions imposed by law.”

Jinnah Institute is a non-profit public policy organization based in Pakistan. It functions as a think tank, advocacy group and public outreach organization independent of government. JI seeks to promote knowledge-based policy making for strengthening democratic institutions and building public stakes in human and national security discourse. It remains committed to investing in policies that promote fundamental rights, tolerance and pluralism.


paste this in your URL to see the real page:
Roundtable: Freedom of Expression on the Internet and its Limitations

Virtual newsroom seeks freelancers to expand worldwide | IJNet

Virtual newsroom seeks freelancers to expand worldwide | IJNet

Understanding the China-Japan Island Conflict | Stratfor

Understanding the China-Japan Island Conflict
September 25, 2012 | 0902 GMT

By Rodger Baker
Vice President of East Asia Analysis

Sept. 29 will mark 40 years of normalized diplomatic relations between China and Japan, two countries that spent much of the 20th century in mutual enmity if not at outright war. The anniversary comes at a low point in Sino-Japanese relations amid a dispute over an island chain in the East China Sea known as the Senkaku Islands in Japan and Diaoyu Islands in China.

These islands, which are little more than uninhabited rocks, are not particularly valuable on their own. However, nationalist factions in both countries have used them to enflame old animosities; in China, the government has even helped organize the protests over Japan's plan to purchase and nationalize the islands from their private owner. But China's increased assertiveness is not limited only to this issue. Beijing has undertaken a high-profile expansion and improvement of its navy as a way to help safeguard its maritime interests, which Japan -- an island nation necessarily dependent on access to sea-lanes -- naturally views as a threat. Driven by its economic and political needs, China's expanded military activity may awaken Japan from the pacifist slumber that has characterized it since the end of World War II.
An Old Conflict's New Prominence

The current tensions surrounding the disputed islands began in April. During a visit to the United States, Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara, a hard-line nationalist known for his 1989 book The Japan That Can Say No, which advocated for a stronger international role for Japan not tied to U.S. interests or influence, said that the Tokyo municipal government was planning to buy three of the five Senkaku/Diaoyu islands from their private Japanese owner. Ishihara's comments did little to stir up tensions at the time, but subsequent efforts to raise funds and press forward with the plan drew the attention and ultimately the involvement of the Japanese central government. The efforts also gave China a way to distract from its military and political standoff with the Philippines over control of parts of the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea.

For decades, Tokyo and Beijing generally abided by a tacit agreement to keep the islands dispute quiet. Japan agreed not to carry out any new construction or let anyone land on the islands; China agreed to delay assertion of any claim to the islands and not let the dispute interfere with trade and political relations. Although flare-ups occurred, usually triggered by some altercation between the Japanese coast guard and Chinese fishing vessels or by nationalist Japanese or Chinese activists trying to land on the islands, the lingering territorial dispute played only a minor role in bilateral relations.

However, Ishihara's plans for the Tokyo municipal government to take over the islands and eventually build security outposts there forced the Japanese government's hand. Facing domestic political pressure to secure Japan's claim to the islands, the government determined that the "nationalization" of the islands was the least contentious option. By keeping control over construction and landings, the central government would be able to keep up its side of the tacit agreement with China on managing the islands.

China saw Japan's proposed nationalization as an opportunity to exploit. Even as Japan was debating what action to take, China began stirring up anti-Japanese sentiment and Beijing tacitly backed the move by a group of Hong Kong activists in August to sail to and land on the disputed islands. At the same time, Beijing prevented a Chinese-based fishing vessel from attempting the same thing, using Hong Kong's semi-autonomous status as a way to distance itself from the action and retain greater flexibility in dealing with Japan.

As expected, the Japanese coast guard arrested the Hong Kong activists and impounded their ship, but Tokyo also swiftly released them to avoid escalating tensions. Less than a month later, after Japan's final decision to purchase the islands from their private Japanese owner, anti-Japanese protests swept China, in many places devolving into riots and vandalism targeting Japanese products and companies. Although many of these protests were stage-managed by the government, the Chinese began to clamp down when some demonstrations got out of control. While still exploiting the anti-Japanese rhetoric, Chinese state-run media outlets have highlighted local governments' efforts to identify and punish protesters who turned violent and warn that nationalist pride is no excuse for destructive behavior.

Presently, both China and Japan are working to keep the dispute within manageable parameters after a month of heightened tensions. China has shifted to disrupting trade with Japan on a local level, with some Japanese products reportedly taking much longer to clear customs, while Japan has dispatched a deputy foreign minister for discussions with Beijing. Chinese maritime surveillance ships continue to make incursions into the area around the disputed islands, and there are reports of hundreds or even thousands of Chinese fishing vessels in the East China Sea gathered near the waters around the islands, but both Japan and China appear to be controlling their actions. Neither side can publicly give in on its territorial stance, and both are looking for ways to gain politically without allowing the situation to degrade further.
Political Dilemmas in Beijing and Tokyo

The islands dispute is occurring as China and Japan, the world's second- and third-largest economies, are both experiencing political crises at home and facing uncertain economic paths forward. But the dispute also reflects the very different positions of the two countries in their developmental history and in East Asia's balance of power.

China, the emerging power in Asia, has seen decades of rapid economic growth but is now confronted with a systemic crisis, one already experienced by Japan in the early 1990s and by South Korea and the other Asian tigers later in the decade. China is reaching the limits of the debt-financed, export-driven economic model and must now deal with the economic and social consequences of this change. That this comes amid a once-in-a-decade leadership transition only exacerbates China's political unease as it debates options for transitioning to a more sustainable economic model. But while China's economic expansion may have plateaued, its military development is still growing.

The Chinese military is becoming a more modern fighting force, more active in influencing Chinese foreign policy and more assertive of its role regionally. The People's Liberation Army Navy on Sept. 23 accepted the delivery of China's first aircraft carrier, and the ship serves as a symbol of the country's military expansion. While Beijing views the carrier as a tool to assert Chinese interests regionally (and perhaps around the globe over the longer term) in the same manner that the United States uses its carrier fleet, for now China has only one, and the country is new to carrier fleet and aviation operations. Having a single carrier offers perhaps more limitations than opportunities for its use, all while raising the concerns and inviting reaction from neighboring states.

Japan, by contrast, has seen two decades of economic malaise characterized by a general stagnation in growth, though not necessarily a devolution of overall economic power. Still, it took those two decades for the Chinese economy, growing at double-digit rates, to even catch the Japanese economy. Despite the malaise, there is plenty of latent strength in the Japanese economy. Japan's main problem is its lack of economic dynamism, a concern that is beginning to be reflected in Japanese politics, where new forces are rising to challenge the political status quo. The long-dominant Liberal Democratic Party lost power to the opposition Democratic Party of Japan in 2009, and both mainstream parties are facing new challenges from independents, non-traditional candidates and the emerging regionalist parties, which espouse nationalism and call for a more aggressive foreign policy.

Even before the rise of the regionalist parties, Japan had begun moving slowly but inexorably from its post-World War II military constraints. With China's growing military strength, North Korea's nuclear weapons program and even South Korean military expansion, Japan has cautiously watched as the potential threats to its maritime interests have emerged, and it has begun to take action. The United States, in part because it wants to share the burden of maintaining security with its allies, has encouraged Tokyo's efforts to take a more active role in regional and international security, commensurate with Japan's overall economic influence.

Concurrent with Japan's economic stagnation, the past two decades have seen the country quietly reform its Self-Defense Forces, expanding the allowable missions as it re-interprets the country's constitutionally mandated restrictions on offensive activity. For example, Japan has raised the status of the defense agency to the defense ministry, expanded joint training operations within its armed forces and with their civilian counterparts, shifted its views on the joint development and sale of weapons systems, integrated more heavily with U.S. anti-missile systems and begun deploying its own helicopter carriers.
Contest for East Asian Supremacy

China is struggling with the new role of the military in its foreign relations, while Japan is seeing a slow re-emergence of the military as a tool of its foreign relations. China's two-decade-plus surge in economic growth is reaching its logical limit, yet given the sheer size of China's population and its lack of progress switching to a more consumption-based economy, Beijing still has a long way to go before it achieves any sort of equitable distribution of resources and benefits. This leaves China's leaders facing rising social tensions with fewer new resources at their disposal. Japan, after two decades of society effectively agreeing to preserve social stability at the cost of economic restructuring and upheaval, is now reaching the limits of its patience with a bureaucratic system that is best known for its inertia.

Both countries are seeing a rise in the acceptability of nationalism, both are envisioning an increasingly active role for their militaries, and both occupy the same strategic space. With Washington increasing its focus on the Asia-Pacific region, Beijing is worried that a resurgent Japan could assist the United States on constraining China in an echo of the Cold War containment strategy.

We are now seeing the early stage of another shift in Asian power. It is perhaps no coincidence that the 1972 re-establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Japan followed U.S. President Richard Nixon's historic visit to China. The Senkaku/Diaoyu islands were not even an issue at the time, since they were still under U.S. administration. Japan's defense was largely subsumed by the United States, and Japan had long ago traded away its military rights for easy access to U.S. markets and U.S. protection. The shift in U.S.-China relations opened the way for the rapid development of China-Japan relations.

The United States' underlying interest is maintaining a perpetual balance between Asia's two key powers so neither is able to challenging Washington's own primacy in the Pacific. During World War II, this led the United States to lend support to China in its struggle against imperial Japan. The United States' current role backing a Japanese military resurgence against China's growing power falls along the same line. As China lurches into a new economic cycle, one that will very likely force deep shifts in the country's internal political economy, it is not hard to imagine China and Japan's underlying geopolitical balance shifting again. And when that happens, so too could the role of the United States.
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"Understanding the China-Japan Island Conflict is republished with permission of Stratfor." Understanding the China-Japan Island Conflict | Stratfor

Secretary Clinton Announces Launch of the U.S.-Pakistan Women's Council

Secretary Clinton Announces Launch of the U.S.-Pakistan Women's Council

Insider-attacks — beginning of the end

Insider-attacks — beginning of the end

Insider-attacks — beginning of the end

Posted on September 25, 2012

Saeed Minhas
Grisly figures of insider-attacks commonly known as green-over-blue incidents, reminded me of the prediction of Owais Ghani, one of those three in Pakistan’s history to have served as governor in both the forward posts of Afghan-Pakistan borders and under both dictatorial and civilian regimes, when he said in a typical whispering sound in 2009 that Americans might be having a ride of life time in Afghanistan but so was the case with Soviets till September 1986 when CIA-sponsored game-turner Stinger Missiles were given to Gulbadeen Hikmatyar’s commander Engineer Ghaffar to leave gunship helicopters of Soviets so vulnerable that within a couple of years time world saw Mikhail Gorbachev pulling out red armies from Afghanistan.
He made these observations-cum-predictions while attending one of many get-togethers of late Salman Taseer in the lush green lawns of Punjab House in Islamabad and since he was still the Governor of KPK, everyone listened to his shenanigans. By giving this contrast between Americans and Soviets, he quickly moved on to add that who knows something might emerge within a year or so to melt down the technological and psychological superiority of Americans. May be no one has the answer to advanced arsenal, well-equipped additional forces (just in those days Obama had sent 33,000 war-torn troops to Afghanistan who were heading home from Iraq just around that time to reverse Taliban offensive in southern parts), drones and what not but who knows what future holds for us and for them (metaphors used to describe Pakistan or may be Taliban and America/ISAF as them).
Are insider attacks the tactics, we have been waiting against the drones and ISAF forces? Or is it something which Americans have brought onto themselves by ignoring the ground realities and as many ISAF field commanders are beginning to accept now that it’s not only war-fatigued attitude of the American and ISAF troops but also the fact that Americans are beginning to shut and in other cases cut down the dollar-doors on corrupt Afghan government which is leaving not only over 350,000 Afghan Army and police vulnerable but even putting the populations at the mercy of an uncertain future.
During one of my recent visits to the holding place of Afghan President Hamid Karzai I can relate my experiences with those of the field commanders. My visits certainly gave me this impression that Afghan government is all but holed into Eastern parts and most precisely to Kabul and after a spate of politically (may be monetarily) driven insider attacks which left his own brother and people like Rabbani and many others dead, Karzai is also finding it easy to rule from the barricaded and perhaps one of the most petrified (dusty) city of the country; i.e. Kabul.
Living on the crutches of foreign aid, the only progress Karzai government can boost off during the past five years or so is that it managed to raise the country revenue collection from a mere US $ 0.6 billion to US $ 1.6 billion, as is claimed by the government accountability office (GAO) in its report. Situation seems to have moved a little in the past two years after the report which can be gauged from the recent statement of the head of Afghan Oversight and Anti-Corruption office, Azizullah Lodin, who was quoted by local newspapers saying, “Like United States, England and other countries, it is nearly impossible to stop corruption in Afghanistan.”
Ten governors have been replaced and another 12 to 15 are likely to be shown the door by the Karzai government in the coming weeks on charges of incompetence and bad governance but the question remains that will it give Karzai or his aid-masters any leverage in terms of bringing sanity in a country which seems to be slipping to post-Soviet situation. No matter how much negativity we relate to Taliban or for that matter Pashtuns but the glaring reality which hits you in the face once you visit Kabul, meet ordinary people, even platoons of Afghan serving Generals, Americans the consensus amongst them is that things are spiraling out of hand not only for Karzai but also for Americans. This uncertainty, which in return is breeding misunderstanding and hostilities has become so visible on both sides of the Af-Pak (a term which Pakistani establishment detest as much as they loathe the idea of leaving Indians entrenched in Afghanistan) border that everyone from tribal chiefs to ordinary Pashtuns are embracing for the worst to come.
With a halt in US-Taliban talks, growing interest of British in the foray through unsolicited advice to their American counterparts, an unending corruption spree in Karazai regime and frustrating engagements of Americans in Syrian stand-off, Pakistani establishment, for all the right and wrong reasons, is finding Americans all but confused. Tripartite talks amongst Pakistan-American-Afghan counterparts have emerged again but mistrust and years of misgivings and bad-blood amongst all three is unlikely to lead anyone to any acceptable solution. With pressure on Pakistan to launch an all out operation in North Waziristan, which according to many, has already been launched, continuing drone strikes targeting not only foreign elements in FATA regions but also causing agonizingly devastating collateral damage and airing of the most bizarre film on youtube.com backed by an American pastor, the road ahead seems uncertain. Chances of pushing Pakistani establishment to help end the game in Afghanistan in such a way that Americans can ensure its permanent bases in Afghanistan by securing the safe exit of majority of its ground forces are growing but not without some tangible concerns from Pakistani establishment. Main thaw in this entire end-game plan is not the presence of bases but the presence of arch rivals; i.e. Indians.
Now will the Americans play Indian card or may be threat to lure Pakistani flattened-egos into some kind of submission or will Pakistan be able to use its Taliban leverage for getting the best out of this gory game—which is about to unleash—remains to be seen in the coming days.

Taliban_Perspectives_on_Reconciliation.pdf (application/pdf Object)

 An interesting read from the perspective of Af-pak follower because it gives you an idea that nothing remains the same rather it evolves but the only thing we have to bear is the cost of learning. Perhaps a small segment of Taliban seem to have learned it or is it just a diversion, that time will tell but it surely is another turn in the topsy-turvy Af-Pak Garden.
Pls read this latest study and would like to read more perspectives from all concerned out there.


Taliban_Perspectives_on_Reconciliation.pdf (application/pdf Object)

Regards


saeed