Pakistan

Pakistan faces a number of security challenges including militancy in the north-west, long-standing tensions with India over Kashmir, ethnic, sectarian and criminal violence in Karachi, a Baloch insurgency in the south-west, rising sectarian tensions and militancy in southern Punjab as well as concerns about radicalisation, poverty, governance and natural disasters. Disagreements between the different organs of the state are complicating the situation. Insecurity in Pakistan is also having a destabilising effect on the region.

However, the Government has taken positive steps recently to address some of the concerns stoking discontent in the north-west. Notable among these was the approval of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas reform package (August 2011).

Pakistan plays an important part in regional power dynamics, with close ties to China, tense relations with India and Afghanistan, and a strained alliance with the United States.  The country’s history is a cycle of civilian governments and military coup d’états. Even during civilian administrations the military has remained one of the dominant actors.

Internally, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas in the north-west are some of the most conflict-affected regions. Pakistan’s government and security forces are struggling to control domestic insurgents in the federally and provincially administered tribal areas on the border with Afghanistan.  The fragile security situation looks set to worsen, with escalating violence compounded by a breakdown in law and order, and insurgent attacks against security forces and anti-Taliban leaders. Poor governance, a lack of access to justice, high numbers of civilian deaths and internally displaced people, unemployment, and constraints on access to basic services such as food, shelter and medical care all make the situation worse. The on-going crisis in the north-west cannot and will not be resolved by military means alone, but needs concerted efforts to consolidate and advance the social, political and economic development of the Pakhtun people to restore peace and security in the region.

Elsewhere in Pakistan, Balochistan faces similar security problems in the north, while areas south of Quetta are experiencing an insurgency. Karachi, the capital of Sindh province, faces massive sectarian tensions and criminal violence. Even southern Punjab has seen a rise in militancy and insecurity which, if not addressed effectively, could lead to increased tension and conflict in the future.

Saferworld has partnered with Community Appraisal and Motivation Programme (CAMP) and other civil society actors on a number of projects promoting security and justice in Pakistan since 2002. We have supported a range of CAMP initiatives including a ‘Ballot without the Bullet’ campaign for gun-free elections and research into the impact of small arms on security in Pakistan.

Saferworld and CAMP have recently completed research on Jirgas (a gathering of elders to mediate a dispute) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, supported by the EU-funded People’s Peacemaking Perspectives Project. This research forms part of a global project implemented by Saferworld and Conciliation Resources.

In January 2012 we began work, together with CAMP, on a three year programme funded by the EU to promote and develop participatory approaches to peacebuilding initiatives in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. Civil society has a direct role to play in local peacebuilding initiatives, including in mediation and dialogue, building on traditional mechanisms such as the Jirga system. Saferworld and CAMP will support civil society organisations in the region to gain the skills and confidence needed to ensure that local security needs are understood and acted on by decision makers and the voices of communities and marginalised groups are heard in national and international peace efforts.