Pakistan Evaluations
 | WILL Project – Final Evaluation ReportThe project “Women’s Initiative for Leadership & Learning (WILL): Strengthening Women Parliamentarians in Pakistan for Effective Government” was implemented by Search for Common Ground in 2013-16. The project was financially supported by the US State Department to support current women parliamentarians (at both national and provincial levels) and aspiring women councilors (local level). The overall goal of the project was to strengthen the role of women parliamentarians in the Provincial Assemblies in a way that increases their influence in decision-making for effective governance. The project focused on building capacity of women parliamentarians at all level as well as facilitating dialogue and outreach among women leaders from various levels. The evaluation found that the project was able to build the capacity of the ‘critical mass’ of women parliamentarians by providing leadership training 128 MPAs. Political party leaders who participated in the training shared that the training content was both relevant and practical to their work. Sixty six percent of the respondents appreciated that the program helped bring all major parties together. Leaders from across party lines had the opportunity to sit together to discuss and learn together – something that was rare for them in the past. Another important achievement of the project is that it helped develop linkage between national to local level women leaders and strengthen their voice on political arena, overall. |
| My Story, Our Voice – Youth Communication through Appreciative Inquiry ApproachThe report presents findings form baseline study carried for the project ‘Social Cohesion and Resilience My Story, Our Voice – Youth Communication through Appreciative Inquiry Approach’ implemented by SFCG Pakistan and supported by UNICEF, Pakistan. The project aimed at increasing the individual capacity of community youth leaders and other stakeholders to promote social cohesion and be proactive agents of change. The findings reveal that although the youth would like to help people from their communities, the majority felt that this help should not just be limited to their own community. The majority also “completely disagreed‟ that people from other communities in Pakistan did not treat them fairly. There was equal division among young people who felt that when big decision are made in Pakistan the opinions of member of their own community as well as that of other communities should be valued. This is interesting to note as it showed a certain level of maturity amongst the youth. |
| Youth Violence in KarachiSearch for Common Ground is working with public and private schools and colleges in Karachi to tackle the issue of youth violence in the city. In collaboration with the Karachi Youth Initiative, SFCG has started the initiative to engage students in a constructive discourse on peace building and conflict resolution through common ground dialogues and by invoking a strong sense of civic and social responsibility. Primarily focusing on 150 young people, the project titled “I Am Karachi: Preventing Youth Violence in Karachi” is being implemented in five violence affected areas of Karachi including Lyari, Orangi, Korangi, Saddar and Gulshan Towns. The project aims to promote non-violence and build the capacity of youth leaders to become active agent of peace in their communities through collaborative actions, mediation and dialogue. The report presents findings from the baseline carried out for this project. The findings indicate that youth from different towns had different perceptions about the violence in their communities where majority of youth from Sadar and Lyari town rely more on the use of strength and violence to resolve a conflict in their community while overwhelming majority of Orangi, Korangi and Gulshan town take the help of community elders or try to resolve conflict by collaboration rather than the use of force. Majority of youth from these five towns believed that violence is common in their communities. When asked about the main reasons for youth violence in Karachi, they reported of unemployment, poverty, easy availability of weapons, prevalence of gang culture, and political manipulation of youth However, they believe that good leadership skills and improved social skills can help bring peace to their communities. |
| Women’s Initiative for Learning and Leadership (WILL)The report presents the findings form a baseline study and needs assessment of the project Women’s Initiative for Learning and Leadership (WILL)’ project, implemented by SFCG Pakistan and financially supported by OTI. It aims at Strengthening Women’s Political Participation and Leadership for Effective Democratic Governance in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Province. It works with elected women politicians as well as former and aspiring women councilors to enhance their engagement in decision-making at the national, provincial and local levels. This research focused on four key areas; needs and confidence levels, key relationships within the political environment, ability to push legislation and policy reforms and media engagement. The findings revealed that women politicians were quite confident with their own leadership skills and in their ability to compete in a political process dominated by men. Additionally, a majority of women felt that the perception of government officials towards women as leaders in comparison to male leaders was generally positive. Although the majority of the respondents indicated that they were generally aware of the functions and procedures of various government departments, they recognized the need for women politicians to be skilled in legislation formulation, media management, policy making and budgetary processes. The majority of women claimed that they faced challenges as leaders in the public sphere. With the exception of Peshawar district, many women politicians felt that their male colleagues were ‘not comfortable’ if the committee or party structure included both men and women members and if the committee or party structure was led by a woman. Moreover, they felt that their male counterparts did little to involve them in decision-making processes or encourage them to take party positions. |
 | “Promoting Peace in KPK & FATA: Connecting Youth and Policymakers through Mediation and Dialogue“ – A Project Impact Assessment Report based on Focus Group DiscussionsThis report is a review of results generated by a Search for Common Ground Pakistan project ‘Promoting Peace in KPK & FATA: Connecting Youth and Policymakers through Mediation and Dialogue’. The two-year long project was implemented in consortium with PAIMAN Alumni Trust which acted as an implementing partner with the objective to contribute towards peace and reconciliation in Pakistan by promoting mediation and dialogue in the KPK and FATA regions. This report is a compendium of 34 focus group discussions to assess how beneficiaries and affected communities saw conflict in their areas and how they benefited or did not benefit from these project activities. |
| Promotion of Dialogue for Peacebuilding through Media and Youth Mobilization in Pakistan September 2011-December 2013: Final Project Evaluation ReportThis Final Project Evaluation report captures and analyzes the impact of events and activities conducted as part of SFCG Pakistan’s project titled “Promotion of Dialogue and Peacebuilding through Media and Youth Mobilization”, also referred to as the “Pakistan Peace Initiative”. |
| Strengthening Women’s Political Participation and Leadership For Effective Democratic Governance in Pakistan: A Baseline Research StudyThis study, as part of SFCG Pakistan’s national program “Women’s Initiative for Learning and Leadership (WILL): Strengthening Women’s Political Participation and Leadership for Effective Democratic Governance in Pakistan” seeks to identify strengths and challenges related to the role of women parliamentarians in the democratic politics and governance of Pakistan. |