Shabnam Baloch

A typical definition of social transformation refers to a broader level societal change, values transformation and redefining, with cultural reformation in the social system. It asserts redefining the relative realities with mutual consensus and can be triggered by an external stimulus as well as internally. Social transformation occurs with vision, mindset and a system that […]

It is so much easier to blame others for our problems than to accept responsibility ourselves. What others are doing now or they did in the past (colonialism) should not account for the quality of life for Muslims today. What accounts is so much anger that is always diverted against the external enemies and leaves […]

Educational values, beliefs, approaches, philosophies and practices are undergoing constant changes under the effects of globalisation. The very objective of education has been development of the whole individual. The bare minimum level to attain this objective in the past agrarian-based society was to obtain basic or primary education and it was up to secondary education […]

I recently posed a perturbing question to the male audience in one seminar on gender empowerment: “What is the edge of authority you hold on the women in your household?” There was pin drop silence in the hall and everyone took a defensive position instead of giving me a straight answer to the question. The […]

Take a succinct look at the gender picture in the water sector. What does it look like? Women labouring and toiling to provide water for domestic use and doing unpaid work in agriculture while men make the decisions about water resources and their management. This state of affairs is more or less similar across the […]

It is a well-established fact that education is the answer to many of the misfortunes of our country. Unfortunately, Pakistan has one of the lowest literacy rates in the world. According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), the literacy rate is 55 percent and Pakistan stands at 160th in the countries […]

Birth registration is the process by which the birth of a child is officially recorded and documented by the state. This registration is the first step towards establishing both the existence and identity of the child. Granting and recognising this legal status not only gives the child an identity, it also gives him/her the status […]

The existence of a free and socially just society depends on an informed public. The power of propaganda to generate myths and portray it as an absolute actuality is a major factor causing the increased strife and anxiety in our society today. Manipulation has been considered as an art, science and skill throughout recorded human […]

In 2011, Aga Khan University’s Division of Women and Child Health, the Pakistan Ministry of Health and UNICEF conducted a survey to assess the overall nutritional status of target groups, including pre-school children (six to 59 months), school-aged children (six to 11-years-old), women of childbearing age (15 to 49 years old) and elderly persons (50 […]

Terrorists, jihadis, militants, freedom fighters, Islamised forces, anti-western armed groups, proxy war fighters, separatists, nationalists, extremists, all are different terms we have been hearing as used by different political actors at different times to describe the political situation in order to define the dynamics of the ‘problem’ at that particular time and to determine the […]