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Unraveling
Pakistan >< Frontline Perspectives on Change
Thanks to everyone who joined us at the conference. Video recording of the whole event is available here. Pictures are posted here. Find us on FaceBook! On April 4, 2009, Pakistan Conference 2009 was held at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, bringing together speakers and guests from a variety of disciplines to discuss the present day challenges and opportunities for progressive change in Pakistan. The conference was organized by Pakistani students at Harvard and MIT, who have come together with the aim of engaging young Pakistani students and professionals in a constructive debate. For more than a decade now, Pakistan has been facing increasingly difficult challenges on the national front – terrorism, economic difficulties, underdevelopment and poverty. As a country of 160 million inhabitants, Pakistan remains an important player in the geopolitical landscape of the world. To understand the complexities of these issues, there is a need for a multi-sectoral, intellectual exchange of ideas and opportunities.The Pakistan Conference 2009 at Harvard is the first time that Pakistani students from all schools across the Harvard community, as well as from MIT, have come together to explore current issues facing their country, and to identify innovative solutions for change going forward. The conference aims to facilitate debate on these issues of national interest to understand their causes and nature and identify possible steps that can be taken by various stakeholders to resolve them. By engaging with experts and decision-makers in a series of stimulating discussions, we endeavor to foster greater understanding and awareness around issues afflicting Pakistan’s progress and identify avenues for future reform. The conference was envisioned by a recently formed student organization encompassing all professional schools at Harvard University. The purpose of the student organization is to stimulate thought-leadership and active engagement on topics related to Pakistan, realizing the strength of the entire Harvard community. The conference panels addressed five areas: Education Reform, Governance, Technology & Entrepreneurship, Security, and Health Care. The day-long conference was be held at the Harvard Graduate School of Education from 9 am to 6 pm, followed by a social networking event for the conference guests and attendees. The event was preceded by a conference kick-off dinner on the 3rd of April, held at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A brief summary of each panel discussion is provided below. The complete video recording is available for free viewing online here
The goal of the Technology and Entrepreneurship panel was to explore how advancements in technology and entrepreneurship could be catalysts for development, and drivers of economic prosperity in Pakistan. This panel was organized by a team of MIT students led by Saba Gul, a Masters student in Computer Science, and moderated by Karim Lakhani, Assistant Professor at Harvard Business School. The panel comprised of William Aulet from the MIT Sloan School of Management, Khurram Afridi from Techlogix, Arshad Hussain from the National University of Computing and Emerging Sciences, Lahore, and Ghazia Aslam from the World Bank. The overarching message from the panelists was one of hope and resilience in the face of the recent political climate in Pakistan, and of taking risks and persisting even after failing the first time. In response to a question about political turmoil in Pakistan, William Aulet said the job of entrepreneurs was to start and run businesses, and that they must pursue this goal regardless of political and social upheaval. In the light of a shortage of local funds, he advised Pakistani entrepreneurs to tap into external resources such as OPEN (Organization of Pakistani Entrepreneurs of North America). To this, Khurram Afridi added that one must have a global outlook when starting a venture. Arshad Hussain argued that most Pakistanis were raised to be risk averse, except when it came to war with its eastern neighbor. He urged the audience to take risks, and to start their own ventures instead of relying on the ever-evasive job security of today's corporate world. Afridi added that the key to succeeding as an entrepreneur was in not allowing a single failure to discourage you. "You must keep getting up again and again." he said. Education Reform Panel Moderator Asim Khwaja opened the discussion with an update on new trends in the Pakistani education landscape, particularly the high increases in low-cost private schools. While concerns have revolved predominantly around madrasas, this revolutionary trend over the past two decades supports the notion that parents are choosing a progressive view on education, rather than a traditional one. With this backdrop, Mr. Mateen Haider presented on the work of The Citizens Foundation (TCF), the largest education non-profit in Pakistan with a budget of $25 million dollars and support chapters in seven countries. In light of compelling statistical data from numerous countries, he gave the audience a unique comparative perspective on Pakistan's state of education and illiteracy. He argued that Pakistan was the highest population country amongst nations with 50% illiteracy. In this scenario, TCF has taken responsibility for 70,000 students, providing them secular eductaion with an emphasis on girls education. Continuing with the discussion on non-profit models for quality education, Ms. Sadia Ashraf spoke on targeted work of Zindagi Trust towards the 10.5 million disenfranchized children who are victims of child labor. She discussed the "I am Paid to Learn" program, developed by celebrity and activist Mr. Shahzad Roy. The work of Zindagi Trust is far from cosmetic changes, but rather centered around developing critical thinking in its 5,000 students, changing archiac textbooks to updated ones, and also instilling in these street children a sense of agency, life skills and civics. The discussion came full circle when Mr. Rashid Mahmood provided the government's perspective on the challenges of scale, cost and quality education for 44 million children who should be in schools. He dispelled myths about the education sector, particularly speaking on the false belief the public school teachers are underpaid or less qualified in comparison to the market in which they operate. Instead, he identified the source of low quality in public schools to be the missing link between teacher performance and teacher pay structures. WIth a fixed incentive and salary structure, government school teachers are not vulnerable to penalty for low levels of student learning in their classrooms. Mr. Mateen supported this view by providing the contrasting picture at TCF schools where accountability mechanisms were in place for teacher performance and professional development. The panel ended with a rich question and answer session, triggering discussion on other important issues such as access and use of the large sums of financial resources that the Obama administration plans to invest in Pakistan's education system. Discussion with Mir Ibrahim Rahman Mir Ibrahim Rahman, CEO of Geo Television held a stand-alone session on the Entrepreneurship of Ideas. His inspiring segment documented how entrepreneurship can be harnessed to create new ideas, break barriers, and take society and politics in a new direction. Mir’s discussion ranged from GEO’s Zara Sochieye (Just Think!) campaign in support of women’s rights, to the GEO TV undercover reporter who exposed political scandals and gaps in national security on Uljhan Suljhan, to the Shaadi Online television show, to the struggle for Pakistan’s independent judiciary. Using examples from the groundbreaking work of GEO News and the network’s other channels, he highlighted the role that both Media and Entrepreneurship can play in improving political accountability, talking about taboo subjects such as incest, lifting stigmas, engaging opposing social, religious and political groups on one platform, changing roles, and opening eyes. The discussion on GEO’s feature length film, Khuda Ke Liye, and how it highlighted ignorance, mistrust, and paradoxically deep interrelations between people in two hemispheres of the world was hugely impactful. The particular relevance of the theme of growing religious extremism and violence was raised due to a deadly suicide attack in Islamabad that very day. Questions raised and addressed included the apparently overwhelming support and superior coverage given to opposition political parties over incumbent governments, the role of the media in espousing political causes, and the media pandering to viewership numbers and ignoring many of the major recent issues in NWFP and Baluchistan. Governance Moderated by Dr. Maleeha Lodhi, the governance panel highlighted a number of distinct issues that are currently relevant to Pakistan and its society, and informed the audience of recent developments regarding these issues. Mr Adnan Qadir gave a presentation summarizing the impact of the devolution process in Pakistan, as initiated by the Local Government Ordinance, 2001. Focusing exclusively on the Punjab, he pointed out the political and administrative challenges hampering the efficacy of the devolution process. Mr Osama Siddiqui spoke on potential for judicial reform in Pakistan, the recent work undertaken in this area, and future steps necessary to expedite the process. Mr Babar Sattar highlighted the emergence of civil society movements in the country, focusing exclusively on the lawyers’ movement for the restoration of the deposed Chief Justice. Mr Mohammadmian Soomro put focus on the parliamentary system in the country, and provided recommendations on strengthening the role of the two houses of Parliament. Finally, Ms Maya Tudor presented a comparative analysis of the divergent paths taken by Pakistan and its neighbor India in the area of nation-building, highlighting its historical evolution since the independence of the two nations. By covering such a wide variety of issues, this panel was able to provide an overview of recent developments in citizen participation in the Pakistani political process and suggested actionable steps that can be taken to improve institutions that will provide better accountability and protect the interests of citizens. Healthcare The health care panel attempted to address the role of private philanthropy and physician associations in improving health care delivery at the grassroots. Ms. Hashmat Effendi described her efforts in helping cleft lip patients in the poorer populations. Her NGO "House of Charity" represents a successful network of medical professionals who visit Pakistan every year to deliver surgeries to indigent children. Dr. Naheed Usmani (Chair, APPNA MERIT program) described the complex nature of health care delivery in Pakistan and pointed out the disconnection between primary and tertiary care. She highlighed the efforts of Association of Physicians of Pakistani-descent of North America (APPNA) to being medical education reforms in Pakistan and develop specialist training programs for physicians in Pakistan. Dr. Nasar Qureshi (Past President, New Jersey Chapter of APPNA, and Past President, Graduate Association of Dow Medical College) discussed the ground realities of working physicians in Pakistan. He suggested that the lack of a robust health system in the country combined with the poor work environment and political instability are major barriers to the improvement of the nation's health. Dr. Omar Hyder announced the formation of a student interest group named "Healthy Pakistan Think Tank". This interest group will bring together professionals who are interested in health care issues of Pakistan, to continue the debate on national health policy and potentially initiate policy reforms by stimulating the interest of younger professionals and academics. Security Former
Pakistani Ambassador to the United States Maleeha Lodhi evaluated the
Obama administration's strategy toward Pakistan and Afghanistan. The
strengths of the strategy, she argued, were a refocusing of efforts
on Al Qaeda, a surge in civilian capacity in Afghanistan, the pursuit
of reconciliation talks with some elements of the Taliban, and a greater
emphasis on non-military means. In describing the strategy's weaknesses,
she claimed that an increase in US troops in Afghanistan will have a
destabilizing impact on Pakistan. She also spoke to the strategy's failure
to address the root causes of conflict in the region. On the proposed
aid package in the Kerry-Lugar bill, she said that the amount was essentially
the same as in the last administration but the mix was different According
to her, benchmarking aid was humiliating to the Pakistani people and
would make it difficult for the US to win hearts and minds.She also
spoke to the dangers of the US continuing to pursue a unilateral drone
attack policy in the tribal areas. She ended her speech by making the
point that if the performance of Pakistan is not up to mark, then what
exactly is the United States "Plan B." Hassan Abbas with the
Harvard Kennedy School spoke about how no one in Pakistan is challenging
the spreading extremist ideology forcefully. He described how easy it
is for those interested in publishing material promoting jihad and a
radical vision of Islam to do so and how in comparison there are few
publishing outlets available to more moderate voices. He said that the
security and intelligence apparatus in Pakistan seem to be in a state
of denial on the crisis facing the country. Many of the operations undertaken
against militants have resulted in significant collateral damage. Abbas
argued that central to any counterinsurgency effort is a robust police
force and that accordingly the US must invest more heavily in the police
in Pakistan. Former Pakistan Foreign Secretary Riaz Mohammad Khan spoke
about the intellectual crisis in Pakistan and lamented the fact that
much of the debate going on in the national media through its various
outlets is adding to confusion over strategic goals rather than alleviating
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