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AFGHANISTAN

PAKISTAN

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This website showcases our work and engagement in Afghanistan and Pakistan. We are represented through our partners in the region. hbs has been actively promoting the consolidation of democracy, advancing gender equality, and taking action for a more sustainable environment.

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Afghanistan's Climate induced Exodus

Addressing Afghanistan’s Climate Induced Exodus

E-Paper
In Southern Afghanistan, an urgent crisis is brewing. Water scarcity is driving large-scale displacement and migration, threatening to escalate into a global issue. Decades of drought have depleted traditional water sources, pushing communities to rely on unsustainable groundwater extraction.
Response to Forced Returnees

Afghanistan: Response to Forced Returnees

POLICY BRIEF
In 2023, tensions peaked between Afghanistan and Pakistan over the expulsion of Afghan nationals. Forced returns led to an influx of families crossing borders, straining resources. This brief examines the institutional response, challenges, and recommendations for international support.

Afghanistan

Ruling by Decree

Afghanistan: Ruling by Decree

POLICY BRIEF
Within Taliban governance, the absence of a constitution or legal structure leaves Emir's decrees as the principal guiding force. However, these decrees often linger in the realm of aspiration, lacking the concrete mechanisms necessary for effective implementation. This policy brief looks at Taliban governance and the challenges posed by the reliance on moral guidance in navigating administrative and policy realms.
Through the lens

Through a different lens

E-Paper
Activists and amateur women filmmakers have played a pivotal role in capturing the realities of life under the Taliban rule. They have utilised social media platforms such as YouTube and Twitter to obtain an unfiltered perspective of Afghanistan. This E-Paper explores the insights that can be gained from these films in our efforts to understand the current crisis that women in Afghanistan face.
More on Afghanistan
Stories, Poetry and Local perspectives from Pakistan

Climate Change Impact

Together with our partner Institute of Urbanism we have supported a cohort of eco-journalists from various backgrounds and various levels of experiences to contribute to this dossier. Each of their stories features their own regional and provincial backgrounds and related thematic focus.

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Videos

The short film "The Sharp Edge of Peace", supported by the Heinrich Böll Foundation, accompanies and portrays Fatima Gailani, Fawzia Koofi, Habiba Sarabi, and Sharifa Zurmati, the only female members of the Afghan government delegation to the intra-Afghan peace negotiations in Doha, which began in September 2020.

The short film "The Sharp Edge of Peace", supported by the Heinrich Böll Foundation, accompanies and portrays Fatima Gailani, Fawzia Koofi, Habiba Sarabi, and Sharifa Zurmati, the only female members of the Afghan government delegation to the intra-Afghan peace negotiations in Doha, which began in September 2020.

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