Climate change is reshaping Afghanistan’s southwestern provinces, driving displacement and migration patterns. This report examines the environmental stressors—droughts, floods, and resource depletion—forcing communities to leave their homes, intensifying socio-economic vulnerabilities, and challenging governance structures.
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.
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.
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.
This policy brief aims to shed light on the realities, opportunities, and challenges that local civil society face, with an eye towards guiding future international engagement.
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.
Seventeen months after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan on 15 August 2021, little has been done to address local level grievances and disputes that have fuelled decades of conflict. This report, based on field research conducted from October 2021 to March 2022 in Helmand province, strongly argues that these grievances risk erupting into renewed violence and further destabilising the country.
This e-paper is written based on interviews conducted with young activists, journalists, human rights defenders and academics from Afghanistan (all under the age of 35), who have been actively involved in the process of democratisation and committed to liberal values over the past 20 years in Afghanistan; it highlights the twenty years of achievements by Afghan youth and explores their hurdles and challenges under the rule of the Taliban’s de facto regime.
Afghanistan government has prepared laws and regulations, some of which are yet to be implemented, governing a wide array of non-state organizations, including NGOs and associations. This handbook aims to support civil society associations to enable them to operate sustainably and flexibly by providing a critical overview and practical guidance on current and potential legislation applicable to them.
In Pakistan, human rights institutions came very late: the first National Commission of Human Rights was established through federal law in 2012. Since the passage of the 18th Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan in 2010, human rights fall within the legislative purview of the provinces.
The European Union's Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) is a trade incentive scheme which reduces or suspends import duties on the products coming into the EU markets from developing countries. It helps these countries in alleviating poverty through creating jobs as well as strengthening systems in compliance with international standards to protect labour and human rights. Pakistan is one of the beneficiary countries.
The role of civil society organizations in the establishment of peace and promotion of human dignity and equality is a recognized globally and protected by the United Nations human rights framework. The modern democracies also recognize the right to form associations in furthering the agenda of promotion and protection of human rights. In the Pakistan Constitution this right is protected under Article 17.
Change is all around us; experiencing it can be exciting or worrisome, confusing or even disturbing. By contrast, the idea of “transition” stands to provide a sense of direction, in a sea of change and insecurity. Change may be happening to us; a transition has direction, it can be planned, perhaps even be initiated. It moves into a positive, sustainable direction – or so we hope.
The report “Thar Coal Project and Local Community” traces the development of the coal projects in Tharparkar in Pakistan. The report brings together the opinions, concerns, observations and experiences of the local communities, civil society, and experts, with regard to the Thar Coal project. The information gathering and documentation process has been guided by a human rights approach. This consolidation of information and opinions may provide a basis for a better understanding of the project from the perspective of the socio, economic and environmental landscape of the local communities.
This discussion paper assesses the socio-economic and environmental hazards that may occur due to the proposed diversion of Shatung river, situated at Deosai plains of Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. A plan to divert Shatung river into Satpara Dam already exists; the plan is to increase the latter’s power generation capacity and to satisfy the increasing domestic, industrial and public water needs of Skardu Town and the adjacent villages during the low flow/winter season. However, no Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) has been conducted so far. Only the locally-active environmental protection bodies have put up some resistance against this plan arguing that the diversion would primarily violate the Gilgit-Baltistan Wildlife Protection, Preservation and Management Act, 1975. During the investigation for this discussion paper, it was learnt that the diversion may result in serious damages to the ecology of the Deosai National Park (DNP) and its existing flora and fauna fed by Shatung river. Moreover, the requirements of Satpara Dam and expected outcomes of the diversion might not be achieved when the river water level decreases in winter season. If the diversion takes place, it would have serious implications for the fragile alpine ecosystem of Deosai plateau, and its biodiversity.
