At the cutting edge>>Stabilisation in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province


First published: 2009-11-04

SDDirect's Adam Burke provided support to the UK government's Stabilisation Unit in efforts to forge a common plan for rebuilding Pakistan's Swat Valley and the neighbouring areas of Malakand. The unit combines the efforts of different UK government departments in conflict or post-conflict situations. On this occasion, they were able to respond very rapidly to a Pakistan government request for support.

Whatever the country, short term social development work does not normally begin with a photo opportunity next to the President. I was engaged by SDDirect in August to help the UK government's Stabilisation Unit contribute to a common plan for rebuilding Pakistan's Swat Valley and the neighbouring areas of Malakand. On my first working day back in the country, I joined a team of specialists who were introduced to the President.

The unit combines the efforts of different UK government departments in conflict or post-conflict situations. On this occasion, they were able to respond very rapidly to a Pakistan government request for support. A military campaign earlier in 2009 to end Taliban control over Malakand had achieved considerable success. The aim now was not only to restore services and repair damaged buildings but also to find ways of governing the area better in future so that the local people's confidence in the state would build over time.

Much of Pakistan's mountainous fringe heading towards the border with Afghanistan has never been fully incorporated into the modern state. Independent political and legal systems typify the so-called 'Tribal Areas' where poverty is as high as anywhere in Pakistan. Aiming to counter growing violent insurgency, the federal government has shifted its policies over the past year. In addition to military operations, plans have been announced to incorporate these areas more fully into the state.

International agencies are keen to support these efforts, given the perceived threat of extremism across Pakistan, the links with conflict in Afghanistan as well as Al Qaida on the global stage. This has brought a high level of attention to the area. Actions that would normally be the humdrum work of development specialists have become politically-charged. Malakand has been seen as a test case: if the Pakistan government can get things right there, it sets a positive tone for future action across a wider area. With this in mind, international donors have been asked to provide support. In August 2009, the USA and the UK were asked to help devise a plan of action for redeveloping Malakand that would then encourage wider donor assistance. I was asked to provide social development input and spent several weeks working alongside national and international specialists.

Some key challenges emerged fast. The high-profile nature of the work led to an international desire to show support that had to be tempered with a dose of reality. Most of those involved agree on the need to improve essential services like health and education and even to reduce the power of landowning elites whose political stranglehold has stymied progress. Development programmes have struggled with these mammoth challenges across Pakistan for decades and any new initiatives are unlikely to achieve sudden success.

A second set of challenges were the politically-set timeframes. This meant that a plan was needed at very short notice. There was little time for participation both to build common support and to improve proposals outlined in the plan. Finally, various practical barriers made the job harder. The high number of different bodies involved meant that time was lost coordinating information and keeping everyone on board. Continued security risks meant that it was deemed unsafe to travel to Malakand. Local experts could only be contacted by phone or through proxies.

The response involved gradual work to identify viable entry-points for pressing social issues within these limits. By listening to and representing the views of experienced Pakistani development campaigners with deep knowledge of how to counter the challenges found in Malakand, it was possible to propose pragmatic ways of including their views in the plan. For example, the plan stressed the role of non-governmental and community-based bodies in improving the outreach of basic services to rural areas. The international team of planners also made sure that the Pakistan government remained in charge throughout.

The plan for Malakand is now being used to inform more detailed work on future programmes. Its impact is difficult to assess: high level political processes have a depressing tendency to overlook important developmental truths even when incorporated into documents. The unstable security context and continual domestic political challenges within Pakistan add to the uncertainty. Even with this strong start and a well-regarded plan, a lot remains to be done before people in Malakand will see any real change on the ground.