Research Studies

Download	Denial of Women's Right of Inheritance Enhancing their Vulnerability to Domestic & Societal Violence Acceptability and giving the women their rights of inheritance is a form of social protection, but its denial is making them more vulnerable to domestic and societal violence. Discourse on social protection has gained currency in the recent decades and has given a rapid economic transition in many developing countries across the world, including those in South Asia. Through its research on various aspects of violence against women, AwazCDS- Pakistan has established view that violence is not only a women's issue, or even a health issue, but an issue that influences the development process as a whole. Domestic violence costs development, obstructs participation in development processes and contradicts the goals of development
Download	Access to Safe Drinking Water is Still a Dream A Research Study on State of Water Purification & Filtration Plants & Supply of Clean & Safe Drinking Water to Urban and Semi-Urban Communities of South Punjab. Pakistan is now being considered among Water Stress Countries as the situation is becoming precarious because water availability in Pakistan has decreased from 5000 cubic meters per capita in 1950s to 1000 cubic meters per capita in 2007, mainly due to increase in population, inefficient irrigation, ill planning of water resource management, corruption and unequal water rights, says a report of Asian Development Bank. More than 70% of the total population in Pakistan does not have access to safe drinking water and more than 70,000 children die every year due to diarrhea and other diseases related to unsafe water and poor sanitation facilities according to a report published by UNICEF. Ensuring the provision of safe drinking water to all citizens is one the basic and constitutional responsibilities of State. Government has ratified the United Nation's Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2001 and MDG 7 asks the UN member States to reduce half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water by 2015. However the government allocates only 0.2% of the total GDP to provide such a vital facility of water and sanitation to citizenry whereby more than 50% of the allocated resources go waste because of ill planning and corruption

Download	Global Week of Action Against Gun Violence Global Week of Action Against Gun Violence for More detail download the research report.

Download	Justice Beyond Legalities Research Study on Extent and Dynamic of Punchayat System and its Impact on Marginalized Communities in Southern Punjab People in rural communities of Pakistan experience a locally available, non-formal way of justice system, which is called Punchayat / Jirga. It is considered as economical source of acquiring justice. There is no membership criterion for joining it as a Sir punch' or a part of decision making body. In most of the cases, the influenced people of a village consider themselves responsible for providing justice to the community. The overall objective of this study was to know about extent and dynamics of this system and people's perception about it. This research study is an initiative of Policy Research and Advocacy Programme of AwazCDS Pakistan. The Foundation conducted this empirical Study by taking samples from ten (10) districts of south Punjab. The quantitative data gained from questionnaires was further scrutinized and rechecked through qualitative information gathered through Focus Group Discussions (FGDs). Later on, in-depth interviews were carried out to further confirm the qualitative facts. The analysis shows that total 3 % males and 4 % female respondents consider Punchayat as very useful system of acquiring justice, where as 54 % males and 65 % females have an opinion that the system itself is fine, but, there is need to bring reforms to make it more human friendly. T otal 57 % females and 55 % males considered Punchayat system as a cost effective way of acquiring justice, whereas 26 % females and 31% males consider it as less time consuming way of getting decisions.

Download	BREAD FOR SURVIVAL o An Overview of Livelihood Patterns and Related Gender Issues in PATA Community of Southern Punjab Awaz Foundation Pakistan: Center for Development Services (AwazCDS), a non-governmental organisation (NGO) based in Multan, commenced a study to have a comprehensive overview of livelihood patterns and gender issues attribute to it among PATA communities of Southern Punjab. Before commencement of the study, the consultant along with a four-member Awaz team has forged a strategy of RCs coupled with case study and Traverse Walk. However , information was obtained through a checklist on group basis from both males and females. The sample-based study was carried out with adults 18 years and above age including 50% women participants, only in 10 villages of four Tumans: Buzdar , Qaisrani, Khosa and Leghari located in Tehsil Tribal Area of DG Khan District. The study reveals that most of PATA population is consist of Baloch tribes, has an average household size of 09 persons with almost equal gender ratio. Primary level educational facilities are accessible to 50% villages only, and in 17% of the villages educational facilities are non existent. Only in 30% of the villages primary level educational facilities are accessible to females. Consequently, 85.3% women are illiterate, 13.2% have passed primary and only 1.5% women have passed their Grade-8 level education. Many male and female are unable to read even Quran. The main cause is inaccessibility of educational facilities and in some villages educating women is not a tradition.

Download	Peeny kay Saaf Pani ka Hasool Mushkil Kiyun.......? A study was conducted by AwazCDS in March 2008 to assess the quality of water provided by the Water And Sanitation Authority (WASA) through water purification plants. WASA Multan has installed 15 water purification plants in Multan and study carried out by AwazCDS with the technical support of Pakistan Council for Research on Water Resources (PCRWR) reveals that 11 out of 15 water purification plants are producing water which UNFIT for drinking purpose. This is worth mentioning that government had planned to install more than 7000 water filtration plants across the country but only 542 were installed to date and those are also failed to produce purified water.

to subscribe Please Contact	Punjab ka Ilaqa-e-Ghair This study was conducted by AwazCDS-Pakistan to understand the socio-economic and political situation of PATA areas in southern districts of D G Khan and Rajan Pur in the Punjab Province of Pakistan. The study was initially conducted in 2005 and it was published in English. I hope your organization has received the copy of that English edition in December 2005. This edition is in Urdu and it is based on the facts and figures of the previous study revealed by the PATA communities during meetings and forums conducted by AwazCDS’s field teams after the initial study in 2005. The study gives details about nine different tribes well known as Tumans (the basic unit for revenue collection and civil administration introduced in the British regime). The PATA of Punjab is actually an area surrounded by four Provinces of Pakistan but still it is recognized as de-excluded area under Provincial administration of Punjab government. The inhabitants of the area are not recognized citizens of Pakistan as the word “de-excluded” is still mentioned at their National Identity Cards. They are living under feudal strangleholds and are being governed under tribal laws, systems. No state institution exists and people follow and believe upon age old inhuman customary practices and values to get access to so called justice. After the introduction of local government system in 2001, Tumans were replaced by the Union Councils but still the actual governance is in the hands of feudal lords and Border Military Police (BMP). No basic facility is available because of the dual governance systems are yet prevailed. The PATA is full of minerals especially the precious “Uranium” which is being extracted by the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) but the locals have been getting no benefits as no special funds are allocated for their socio-economic development. They are vulnerable because of the dumping of Uranium waste and deprived of all other basic amenities. Due to poverty most of the children are recruited by religious organizations in their Madarssas as well as the rate of child trafficking to UAE is highest where the children below the age of 10 are being used as camel jockeys. The women of the PATA area have been living their lives worst than anything. They do not have any say, they are being sold, they are the victims of inhuman customary practices like Kala Kali, Vani, Watta Satta etc. In short, we believe that this study will help us to draw the attentions of all concerned stakeholders including your organization and especially state authorities for taking suitable measures for supporting such marginalized communities

Download	The Socio-Economic and Political Situation of PATA in Southern Punjab While the world is moving towards a global economy in which the local economic and industrial Infrastructure is under threat on the one hand for its integration with the global set up while on the other hand the consumption of local human and material resources has been affected and has caused unemployment and poverty conditions in the less developed and under developed countries. Especially those countries and areas are facing this problem in more intensity which still had to develop a local economic and industrial structure. Pakistan is undergoing a transformation stage from a traditional subsistence economy towards one which is progressive and integrated with global economy. Naturally such transformation involves substitution of traditional norms and institutions with new social norms and Institutions. The situation demands rapid development to pace with the growing compulsion but the same is restrained and frustrated owing to bad governance and lack of vision, foresight on part of the governmental infrastructure. This situation has caused increases in the level of poverty and inequality. In terms of regional inequality, Districts of the Southern Punjab are the worst in Pakistan. Among the Districts of the Southern Punjab, the Districts of D G Khan and Rajan Pur are more underdeveloped than the others and within these two Districts the Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (PATA) show the worst and the gloomiest picture.

to subscribe Please Contact	Maqami Hakumaton kay Awami Tarqiyati Iqdamat ka Estehkam Over the period of last four years it was observed that the system itself provides the space to the common people but the implementers lack the political will as will as capacity. For example Citizen Community Boards were introduced to ensure the community participation but the process and procedures for the registration of CCBs was beyond the understanding of masses. Therefore, AwazCDS has not only started programs like “Strengthening Local Government’s Grassroots Development Initiatives (SLGDI) for building the capacity of CCBs but also facilitated the potential CCBs for registration. This booklet is produced in Urdu for the benefit of concerned stakeholders, elaborating the objectives, processes, policies and procedures of CCBs in a simple manner.

to subscribe Please Contact	Hudood Qawaneen Naqais-O-Tabsara Hudood Qawaneen, Naqais-o-Tabsira: (Hudood laws, flaws and discussion) is an Urdu publication. The topic focused in this 12 page booklet is very sensitive to be discussed, especially where people have no information about human rights, and very limited knowledge of religion, that comes out from a Mullah who is usually an illiterate or semi literate person. Selecting this topic to be researched and published in Urdu was a bold step in these circumstances. This challenge by AwazCDS is commendable. The book starts with a verse form Quran reflecting the human nature of manipulating the verses according to their own wish. Opinion of a very famous religious scholar Mr Javed Ahmad Ghamdi about hudood laws sets the ground. This was a good step to minimize the backlash from religious fundamentalists.

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Peoples' Perception About Discriminatory Laws & Customary Practices Promoting Violence Against Women According to the ministry of Law, Justice and Human Rights, 120 laws currently prevailed in the country are discriminatory on the basis of religion and customs. These require revisions and amendments in the current discriminatory laws and new legislation against inhuman customary practices to make responses of state just and pluralistic. Present military regime had shown their interest to repeal or to amend such laws by taking initiatives under its so called mission to make Pakistan an enlightened and moderate country. In fact some efforts were made half heartedly to amend the laws like blasphemy and Hudood, where the government's own allies compelled it to stop or step back the amendments process quietly. Most of these discriminatory laws and customary practices are promoting violence against women. The government took another initiative and established the National Commission on Status of Women in 2002 to get the recommendations for the repeal/ amendments in laws promoting discriminations particularly against women. Civil Society Organizations, social and development activists and progressive political workers have raised their voices against such laws and demanded the repeal of all such laws as well as legislate against customary practices like Karo Kari, Watta Satta, Vani and Aas Aaf but their efforts are being politically sabotaged by the extremists groups of different religio-political parties. Since common people are emotionally attached with religion & customs and believe upon the mullas as how they interpret religion and customs therefore the public support for amendments/ repeal was meager. Even the representatives of the progressive political parties do not dare to support legislations against such discriminatory laws and practices due to the fare of peoples' perception.