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Facing the marginalization of Pakistan’s transgender community

There are a number of grassroot level issues that transgender people and other marginalized communities face on a daily basis in Pakistan. These include lack of access to quality education, employment, healthcare, and housing. Written by AL Pakistan accountapreneur, Muhammad Saad Khan   Transgender people and other marginalized communities in Pakistan often face discrimination and violence, both from communities and the government. My work has taught me how important it is to listen to the stories of transgender people and other marginalized individuals if we are to address these challenges. One important task is to create knowledge about these issues [...]

2022-11-10T06:46:18+00:0013th May 2022|

Pakistan’s rise in digital propaganda: what’s next?

Written by Syed Hasnain Akber Back in 2018, I was interning at an organization where one of my main tasks was to evaluate different kinds of fake news on Twitter. It was mind-boggling to see how political rivals share misinformation to spread propaganda against each other. Interests groups have been using propaganda for decades but the emergence of globalization and the industrial revolution brought a new form of propaganda known as “digital propaganda”. This includes deceptive and pseudo-information that can be easily spread through different digital channels to manipulate public opinion. Digital propaganda is harmful because it produces emotional responses, [...]

2022-05-17T07:33:00+00:0013th May 2022|

Ways to improve sexual and reproductive health in Pakistan

The Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated barriers to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) for women and girls in Pakistan. This blog discusses emerging areas of concern and identifies some of the opportunities that practitioners and advocates would like to draw attention to. Written by AL Pakistan accountapreneur, Wajid Zahid   Before the pandemic, access to quality, affordable reproductive healthcare in Pakistan was beyond the reach of many women. As the Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey of 2018 shows us, many of the key indicators around SRHR were below international standards. As the pandemic spread in Pakistan, it continued putting [...]

2022-05-17T07:32:17+00:0012th May 2022|

Transgender rights in Pakistan

The transgender community in Pakistan faces cultural and legal discrimination on a regular basis, but things have become even tougher for them during the coronavirus pandemic. Written  by Saro Imran   Haji Jafir Bubli is a transgender activist from Vehari who supported the community during the COVID-19 crisis. She actively participated in humanitarian campaigns, not only for the transgender community, but also for other marginalized communities as well. She opened her home as a community center for transgender people who lost their homes due to disruptions brought about by the pandemic. She also advocated for the rights and protection of [...]

2022-02-07T08:12:32+00:0012th October 2021|

The Mad Queen of the South – Wardah Noor

Written by Syed Ommer Amer All fairy tales start with the phrase “once upon a time” but the story of Wardah Noor is not a fairy tale with a prince charming or a happily-ever-after. It is a saga of relentless struggles and miseries faced by a woman from her patriarchal community. It is the epitome of bravery that will inspire the upcoming generations for centuries. The protagonist of my story lives in the poorest district of Punjab, Layyah where the per capita income is around 10,000 PKR, far below the poverty line. Most of the community either does farming, works at the local [...]

2021-10-08T12:45:15+00:008th October 2021|

Rethinking the Pink Economy in Pakistan 

Saro Imran is a transgender rights activist and accountapreneur who believes that economic independence is the key to ending violence against transgender people in Pakistan. She always considered her gender as a vital part of her identity and struggled with the notion of hiding it to gain societal acceptance. This struggle became a thing of the past when she first gained economic independence. That step allowed her to confidently embrace her identity as a transgender person. The confusion she felt since her childhood began to abate and instead of fighting internally against her gender identity, she began to focus outwards [...]

2021-07-12T06:43:42+00:0024th June 2021|

The launch of AL’s virtual Accountability Incubator for 2021

WASHINGTON DC, 12 February, 2021 - Accountability Lab has announced the names of a new group of civic activists enrolled in our virtual Accountability Incubator for 2021. The Incubator is our flagship program for young civil society leaders to build sustainable, effective tools for accountability, participation and open government. It provides a non-prescriptive, supportive environment for creative, enterprising individuals with innovative ideas to inspire accountability in their communities. Selected accountability entrepreneurs - or ‘accountapreneurs’ - receive 10 months of hands-on, comprehensive support including training and knowledge-building, mentoring, network building and media outreach. This year, the 77 accountapreneurs enrolled in our [...]

2021-02-17T13:05:11+00:0012th February 2021|

Building accountability into environmental sustainability in Nigeria

Written by Inayat Sabhikhi   When Mujidah Ajibola Oladejo and I spoke in the last week of October, Nigeria was in the international news for the people’s movement against police brutality, to #EndSARS. For an activist like her this is both a new and old story - a new spin to an old tale.  “We have just asked for very basic human rights, to end police brutality, and now the government is rubbing salt in our wounds by saying that there are no casualties. I don’t know what can be worse than that.” As an accountapreneur invested in making Nigerian [...]

2021-02-12T06:17:39+00:0012th February 2021|

Our Virtual Accountapreneurs in Kenya & Uganda Pitch Their Ideas

On January 19th we hosted a pitch session for the recently-graduated accountapreneurs of our 2020 virtual Accountability Incubator for young civil society leaders in Kenya and Uganda.  This session was the culmination of a process we started six months earlier when, with the support of the Ford Foundation, we partnered with Evidence and Methods Lab and Siasa Place to adapt our Accountability Incubator for Kenya and Uganda in the time of COVID-19.  We redesigned our flagship incubator program to support the next generation of accountability entrepreneurs with flexible, hands on knowledge-building, mentorship and support to develop ground-breaking ideas related to [...]

2021-02-01T09:33:08+00:001st February 2021|

Meet the graduates from our first virtual Accountability Incubator

As 2020 took a different turn, so did our programs. Our Accountability Incubator program was moved online as we welcomed our very first virtual cohort of accountapreneurs from Uganda and Kenya. Read about the impact they are making below and  join us for a live pitch session next Tuesday as the accountapreneurs introduce their work over the past year. By Tirelo Makwela The Accountability  Incubator is our flagship program for young civil society leaders to build sustainable and effective tools for accountability, participation and open government. The Incubator provides a non-prescriptive, supportive environment for creative, enterprising individuals with innovative ideas [...]

2021-01-13T20:39:46+00:0013th January 2021|
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