Abstract
Pakistan is going through large scale infrastructure development with most of the state-led mega projects being funded by international financing agencies. Many of these agencies have mandatory social safeguards to mitigate the negative impacts of the projects for project-affected-communities especially women. This provides the government an opportunity to advance the conditions of women in project areas. However, the gender mainstreaming efforts usually face resistance from communities on various grounds including religion. This study explores the nature of resistance on religious basis and the strategies used by the development practitioners to manage such resistance. A qualitative research approach was employed and through a purposive sampling technique participants were recruited for this study. In-depth interviews were used to collect data which was analyzed by thematic analysis. The data was collected from development practitioners working for government and international financing agencies on infrastructure projects. Resistance towards development of women initiatives are on interventions, presence of female staff in communities, and on giving access to project teams, including women, to females in communities. Major reasons for this resistance were suspicion of projects, especially if the financing agencies were Western, and the fear that development of women may result in women losing their religious and cultural values which may lead to the breakdown of the institution of family and Islamic society. The strategies to deal with these resistances include involving religious leaders as stakeholders, peer education through religious scholars, exposure visits for local religious leaders, developing gender and cultural sensitivities of the staff, meaningful consultation with community, and effective grievance redress mechanism.
Highlights
In Pakistan there is a significant ongoing investment in infrastructure projects in several sectors including roads, irrigation, mining, hydropower, and urban development
This study explores the resistance faced by the development practitioners involved in dealing with the gender aspects of infrastructure development projects
It was found that resistance is relatively more by communities that are in less developed areas with relatively socially conservative populations
Summary
In Pakistan there is a significant ongoing investment in infrastructure projects in several sectors including roads, irrigation, mining, hydropower, and urban development. Resistance and Potential for Development bring many benefits for the country at large; their footprints and execution may have adverse impacts on communities especially women.. Resistance and Potential for Development bring many benefits for the country at large; their footprints and execution may have adverse impacts on communities especially women.1 These hardships may include displacement, unemployment, homelessness, increased poverty, loss of social and cultural capital, or violence.. In the 1990s, this realization and criticism of harmful effects of development projects resulted in the development of social safeguard policies to mitigate the negative impacts of the projects on project affected populations.. In the 1990s, this realization and criticism of harmful effects of development projects resulted in the development of social safeguard policies to mitigate the negative impacts of the projects on project affected populations. These safeguards were initiated by international financing agencies for their funded projects and were endorsed by many governments around the world that later made them part of their respective laws. The objective of the social safeguards is to minimize the harmful effects of infrastructure projects and their operations and to improve the lives of the affected communities especially the vulnerable population such as women
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