Gender Focused Economic Reforms (GFER)
Project Period: September 2019 – ongoing
As part of the Center for Research and Security Studies’ (CRSS) ongoing advocacy for economic reforms, the Center has undertaken an unprecedented initiative to foster women economic empowerment through a dialogue on gender inclusive economic reforms. The endeavor aims to underscore the importance of women economic empowerment and participation, harmonization of policies and interdepartmental synergies, revision of Small and Medium Enterprises’ (SME) definition and gender inclusive Strategic Trade Policy Framework (STPF) to close the gender gap for the future of Pakistan’s economic stability. It is envisaged to bring on radar the issues related to gender focused economic reforms in the upper and lower houses, for consideration and incorporation for and in Pakistan’s economic reforms agenda.
Ulasi Taroon
Project Partner: United States Public Affairs Section (USPAS)
Project Period: 2018 – ongoing
Ulasi Taroon is a counter radicalization initiative of CRSS that aims to address the radicalization challenges, extremist ideologies and foster social cohesion through a discourse anchored in the core constitutional values which are fundamentally essential prerequisites for social peace and harmony. The endeavor aims to cultivate and sensitize the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the core values of the Pakistani constitution and our social contract. It is an attempt to highlight the criticality of abiding by these ideals – such as adherence to rule of law, primacy and sanctity of constitution, equal citizenry, responsible citizenship, respect for fundamental human rights, tolerance for diversity and different opinions, inclusive democracy and good governance – as a measure of fostering social cohesion and peaceful co-existence.
Beyond Boundaries – Phase III
Project Partner: British High Commission
Project Period: October 2017 to March 2021
CRSS, in partnership with its Afghan partner Organization for Economic Studies and Peace (OESP), has started the third phase of the track 1.5/II project Beyond Boundaries from October 2017, which will run through March, 2021. CRSS and OESP will oversee the development of activities between Pakistan and Afghanistan, building on the successes and lessons learnt from CRSS’s major Pakistan-Afghanistan track 1.5/II – Beyond Boundaries I & II – with the objective to improve and sustain political relationship between Afghanistan and Pakistan. The project spanned over two phases from October 2015 to March 2017. It involved enhanced dialogue of the committed group of Pak-Afghan influencers including parliamentarians, security experts, retired civil and military bureaucrats, civil society and media leaders – on key bilateral issues – for policy recommendations and engagement with the governments of Afghanistan and Pakistan, key stakeholders and public diplomacy to contribute to changes of government policy and public perceptions that improve the relationship.
CRSS, alongside OESP, will lead on coordinating meetings and conferences between key political influencers in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The project will continue to have the established mechanism of Pakistan-Afghanistan Joint Committee (PAJC) made up of a pool of security experts, parliamentarians, civil society and business/media representatives from both Pakistan and Afghanistan, who have the ability to engage with and influence Government stakeholders. Over the period of this project, meetings and workshops will be held with the PAJC in federal capitals and major cities in Pakistan and Afghanistan to discuss contentious issues and themes including political security, bilateral and regional economic cooperation, refugees, education, natural resource management, trade, sports and the arts. The PAJC meetings will be convened quarterly throughout the project, starting with the first meeting held in Kabul from 14-17 December, 2017.
The phase III of the project will deliver a quantifiable increase through PAJC dialogues/meetings, high level sideline meetings with both governments, strategic communication strategy of media dissemination through TV shows, press coverage and op-eds, and university visits in major cities of both countries, for engagement with youth and academia. The primary objective of the project remains “improvement in Pakistan-Afghanistan bilateral relations”. Through the multi-pronged approach of the Beyond Boundaries phase III activities it is aimed to lobby and act as a pressure group of influencers by sharing the policy recommendations/proposals with leaders of both governments for impressing upon the increase in amount of official bilateral government meetings leading to progress in mutually agreed contentious areas of disagreement between Afghanistan and Pakistan, by adopting an overall approach which seeks to support existing Track I & II dialogue while widening the actor groups involved in bilateral debates on those issues.
From the success of university visits during the phase II of Beyond Boundaries, where selected members from both PAJC groups delivered lectures on Pak-Afghan bilateral relations in both countries with a view to help detox the respective narratives in a complex socio-political environment. This was aimed to expand and reach out to youth and academia. Besides the lectures, CRSS and its Afghan partners also carried out perception surveys at universities gauging their understanding and perceptions of the complexities of the bilateral relationship. The encouragement received with the results of the surveys showed an overall improvement, between 20 to 24 percent, of the youth before and after the university lectures. The lectures were carried out in ten leading universities at Kabul, Mazar-e-Sharif, Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi.
As stated above, during the current phase, university visits remain a core component of project activities. From the successful interaction with youth at universities, CRSS started a new initiative, namely, the Afghan Studies Center (ASC). This is a major initiative – as an offshoot of Beyond Boundaries – to engage with the youth of the two countries and to bridge the gap between them by providing a platform to dispassionately discuss, debate and inculcate out of box ideas and recommendations by disconnecting themselves from the respective government positions.
Two major activities under the ASC are the Pak-Afghan Youth Dialogues and Pak-Afghan Youth Training Workshops held every month. From October 2017 to March 2020, 23 Pak-Afghan Youth Dialogues and 13 Pak-Afghan Youth Training Workshops have been held. Since March 2019, the Pak-Afghan Youth Dialogues have been held on a quarterly basis while Pak-Afghan Youth Training workshops, held on a quarterly basis since March 2018, have been merged since March 2020 into the Youth Dialogues and Summits. These activities have been aimed at developing wider peace constituency and enhancing people-to-people contacts at youth levels (both male & female) who can become the future leaders and ambassadors of peace.
Pakistan Center for Excellence (PACE)
Project Partner: Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
Project Period: August 2015 – ongoing
Pakistan Center of Excellence (PACE) is a major CVE initiative by CRSS designed to trigger critical thinking through a discourse anchored in fundamental global values such as socio-political diversity, acceptance of diversity, rule of law and equal citizenry, as well as the rights afforded within Pakistan’s Constitution (articles 8-28). This landmark project is running with the support of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
The goal of PACE is to create a critical mass of young leaders equipped with critical/analytical skills to critically analyze issues, look at others as equal citizens, correct misperceptions about non-Muslims, and ask questions about their perceived reality. PACE promotes a socio-political discourse – the alternate narrative on democratic rights and responsibilities anchored in the globally accepted and practiced concepts such as rule of law, equal citizenry, secular governance as a primary condition for social cohesion and tolerance for, and acceptance of cultural diversity.
The initiative attempts to reconnect people with the constitution of Pakistan and the fundamental human rights afforded therein (article 8-28). Over 4+ years, hundreds of teachers, and thousands of students have been trained and engaged across a wide variety of PACE interventions.
The cadre of future leaders are sensitized in critical concepts such as:
- Leadership and motivation
- Equal citizenry and respect for rule of law
- Fundamentals of democracy, governance and accountability
- Respect for diversity, opinions and rights
- Rights of minorities and other marginalized groups
- Constitutionalism, and adherence to Pakistan’s Constitution, particularly articles 8-28
- The importance of asking critical questions in the pursuit of knowledge
The NAP Tracker
Project Period: 2015- ongoing
The Center for Research and Security Studies launched The NAP Tracker in 2015, which audits the government on all 20 points of the National Action Plan (NAP). It is an attempt to empirically deconstruct progress on the NAP, and to try and determine if it is sufficient, wide-ranging and most importantly, effective. The report also calls upon a range of experts, columnists and researchers to weigh in on the various themes related to the NAP. The reports are divided into nine separate themes, derived from the 20 points of the NAP.
The NAP Tracker is the only publication of its kind that tracks the Pakistani state’s progress on all 20 points of the National Action Plan.
Annual Security Report (AST)
Project Partner: Embassy of Switzerland, Pakistan (Initial Two Years 2012-13)
Project Period: March 2012 – ongoing
The Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) launched Annual Security Report (AST) in March 2012 to map the conflict ridden territories, perpetrators of crime and violence, and types of violence committed both qualitatively and quantitatively throughout Pakistan, on a monthly basis. The data accompanied with a detailed report pinpoints reasons for the violence such as suicide bombings, cases of blasphemy, sectarian and ethnic killings, desecration of places of worship, target killings etc., which are important to understand the nature and emerging conflict trends across Pakistan. The report is compiled with the help of field reports by CRSS radio reporters/researchers, and 10 major newspapers. CRSS believes that this report is important for Pakistani and foreign policy-makers, diplomats and researchers, a resource that chronicles conflict-related developments across Pakistan, and is helpful in monitoring trends of violence and conflict. In 2011, CRSS also undertook monitoring of violence in Balochistan, titled “Balochistan Security Monitor”. The AST reports are shared on the website and with the media. There is also a good demand of the report from international and national researchers. The AST report was published on the CRSS website on a monthly basis from March 2012 to December 2014, but the format has been changed to a quarterly basis from January 2015.
Media Advocacy via Airwaves
Project Partner: Radio Pakistan and local media
Project Period: 2009 – ongoing
CRSS takes pride in being one of the few civil society organizations that took up radio as a means for community-focused strategic communication on issues such as militancy, counter-radicalization, promoting democratic values, harmony, and tolerance all over Pakistan, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.
Since its inception, this project was designed to urgently address the humanitarian issues, and help disseminate much needed information to inform the millions displaced by conflicts in Swat and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) in November 2009. This advocacy campaign has won appreciation of all the stakeholders including citizens, law enforcement agencies, media, and others. The initiative contributed to an informed and focused debate on religion, Pashtoon ethnicity, the Pashtoonwali code, and tried to build a narrative rooted with more globally acknowledged democratic practices and constitutionalism, than in traditional social structures which at times are in conflict with the imperative of an inclusive, democratic and tolerant society.
The endeavor is to counter the skewed extremist narrative propagated by radical militants and, to promote moderate views based on ideals of peace, tolerance, and co-existence in the conflict-hit northwestern regions of Pakistan, through its Pashto language radio programs. The programs address issues like social, religiously-colored conservatism, and irrational dogmas about the weaker segments of the society including religious minorities. These shows highlight the sanctity of the Federal Constitution as a reference for social harmony and all-inclusive equal citizenry. CRSS has completed several projects explicitly aiming at advocacy and raising awareness on fundamental democratic rights and the need for secular political governance. CRSS has aired approximately 3,000 radio programs under media advocacy through airwaves.
To view CRSS radio programs visit: