n late 2008 there were an estimated 24 million Internally Displaced Persons spread across fifty countries around the world. Within the span of just two months in 2009, an additional 3 million persons were internally displaced from the Swat and Buner districts in Pakistan: a collateral damage of the global war on terror. Displaced from their homes and means of livelihoods, these men, women, and children are suddenly basically without protection: Pakistan’s formal social protection system is rated among the worst in Asia. Pakistan’s economy is in serious crisis with opportunity, security, and governance diminishing at alarming rates.
This seminar is expected to contribute to independent informed debate about current poverty, food insecurity, risk, and vulnerability issues facing Pakistan, with a focus on what can be done to address them.
Sohail Jehangir Malik, Chairman of Innovative Development Strategies in Pakistan and former research fellow at IFPRI, will focus on “The IDPs of Buner and Swat”. Nadeem Ul Haque, former vice chancellor of the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, will provide perspectives on “The Crisis of Governance in Pakistan.” John Mellor, former chief economist at USAID and former director general of IFPRI, will present on “Food Insecurity, Vulnerability, and Risk: What Can Pakistan Do?” Joachim von Braun is Director General of IFPRI