Workshop on livelihood, security and development in post conflict Swat, NWFP, Pakistan

This paper highlights the discussions and findings of a workshop held in Norway which aimed to better understand the situation that led to the conflict in Malakand Division, Pakistan. In particular, the workshop looked at the ways in which conflict affected people’s livelihood, security, and the major post-conflict development challenges faced by the people, the government and nongovernmental organisations (NGOs).

The paper demonstrates the following findings: 

• the conflict in Malakand started with preaching on illegal FM radio stations which directly targeted specific people
• the fundamentalists created fear amongst the community by targeting and killing leaders and their families
• two military operations failed because the people were not full-heartedly on the military and government’s side
• tourism and agriculture were badly affected in the region
• some fundamentalists took the community into confidence by doing good-deeds, but slowly started targeting village elders, NGOs, dealers, music and movie shops, barber shops and police
• 99% of the people seemed to sympathise with the Taliban, but it was mostly out of fear not agreement
  
• the CBOs were affected badly by the devolution process and also by the militants
• women and children were amongst the most affected 
• current major security problems include that the army has not developed a good relationship with the public, and that there exists a large gap between civilians and the police
• another current problem is that people do not really trust NGOs and doubt their credibility, as they are perceived to have Western agendas
• the government has to prioritise the areas or sectors that need to be worked on the most
• there is a need for different humanitarian actors to come forward and analyse the situation, as the government is still not able to measure and quantify the damages
• residents' needs should be differentiated from the needs of those who left the area of conflict.