Gender inclusion remains an important non-technological innovative measure enhancing export performance. Women in developing countries such as Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka have long been involved in the agriculture and textile sector. Credit: Obaidul Arif/IPS

By Quratulain Fatima
ISLAMABAD, Jan 15 2024 (IPS)

The World Economic Forum is hosting world leaders in Davos from January 15-19 2024. One of the key themes for the forum this year is “Creating Growth and Jobs for a New Era” with a focus on creating economic gender parity.

The World Economic Forum states that “The potential gains from closing economic gender gaps could unlock a “gender dividend” of $172 trillion for the global economy while closing the gender investment gap could add $3 trillion to assets under management in the US alone.”  World Trade Organization (WTO) estimates that eliminating gender discrimination would lead to a 40% increase in productivity.

The potential gains from closing economic gender gaps could unlock a “gender dividend” of $172 trillion for the global economy while closing the gender investment gap could add $3 trillion to assets under management in the US alone.”  The World Trade Organization estimates that eliminating gender discrimination would lead to a 40% increase in productivity

Trade has remained a significant contributor towards increasing the economic stature of countries. Historically the trade has been observed through the gender neutral lens by practitioners and researchers.

However, in recent times, trade and gender links have been explored and efforts have been made to strengthen by international organizations including the World Economic Forum, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development,  International Labor Organization (ILO), International Finance Corporation, and World Bank among others.

Trade openness has been shown to have a positive impact on employment, wages, and very importantly the overall export performance of the country. Several studies have shown that both technological and non-technological innovations improve a country’s export performance. Gender inclusion remains an important non-technological innovative measure enhancing export performance.

Women in developing countries such as Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka have long been involved in the agriculture and textile sector.

Recently women’s participation in the ICT and service industry has also gained momentum in developing countries. It is, however, important to note that South Asia remains second lowest at 63.4% out of eight regions at the gender parity index 2023. Although its position improved by 1.1 percent from the year 2022 attributed to rising scores in countries like Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh; there is much to be done.

Women entrepreneurs are a very small portion of the export profile for developing countries. In a country like the United States that remains Pakistan’s biggest trade partner in textiles and related goods share of women exporters from Pakistan is minimal.

Trade development authority in Pakistan and Trade promotion bodies in developing countries have focused on improving women entrepreneurs’ participation in international trade through training and resources.

However, women’s participation in the trade shows even in the traditionally established Textile and Apparel sector that provide major access to industry buyers in the USA remains negligible for countries like Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh; all of which are very well established and reputed in the USA market hence lowered entry barriers for women.

Less visibility of women entrepreneurs in the export sectors especially for developing countries tied to the fact that women and men have unequal access to education, productive resources, transport, networks, and other resources that impact economic activity.

This in turn affects women’s ability to capture trade-related opportunities. General trade barriers such as deficient infrastructure and tiresome regulatory and documentation requirements also impact women more than men.

Evidence also suggests that women entrepreneurs are concentrated in relatively less profitable sectors and even in profitable sectors they lag behind men-owned businesses.

Women-led businesses also lack resources to expand into international markets and when they do they have relatively smaller trade volumes and higher trade costs making businesses less able to sustain losses in the short term. This chain translates into limited mobility to trade and has been one of the reasons that woman-led businesses got impacted worse during post COVID-19 crisis.

Several steps can be taken at the domestic and international markets to help women entrepreneurs reach their maximum potential in exportable sectors in trade.

Gender provisions in the trade policy and trade agreements are one of the most important steps. The WTO Declaration on Trade and Women’s Economic 2017 endorsed by 127 countries is seen as important towards women’s economic participation in the economies and international trade.

Some regional and bilateral trade agreements like the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), and USMCA (United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement) are now actively adding gender language and provisions. Canada has been a pioneer in including gender chapters in its trade agreements, such as the one with the European Union (CETA) and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

These chapters typically address topics like equal access to economic opportunities, fair treatment in the workplace, and support for women entrepreneurs. These examples can be emulated widely in bilateral and multilateral trade agreements further translating into gender provisions in the trade policy at the local level.

Enhancing the role of women in export sectors where women’s presence is already established can be very helpful. In the case of Pakistan, Bangladesh, and India, women are involved in farming and livestock management.

Facilitations for easy access to training, credit, and improved participation opportunities in agricultural extension services can encourage women’s participation in international trade. Both financial institutions and the private sector should be engaged in this agenda. Private –Public partnerships to ensure investment in export-oriented sectors to strengthen women-led small and medium-sized businesses need prioritization.

Women who have access to technology are more likely to participate in international trade. Access to technology gives women the opportunity to sidestep issues of restriction of mobility and overcome cultural barriers while providing equal opportunities to connect with consumers and buyers of their businesses. Studies have shown that access to phones and the Internet has improved incomes and economic opportunities for women in Pakistan, India, Bolivia, Egypt, and Kenya among others.

Country trade missions at embassies and consulates abroad must ensure that women are included in awareness webinars/ seminars conducted by trade offices of their countries abroad. These trade offices are also central facilitation centers for connecting exporters with buyers and managing Trade show participation. Increasing participation in trade shows, trade delegations and awareness of the importing country regulations/requirements will enhance women exporters’ opportunities to find business abroad.

The world needs to pay more attention to women’s inclusion in trade. Trade has been shown not only to reduce the economy but also the gender gap. The world needs equitable and inclusive prosperity through gender-inclusive steps on the economic and social front alike.

Flight Lieutenant Quratulain Fatima is a policy practitioner currently working as a Trade Diplomat for Pakistan on the West Coast USA. She has extensively worked in rural and conflict-ridden areas of Pakistan with a focus on gender-inclusive development and conflict prevention. She is a 2018 Aspen New Voices Fellow. Follow her on Twitter, @moodee_q.

Credit: UN Women

By Quratulain Fatima
ISLAMABAD, Aug 13 2021 (IPS)

The past weeks have been quite traumatic for the women of Pakistan. Recently, a young woman named Noor Mukadam was murdered and beheaded by her alleged partner in Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital city. A few weeks ago, the prime minister’s statement on rape erroneously construed the crime as being the fault of the victim.

The domestic violence bill aimed at protecting women was sent to an all-male religious council for review. Additionally, a horrific video surfaced on social media where a group of so-called moral policing men harassing and assaulting a young woman.

The real problem which apparently was missed by such views is the widespread culture of impunity, low conviction rates for sexual crimes, women’s fear of reporting the crime and obscuration of social attitudes. Across the world, sexual violence is very difficult for women to address

These alarming incidents contribute to why Pakistan stands 153 out of 156 countries in the 2021 Global Gender Gap Report. Pakistan is among those countries where 70% of women and girls experience physical or sexual violence in their lifetime by their intimate partners and 93% of women experience some form of sexual violence in public places in their lifetime.

Every other woman in Pakistan experience sexual violence at least once in her lifetime. Some like Noor Mukadam have lost their lives in the process.

Sexual harassment and sexual assaults are one of the biggest issues in Pakistan. This epidemic is spread from the streets and markets, all the way to the workplace — and in some cases even the home. Pakistan’s government had in 2020 passed a praiseworthy anti-rape legislation that mandates legal proceedings in such cases to be completed within 04 months. However, without implementation, it will serve no purpose.

Sadly, Pakistan’s culture often makes a woman’s chastity a matter of the whole society’s honour. As a direct consequence of this warped worldview, most Pakistani women are still reluctant to report domestic violence, sexual assault or harassment cases.

A cultural shift is slow and at times it seems to be reversing in with the rise of extremist and ultra-religious thought strains in the society. Pakistan’s official statistics show that at least 11 cases of rape are reported in country every day. However, conviction rate for rape remains at markedly low 0.3%.

All too often in our country, moral policing societies link sexual assault with clothing or a woman’s behavior. We must stop blaming women for sexual violence and start reforming the men who commit such violence.

I know firsthand how nonsensical it is to blame women’s clothes for men’s behavior. Once a man  groped me in public while I was waiting for my parent’s arrival from the Hajj pilgrim at the airport. I was wearing head covering over a fully covered dress and I felt traumatized and humiliated by his actions.

So, when I hear the premium of Pakistan — or for that matter any men around me — speaking on rape and sexual assault as being somehow linked to wearing inappropriate clothing, I know from my core that this is wrong. It doesn’t matter what we wear, it still occurs.

Victim blaming is not new, of course. People often blame sexual assaults on women’s clothing or behavior and even their education, irrespective of cultures, countries or places. Since the beginning of time, women have been portrayed as the temptress, the ones who lured man out of the comforts of heaven.

Many people claim that sexual assault happens to women who make bad choices, who step out in the dangerous world without precautions. But this is a myth which has been debunked many times through various evidence based studies. Yet time and again, we hear statements blaming women’s dresses for the violence they suffer.

The real problem which apparently was missed by such views is the widespread culture of impunity, low conviction rates for sexual crimes, women’s fear of reporting the crime and obscuration of social attitudes. Across the world, sexual violence is very difficult for women to address.

Victims are often blamed for “provoking” the sexual abuse with their behavior or dress. Reporting sexual harassment and assault can mean that the victim is labelled as a person of “loose morals” or as “a liar”.

When these myths are endorsed from a position of power, like in the case of Pakistan’s premier, it kicks you in the gut unlike other victim blaming one might hear. A leader sets the tone for the country and him perpetuating victim-blaming myths is extremely harmful.

Most government and non-government campaigns for the safety of women revolve around how women should protect themselves. There is a fundamental flaw in this approach. We need to rethink and re assess it and focus on how to stop the harassing behavior irrespective of how women dress or act.

Rather than women, it is men who need to be educated to be non-violent. Good men need to not let criminal men hide behind their silence. Educational campaigns and societal views need a profound shift. At schools and at homes, young boys and men need to be educated to know the importance of consent, non-violence and of treating women as equal human beings.

There should also be a sex offender registry for countries like Pakistan and efforts to shame and name the perpetrators and not the victims. States need to take clear stance against rape and sexual harassment rather than having vague notions of honor we need solid policies and implementation to stop the violence. Only then women can be protected and feel safe as equal citizens.

Quratulain Fatima is Cofounder Women4PeaceTech and a policy practitioner working extensively in rural and conflict-ridden areas of Pakistan with a focus on gender inclusive development and conflict prevention. She is a 2018 Aspen New Voices Fellow.

Women form the largest labour population, yet prior to the passing of the ‘Sindh Women Agricultural Workers Bill’, customary laws in Pakistan did not recognise women as legal inheritors. Copyright: Asian Development Bank, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. This image has been cropped.

By Quratulain Fatima
ISLAMABAD, Feb 13 2020 (IPS)

When Pakistan’s eastern Sindh province passed the ‘Sindh Women Agricultural Workers Bill’ on 20 December, giving women in agriculture, livestock, fisheries and other agro-based work the same rights and benefits enjoyed by workers in the industrial sector, it was a revolutionary step for the whole of South Asia. 

The new legislation is limited to Sindh province but speaks volumes about the state of women’s rights in Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan, countries where  agriculture is  the biggest sector and women form the largest labour population.

As a land revenue officer and administrator in Pakistan for the past nine years, I have come across women who have worked their whole lives on lands they are prevented from owning by male relatives.

Although they make up more than half the agricultural labour force in developing nations, women own only 10 to 20 per cent of the land

Although Pakistan’s land and inheritance laws make it mandatory to divide land fairly among heirs on the death of the owner, more often than not women avoid staking claims for fear of being ostracised by their male relatives.

In Pakistan, as late as the 1960s, land records were maintained according to customary laws as introduced by the British Raj in pre-partition India. The said customary laws did not recognise women as legal inheritors and the family trees required for keeping land records omitted women’s names to deny them legal existence.

In 1960, the enforcement of Islamic laws of inheritance saw inclusion of women in land ownership. But in practice, this right to property was twisted either by force or by manipulating it to ‘gift’ their share to male relatives. Few women with rustic backgrounds dare stand up against this injustice — but that is a larger struggle against extreme patriarchy.

The state of women’s land and agriculture rights in Pakistan is a microcosm of the historical barriers that prevent them from owning land or farming around the world. For example, until 1850, married American women had no legal right to own land, and in Brazil, women’s right to own land became official only in 1988.

In 2010, the Nicaraguan government finally adopted legal measures to improve rural women’s access to credit in order to facilitate their path toward land ownership. There is very little sex-disaggregated data on land ownership in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, but most studies suggest that women own far less land than men.

The World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2020 said that only a handful of countries are approaching economic equality, and estimated that it will take another 257 years for the world to achieve economic gender equality. While 78 per cent of men are in the labour market, only half of all adult women are employed.

To achieve gender parity, the rights of women employed in the agriculture sector are urgent and important. Although they make up more than half the agricultural labour force in developing nations, women own only 10 to 20 per cent of the land. That restricts a woman’s chances of making farming contracts that provide higher incomes and better returns on labour.

Gender norms in developing countries also prevent women from bringing their crops to market, and when they do, they usually face hostile environments in male-
dominated farm markets.

Governments can intervene on behalf of women farmers. They can reposition gender equality and protection as central to all development initiatives. The first step, as taken by Pakistan, can be to end discrimination against women farmers under the law, followed by rights to buy and sell land, demand equal wages for agricultural labour, take legal steps for income generation, and access credit, technology and technical assistance.

Enacting the laws is not enough, implementing them through good governance is as important.

Gender-focused policies towards women farmers and donor initiatives like ‘Feed the Future,’ aimed at empowering women farmers, can be helpful in private and public sector alike. Access to gender-specific trainings, agri-extension services, mobile technology for market information and laboursaving technology for enhanced productivity are other empowering measures.

Women in agriculture must be facilitated to avail of finance and loans, infrastructure and markets so that they can switch from wage-based labour to sustainable ownership farming. Women-only farm markets and women focused subsidies on crops and equipment may generate better results than generic policies.

FAO estimates that given equal access to agricultural resources, women’s farming yields can increase. By giving women the same access as men to agricultural resources such as credit, technology and equipment, increase in productivity on their farms in developing countries can rise by 20—30 percent which, in turn, can help feed an additional 100—150 million people in the world.

FAO asserts that earning extra income would enable women to spend more money on health care, nutrition and education for their children — investments that could produce long-term, positive results for farm families and their neighbours.

Sindh province seems serious in implementing the new law. However, Pakistan is a country where land reforms have been thwarted by big landlords who tend to be influential politicians.

Implementation can begin with documentation of all women labourers working in agri-sector. Defining punishments and fines for persons who indulge in discriminatory practices against women workers are another step. Above all, the law needs to be followed by policies and practices in a consistent manner.

Gender equality may still be a hundred years away but giving women agricultural rights will not only help close the gender gap but also boost the economy and reduce poverty.

Quratulain Fatima, is a co-founder of Women4PeaceTech and a policy practitioner working extensively in rural and conflict-ridden areas of Pakistan with a focus on gender-inclusive development and conflict prevention. She is a 2018 Aspen New Voices Fellow.

This story was originally published by SciDev.Net

Tanzanian ICT entrepreneur, Rose Funja, shows off one of the drones she uses as a key tool in her data mapping business. Credit: Busani Bafana/IPS

By Quratulain Fatima
ISLABAMAD, Dec 20 2019 (IPS)

It will take around 100 years for the world to reach gander parity according to the Global Gender Gap Report 2020 just published by World Economic Forum.

Evidence indicates that climate change and inequality are directly related. This link manifests itself in increased poverty and food insecurity through rising number of droughts and water related problems.

Water and ICT’s seemed like world apart from in 2017 when  I discovered first hand how technology can be used to facilitate water disputes in Pakistan. The community I work with had long standing water disputes.

Facilitators for dispute resolution at most times had no data on what worked and did not work in resolving conflicts in the area. Tech helped us to bring women and men to the table and learn from their stories to act as better dispute resolution facilitators.

That intervention led to the establishment of Women4PeaceTech, a platform that aims to decrease gender in equality and empower women through technology based trainings for economic empowerment while contributing towards sustainable peace.

While I was researching models for a women and tech platform , I came across very few such organizations or platforms available to women – especially in developing countries. This situation reflects the existing absence of women in the tech field.

When men and women have the same level of digital fluency — defined as the extent to which they embrace and use digital technologies to become more knowledgeable, connected, and effective — women are better at using those digital skills to gain more education and to find work

According to the ITU, the United Nations specialized agency for information and communication technologies (ICTs), ICT Facts and Figures 2017 , the proportion of women using the Internet is 12% lower than the proportion of men using the Internet worldwide. In least developed countries this drops to only 5% women compared to 7% of men.

Statistics show that the number of tech based jobs has increased but the number of women in tech has decreased since 1980. All over the world the number of women in tech is low, so much so women ratio is only one in five of global startup founders. Women lag behind in jobs in almost all ICT industries all over the world.

In developing countries like Pakistan where gender inequality is already pronounced, women in tech remain a very small percentage. Although the Pakistan government has put in place programs like ICT for Girls and women entrepreneurs their reach and access is still very limited to urban areas only.

Yet the potential impact of women in tech is great: Evidence from the International Peace Institute suggests that economically empowered women lead to more peaceful societies. In developing countries, where women mobility is somewhat restricted due to gender inequality issues, working in tech and online platforms can provide women a source of income from the safety of their homes.

Research conducted in 31 countries by Accenture found that when men and women have the same level of digital fluency — defined as the extent to which they embrace and use digital technologies to become more knowledgeable, connected, and effective — women are better at using those digital skills to gain more education and to find work. Findings also suggest that digital fluency help women find and stay in their jobs, it also improves their chances to excel at education.

When women get the opportunities to change their perspectives and access to avenues through ICTs, their economic empowerment impact a whole set of factors even in informal settings. For example, in Rwanda, some 3,500 women farmers are now connected through mobile technology to information, markets and finance.

In India women are creating businesses with impact from their homes using digital platforms. Movements against harassment and violence have started from the internet and have empowered women to speak their truth impacting societal change.

However, to improve gender equality in tech and entrepreneurship, we need to plan and design for it. Men still continue to use digital technologies more frequently than women and are more proactive in learning new digital skills.

This can be partly attributed to how our education systems are designed that discourage women from STEM as well as to access to opportunities to learn digital skills for women. Women must be encouraged to improve their digital skill set. Training and online courses can be a very good avenue for learning new digital skills.

Programmes that are designed to attract startups must specifically target women inclusion in them. Tech initiatives should aim at creating more and more spaces for women where they can develop digital skills especially for economic empowerment, identify their own potential to lead and learn about available opportunities.

Especially in developing countries, governments should take lead in creating digital training platforms for women that not only reach urban women but also empower rural women. This should be complemented by gender inclusive ICT policies at the government level that ensure women and girls affordable access to digital technologies.

Women startups should be encouraged and financed for success on priority.  Women mentors in digital world must be made visible and accessible to women learning digital skills.

Local initiatives can play a very important role in digital training of women. Local campaigns to create awareness and interest of available digital literacy opportunities can go a long way in empowering women.

Despite its promise of vast opportunities , the tech world remains a male arena. If we want to create a peaceful and equal world for all then we need to open the arena to all.

Flight Lieutenant Quratulain Fatima is Cofounder Women4PeaceTech and a policy practitioner working extensively in rural and conflict-ridden areas of Pakistan with a focus on gender inclusive development and conflict prevention. She is a 2018 Aspen New Voices Fellow.

Follow her on Twitter, @moodee_q.

Protesters gather at a candlelight vigil in New Delhi. Credit: Sujoy Dhar/IPS

By Elsa D'Silva and Quratulain Fatima
Oct 15 2018 (IPS)

India recently launched a sex offender registry to deter sex offenders from perpetrating crimes against women and children by indicating that the government is keeping track of them. The personal details of 440,000 sex offenders who have been convicted for various crimes like “eve-teasing”, child sexual abuse, rape and gang rape will be registered in this database and accessible to law enforcement.

The creation of the registry is hailed by many as a welcome move in India, where violence against women and girls is pandemic. Recently, the Thomson Reuters Survey stated that India is the most dangerous country in the world with regards to sexual violence. From the start of this year, there has been a series of gang rapes of little girls ranging from babies to teenagers in all parts of the country –  North, South, West, NorthEast and Central India

Neighbouring country Pakistan does not have a sex offender registry but is equally bad when it comes to violence against women and sex offences. According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), in Pakistan an incident of rape occurs every two hours and 70 percent of women and girls experience physical or sexual violence in their lifetime by their intimate partners and 93 percent women experience some form of sexual violence in public places in their lifetime.

Measures to prevent sex offenses are needed in both countries and each country can learn from each other’s successful prevention programs. However, only workable solutions should be replicated, and a sex offender registry is not one.

Evidence suggests that sex offender registries have failed to reduce sex crimes and have made rehabilitation of offenders difficult. In fact, registries might work for other forms of crime but not for the sexually deviant

Sex offender registries exist in many countries including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United States, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, the United Kingdom, Israel and the Republic of Ireland. Sexual violence is a problem in each of those countries, too, but studies have shown that sex offender registries have little or no effect on crime prevention or recidivism. Furthermore, evidence from these countries suggests that sex offender registries have failed to reduce sex crimes and have made rehabilitation of offenders difficult. In fact, registries might work for other forms of crime but not for the sexually deviant.

Further, we think making the details public, which is how it works in the United States and is what some people in India want, is dangerous as it would further increase the risk for women and girls rather than protect them. Though the government has assured that the registry would have multiple layers of security, there are doubts that the names and identities of the victims would be revealed. The Indian authorities are planning to link the details of the perpetrators to the Aadhar database which has biometric information of the person. Reports have indicated that the Aadhar database is itself not secure and for as little as $8 one can access personal information of people.

Moreover, Googling and knowing that a sex offender lives next door does not ensure that you can google your way to safety since safety from sex offences entail more than sex offender registration laws and a registry. Research shows that most sex offenders are relatives or people known to their victims but systems that put in place sex offender registry assume that sex offenders are strangers.

Many sex offenders are not even reported – particularly in South Asia due to the cultural stigma, faulty police procedures and lengthy court cases – and they aren’t included on any registration/notification system.

Instead of implementing a sex offender registry and seeing that as a solution, more efforts should focus on addressing the underlying issues, like patriarchy and improving the effectiveness of the justice system. Specifically, we recommend the governments of India and Pakistan concentrate on the following measures:

• Sex education in school curriculum to educate people about sex offences and teach them ways to have responsible, healthy and consensual relationships.
• Advocacy efforts to break down social taboos around this topic and make it easier to discuss and have a dialogue in the family and community about sex offences.
• Allocation of public resources toward the rehabilitation of sex offenders with a high risk of repeating their crimes. Research suggests that psychological treatment and cognitive behavioural treatment can reduce recidivism amongst sex offenders.
• Including women in all policy formulation, including the passage of any relevant laws. They are the stakeholders most at risk of sexual violence and they are in a better position to provide guidelines for policies aiming to stop sex offences.
• Training police officers to be sensitive to the needs of victim and knowledgeable about the relevant laws so they can be a resource to individuals who want to report crimes. For example, Sweden has a high reporting of sexual violence because the creation of a strong eco-system, a feminist mindset and sensitive police have made it easier to break the silence.
• Ensuring quick and swift punishment for convicted sex offenses. Long court cases in the face of lingering social stigma puts many victims off reporting sex offences. Policy makers must take a hands-on approach to swiftly dispense justice in sex offences.

Elsa D’Silva is the Founder and CEO of Red Dot Foundation (Safecity) and works on women’s rights issues in India. She is a 2018 Yale World Fellow and a 2015 Aspen New Voices Fellow. Follow  her on Twitter, @elsamariedsilva. 

Quratulain Fatima is a policy practitioner working extensively in rural and conflict-ridden areas of Pakistan with a focus on gender inclusive development and conflict prevention. She is a 2018 Aspen New Voices Fellow. Follow her on Twitter, @moodee_q.

Baloch fighters at a location in Pakistan. Credit: Karlos Zurutuza/IPS.

By Quratulain Fatima
ISLAMABAD, Jul 20 2018 (IPS)

Last week, 200 people were injured and 131 died in a suicide bombing in Mastung, Baluchistan. This attack was second most deadly since the 2014 Army Public School Attack in Peshawar, KhyberPukhtunkwah, which killed 144 people. This recent attack was one of three in 72 hours related to the country’s upcoming elections on July 25.Terrorist attacks are not new in my country. Pakistan has lost over 50,000 civilians in terror-related deaths since 2003.

For me, the latest deadly suicide bombing triggered traumatic memories and an acute reminder that Pakistan, and the world, need preemptive and inclusive conflict prevention if we are to stem the tide of growing violence.

Nine years ago, I participated in Pakistan‘s war on terrorism against the Taliban as a Pakistan Air Force officer stationed at Pakistan’s conflict torn province of Khyber Pukhtunkhwah. On 16 October, 2009, while going home to celebrate my birthday with my only daughter, I was stopped by the police who told me that a suicide bomber had  exploded near the residential complex where my house was situated. My then three-year-old daughter was in the house at the time. I was asked to go on foot to my house.

What is important for conflict prevention is knowing that a cause of terrorism is a sense of relative deprivation. Social scientists have long acknowledged that people evaluate their own wellbeing not only based on what they have but also based on what they have relative to what other people have.

The 13-minute walk to my house was the hardest of my life. My only thoughts were why this was not prevented and how much personal cost I would bear for this war. I could smell burnt flesh, saw bloody bodies and felt broken glass under my feet. I saw the young happy cobbler’s charred and shrapnel ridden dead body in front of me. He had come to the city so that he could earn a living and let his daughters study.

My own daughter survived the bombing, but she was traumatized for a very long time. That one day changed my perception of peace and conflict forever. Despite being in internal conflict for a very long time, Pakistan has not learned the art of preemptive conflict prevention.

Conflict prevention is defined as not only controlling the damage caused by conflict but also targeting the underlying causes of conflicts to avoid recurrence.  Development remains a potent tool for conflict prevention.

Conflict prevention efforts can save both lives and money. The cost savings could be up to US$70 billion per year globally given that two billion people live in countries where economic stability and opportunity are affected by fragility, conflict, and violence and conflicts derive 80% of all the humanitarian needs.

Of course, the horrors of terrorism cannot be captured by using statistics alone. Terrorism destroys way of life, inculcates lingering fear and leaves survivors traumatized for life, as my daughter and I can attest.

What is important for conflict prevention is knowing that a cause of terrorism is a sense of relative deprivation. Social scientists have long acknowledged that people evaluate their own wellbeing not only based on what they have but also based on what they have relative to what other people have. Discontent and inequality in access to resources remain an important cause of conflict. Development strategies target exactly that.

In the case of Pakistan, the military has a very heavy involvement in the foreign policy and counter terrorism strategies. This may halt conflict and give a sense of peace, but it’s a fragile peace imposed on people instead of coming from them. This remains a handicap for Pakistan that has not been able to foster positive and sustainable peace through development as a conflict prevention strategy.

In Pakistan, most of the terrorist attacks happen in two of its provinces: Khyber Pukhtunkhwah and Baluchistan where there is a long history of unresolved grievances against the Federation and its biggest province Punjab. These areas are navigating a very complex conflict nexus that includes the Taliban, Daesh and internal separatists, but it is also a source of conflict that these provinces overwhelmingly see themselves as deprived in comparison the affluent province of Punjab.

As much as intelligence and military efforts help to curb terror attacks, targeting underlying causes of conflicts requires the inclusion of a broader group of stakeholders, such as the government, community leaders, military, civilians and media.

Today, militaries in many conflict ridden countries — including Pakistan —drive the process of conflict resolution. This needs to change. Peacebuilding needs the inclusion of all other stakeholders to make the process of conflict resolution—as well as prevention—feasible. All other parts of society need to step up and demand their voices be heard.

Until now, the world and Pakistan have been failing at conflict prevention because we’ve relied on military forces alone. We have paid a high cost through instability and recurrent loss of lives. At the same time, civil society has been driving for democracy through events like the Arab Spring. Today we need the same kind of movement to make conflict prevention a priority for the world. Indeed, a “Prevention Spring”—a time when civil society focuses on building more equitable societies rather than preventing conflict—may well be the solution to making the world peaceful.

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