PROJECT
Support for Leadership and Capacity Building in Pakistan

Since 1999, the Population Council's office in Pakistan, with funding from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, has been implementing a project to improve the capacity of the population community through varied activities, including: 

Enhancing leadership capabilities
The Council established a process for identifying and enhancing the leadership potential of young and mid-level population professionals. This is achieved by expanding their technical knowledge in population-related and reproductive health issues and facilitating their participation in population and reproductive health activities.  

Preparing a cadre of trained professionals
While there has been a substantial increase in population and reproductive health activities in Pakistan during the past decade, these activities rest on a small base of trained professionals. The Council has made major inroads into this challenge at three levels: (1) improving the teaching of population studies within universities; (2) providing high-quality, short-term training for professionals on key population and reproductive health topics; and (3) establishing high-quality master's diploma courses in population studies at major universities of Pakistan.

Strengthening population institutions
Keeping in view the limitations of institutions, the Council has adopted a strategy of evaluating and supporting population institutions in order to strengthen their capabilities to address the population and reproductive health issues confronting Pakistan. The Council’s largest success is in establishing the vibrant and strong Population Association of Pakistan with a membership of over 500 individuals. The Council has also been successful in initiating a master's program in population studies in three major universities of Pakistan. It has supported some nongovernmental organizations and other academic institutions in building their capacity for working in the population and reproductive health sector.

Information sharing
To increase the dissemination of information to population professionals in Pakistan, the Council has been carrying out the following activities:

• conferences, seminars, and occasional lectures;

• online Population Libraries Network of Pakistan (offsite link);

• Urdu translation series entitled Aapke Liye [For you];

• database for information resource center;

• dissemination of selected publications, both international and local; and

• quarterly newsletter entitled Population Windows.

Evidence-based decisionmaking
The Council has been centrally concerned with the dissemination of information to inform policies and policymakers. The Council enhances the ability of managers at all levels to evaluate and use information effectively by: 

• participating in various consultative groups and policymaking efforts;

• conducting short training courses in evidence-based decisionmaking;

• establishing working groups on reproductive health research and gender and population (offsite link); and

• helping young researchers develop abstracts and prepare papers and presentations.

Location

Nationwide

Duration

May 1999–December 2005

Population Council researchers

Zeba A. Sathar, Peter C. Miller, Ali Mohammad Mir
Seemin Ashfaq

Donors

The David and Lucile Packard Foundation

See Also

• Pakistan

• Technical Assistance/Institution Building

Offsite Links

• Population Libraries Network of Pakistan

• Reproductive Health Research Working Group

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This page updated 7 April 2006

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