Armed Conflict in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan and the Role of NGOs in Restoring Health Services

Abstract

The Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan have been a hotbed of terrorists' violence since 9/11. The unremitted armed conflict in the region and limited role of the government in delivering fundamental health services has left the people at the disposal of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). This research aims at empirically substantiating the successful strategies adopted by the NGOs to run their projects under threats and to know the perceptions of the community toward NGOs and their services. Triangulation methodology was adopted in collecting data. Based on results, the research found that health care is a highly demanded service in the study area, and the government does not have the capacity nor the resources to ensure decent health coverage for all the people of the region. NGOs indeed have a crucial role not only in building the capacity of the government and the community but also in restoring and providing health services in the region, but still many efforts are required to overcome the challenges they are facing. By implication, the research places forward some recommendations.

Repurposing NGO data for better research outcomes: a scoping review of the use and secondary analysis of NGO data in health policy and systems research

“…We highlight the value of NGO-collected data for research in hard-to-reach populations, including undocumented migrants, people experiencing domestic violence and in conflict-affected areas (e.g. [105,117,158,159]). Therefore, while some researchers are accessing and performing secondary analysis on NGO data, it is our view that real and perceived barriers to NGOacademic collaboration and NGO data access result in the entrenched underuse of NGO data in HPSR.…”

“…The 'other' category includes using NGO data (e.g. reports) as guidance for programme development or to provide a definition the statement, "the destruction of health centers and killing and kidnaping of doctors by the terrorists have made it more complicated for the locals to access basic health facilities" [105]. Neither this, nor any other NGO reports were included in the analysis.…”

“…business, multilateral and other NGOs) [45,81,121,122]. This research derives from the knowledge that there are large numbers of health NGOs worldwide but there is limited knowledge of the extent of their activities (outside the organisation) [105,[123][124][125] and barriers to partnerships [81,122,126].…”