Poverty Alleviation & Population:

The NWFP's population is growing at a high rate, widening the gap between consumption and resource availability. This is leading to unsustainable development patterns within the province. Disparities in development, resource use, and allocation prevail in regions, societies, and different groups, developing a sense of inequity and causing poverty among different sections of society.

Most of the poor are in the rural areas of the province. These areas are characterized by inadequate infrastructures, insufficient marketing facilities, poor health and education services, and inadequate living conditions. The Government of NWFP is addressing the socio-economic aspects of these problems through the national Social Action Programme (SAP}-that seeks to provide basic education, health, sanitation and family-planning facilities throughout the province, that are within easy reach of the population and that offer high-quality services to all. The strategy is to improve planning and implementation by ensuring timely availability of adequate funds and quality delivery of services. Equally important, the Government is engaged in a dialogue with NGOs to involve them and the communities in development efforts. The SAP is regarded as an integral part of the SPCS, for it addresses key human development aspects that relate directly to environmental problems.

Poverty Alleviation

The NWFP is a diverse province and there are different needs and requirements in the rural communities, which vary in accordance with the local geographical, climatic, and ecological conditions. Broadly, the NWFP can be categorized into three regions: the central plains, the north and northeastern mountains, and the southern semi-arid plains.

The Central Plains Region

This region consists primarily of Peshawar valley including Peshawar Division, Mardan Division, and the southern part of the Malakand Division where the quality of life is relatively better. Future efforts need to be focused on an integrated rural development programme based on agriculture development, extension services training, farm forestry, and provision of basic services, utilities, and facilities, with the heavy involvement of local communities. Cottage industry and local agro-industry will be promoted in rural areas, with environmental protection measures included. Health and education development programmes accelerated to provide wider coverage in rural areas. And the capacity and governance of village-level institutions strengthened and improved to deliver improved services.

The Mountainous Region

This region consists of the mountain areas of the Malakand and Hazara Division of the province. Here the pace of development has been slow. Attention needs to be paid to the provision of basic services and utilities such as clean water, drainage, sanitation, health, and education through integrated rural development programmes. To create local employment, mineral resources and the potential for ecotourism require greater exploration. The institutional capacity at the local level must be strengthened and partnership programmes with local communities and NGOs encouraged, to increase the capacity for sustainable management of mountain natural resources.

The Southern Region

Special attention is required for the improvement of socio-economic conditions in the southern region of the NWFP stretching over the Kohat, Bannu and D.I. Khan Divisions. It is essential that the Social Action Programme gives priority to this region, to improve basic services and utilities and clean drinking water. Greater community involvement is required in all development programmes to increase the capacity of Government institutions to deliver services. All development programmes require in- come generation schemes that draw on the agricultural potential of the region. Emphasis needs to be given to upgrading and improving the existing infrastructure system.

District Strategies

Good governance and poverty alleviation demand devolution of authority to promote decentralized planning and to effectively utilize local resources to address local problems. The SPCS envisages district level conservation strategies-pilot strategies are to be developed in response to local needs.

Unsustainable Population Growth

Natural resources are not limited, and there has to be a balance between their use and consumption. The potential for the resources of the NWFP to support the province's increasing population is not encouraging. The population growth is squeezing the availability of space for natural resource development as well as increasing the demand on available resources. This is having many adverse environmental impacts and is in- creasing the pressure on other resources.

However, the trend in the NWFP is to have large families. This is partly because it is still a conservative society, where the men deal with the outside world, while women are restricted to housekeeping; and partly because sons are a matter of pride and economic security. Attempts to have a lot of sons generally lead to large families. Women have mostly not been educated and are permitted only limited mobility. A change is in order. But care must be taken to respect local culture and traditions in effecting this change.

The SAP population-planning programme places a strong emphasis on family planning services being made available through the village health worker or through the traditional birth attendant at the moha//ah {neighborhood} level. This needs to be continued and the family planning system needs to be made a part of the health system for each of the facilities used by women. Equally important, awareness and education should be provided by village health workers, so that family planning is discussed openly, especially where men congregate.

Women & Development

Women's work has always entailed a closer relationship with nature. Women are often 'naturally' privileged environmental managers, who over generations have accumulated specific knowledge about natural processes that is different than that acquired by men. Therefore, women and development are as inseparable as environment and development. Most women in the NWFP live in rural areas, are illiterate, and are viewed not as producers but as de- pendent consumers, linked to a vicious circle of poverty, depletion of resources, and a deteriorating quality of life. However, the transformation of women from objects of reproduction to autonomous persons in their own right entails a fundamental change in perceptions and attitudes. Changes in the role of women may be an evolutionary process, but extensive Government intervention is needed in making opportunities available to women, such as employment, skills development, health care, and, most important, information to enhance participation in all spheres. Women's organizations need not only to spread awareness about women's rights but also to destroy myths about women's non-productivity and to ensure a similar aware- ness about the essential role of women in solving environment and development problems.

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