Rebuilding civil society has emerged as an essential path to reversing impacts of strife. Reestablishment of infrastructure, employment, services, administration, and security - all emphasizing local responsibility - are central to stability irrespective of culture, faith, or location.
Reconstruction of civil society in the approximately 10,500 sq. mile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan is desperately needed. Local populations face intimidation from armed militants. Common administrative and legal norms are lacking. Constructive tribal, intellectual, and economic cooperation across the FATA’s border with Afghanistan require augmentation. So economic opportunities have declined and, consequently, less than one-third of FATA’s nearly 5 million inhabitants live above poverty-level. Literacy has fallen to a lowly 17.4 percent because access to quality education became limited too, especially for women. Consequently, “fundamentalist madrasas lure hopeful people with promises of knowledge and wealth, and then turned them into lawless hate-filled thugs” lamented one local FATA leader.
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