Journal of Public Policy Practitioners

Connecting with Citizens: The Rationale for SAIs’ Existence in the 21st Century

Aamir Fayyaz — Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The 21^st century offers unique opportunities and challenges for public sector institutions. Technology has increased the choices available to the citizens in their personal and private lives and, consequently, there is immense pressure on public institutions to deliver with enhanced efficiency and effectiveness. Generally, it is the responsibility of public audit institutions, commonly called the Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs), to provide independent reports to the legislatures on the adherence of government departments to regulatory and performance benchmarks. SAIs, like other service delivery institutions, are accountable to the ultimate stakeholders: the citizens. Currently, however, their engagement with the latter is somewhat sub-optimal. While some SAIs have engaged the citizens at various levels, the overall public audit community has a long way to go. SAIs need to connect with the citizens in a meaningful manner and the latter’s involvement in audit tasks should be consistent throughout the audit cycle, that is, from planning to reporting. For SAIs, to justify their existence in today’s world, this would be a respectable and dignified approach to adopt.

The Barriers to Implementing National Spatial Data Infrastructure in Pakistan: Policy and Legislation Context

Asmat Ali, Hammad Hussain, Rida Fatima, Munir Ahmad — Fri, 27 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

In today’s world, information is the most valuable resource. Geospatial information, which refers to the location of various features on earth, plays a crucial role in policymaking, implementation, and monitoring the policy outcomes. The information about forests, roads, water bodies, health and education facilities, population, human settlements etc. is geospatial. Due to financial and human resource constraints a single government department cannot collect such diverse information. Therefore, each department is mandated to collect and maintain one particular type of information. The information collected is used as evidence in policymaking and to ensure its efficacy, various types of information collected by departments is integrated and utilized. The dilemma is, government departments often do not share their collected information, despite them being funded by public money. Consequently, informed decision-making is hampered. The reasons for non-sharing of the information may include lack of technical capacity, fear of loss of control over information assets, poor quality of the information and lack of legal and policy framework to share information. This article focuses on policy and legal barriers to geospatial information sharing in Pakistan. The study follows content analysis method, specifically used for deriving relevant information from the data. The data is collected through reviews of policy documents, minutes of meetings, and focused group discussions with experts on the subject. The article discusses how the current provisions are inadequate to deal with new developments in geospatial information sharing, and proposes recommendations for amending and updating existing laws and policies. The study finds that policymakers in Pakistan are still not aware of the potential of geospatial information and its sharing through NSDI for informing, and implementing public policies. Accordingly, the study recommends approving NSDI Act at the earliest.

Exploring Islamophobia and Anti-Muslim Racism in Canada and the USA: A Comprehensive Scoping Review

Mon, 30 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Hate crimes, driven by bias against race, religion or identity, have increasingly targeted Muslims in Canada and the United States. However, despite growing literature, research remains fragmented, often focusing on specific contexts such as racial bias, media influence or political rhetoric. This scoping review synthesizes the existing literature on Islamophobia and anti-Muslim racism in Canada and the United States, focusing on its prevalence, characteristics and contributing factors, aiming to inform policies and strategies to combat their impacts. Using Arksey and O'Malley’s methodological framework and PRISMA-ScR guidelines, two online databases were searched for articles published in English from 1995 to 2023. The search identified 31 articles to be included in the research. The analysis highlighted four major themes in the literature: politically-driven anti-Muslim hate, media-driven anti-Muslim hate, gendered hate crimes against Muslims, and online hate crimes against Muslims. The findings illustrate how certain politically charged rhetoric and policies (e.g., Canada’s Bill 21) normalize hostility toward Muslims and intensify public prejudice. Media portrayals that frame Muslims as violent reinforce negative stereotypes, further fueling discrimination. Gender-based violence disproportionately affects visibly Muslim women, as attire like the hijab makes them identifiable targets in public spaces. Online hate crimes, facilitated by the anonymity of digital platforms, continue to grow in both frequency and impact. These findings indicate an urgent need for more inclusive public policy initiatives, targeted educational efforts, and ongoing research to address the various forms of anti-Muslim hate. Further research including diverse perspectives and non-English literature will contribute to a deeper understanding of the problem.

Food Security Challenges in a Post-Productivist Agricultural Development Model in Pakistan

Safdar Sohail — Mon, 30 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The further liberalization of wheat in Pakistan is being advocated on the premise that the previous model-centred around the minimum support price procurement by the government, is inefficient. The efficiency in wheat market will better address the welfare needs of ordinary consumers, with additional support from Benazir Income Support program and utility stores. Pakistan is about to enter in a new phase of manufactured food inflation. This phenomenon could be better understood by examining the last five years of the wheat policy as an example of capitalist operation. This study examines the policies and practices of wheat market in Pakistan over the last five years and their implications on food security and social market economy of wheat. Instead of responding to the excesses of neoliberalism by strengthening social market economy of wheat, we are set to expose a majority of the household to the full force of market, endangering food security at a large scale. This capitalist operation however, could not be effectively confronted by bringing back the old inefficient system. The findings of the study conceptualise the relationship between rising food insecurity in Pakistan and the ongoing deepening of market-oriented reforms in the wheat market. The research community in Pakistan needs to imagine new ways to realize the objectives of a social economy, as farmers risk losing the value they create to speculators and other investors in the supply chain. In an environment of post-productionism and hyper-capitalism, the value produced by a weak economic actor is likely to fall prey to the moneyed and more powerful entities unless they operate within a well-functioning social market economy.