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Editorial Published January 7, 2025
WHILE a peace deal to end the violence in Kurram tribal district was signedon New Year’s Day between the warring tribes, the fact that the local deputy commissioner was attacked in the district mere days after the signing shows how difficult the challenge of maintaining calm in this region will be. DC Javedullah Mehsud and members of his security detail came under attack in the Bagan area on Saturday. Reportedly, a protest was underway in the locality, and the attackers were amongst the demonstrators, the KP government spokesman said. Luckily, Mr Mehsud survived the attack and was rushed out of the area. However, the question arises: if the state cannot protect one of its senior functionaries, how will it keep Kurram’s ordinary citizens safe from violence and terrorism?
Fortunately, the peace deal has held despite the attack on the DC, while the KP government has promised to apprehend the perpetrators. Arrests have reportedly been made, while a meeting held to review the situation in Kohat, headed by the KP chief minister, decided that the provincial administration will take punitive measures against those who breach the peace. Notably, it has been decided that anyone carrying a weapon will be considered a militant. It is clear that there are elements in Kurram who do not want to see peace prevail in the district. The state, backed by the local tribes, must isolate and punish these malignant actors so that the fresh cycle of bloodshed in Kurram can be brought to a close.
The recently concluded peace deal offers a roadmap to lasting calm, but it can only work if the state has the will to enforce it, and the local tribes agree to abide by all its points. The primary criteria for calm in Kurram is a need to deweaponise the district, and neutralise all militant and sectarian groups active in the area. This includes keeping a close eye on the Afghan border, from where terrorists can and do infiltrate. Moreover, there must be freedom of movement across the district, and there cannot be any ‘no-go’ areas closed off to certain tribes or sects.
The blockade of upper Kurram has created a grave humanitarian situation, and the state must guarantee the district’s people have access to food, fuel, medicines etc at all times. Also, those who have lost loved ones, as well as those whose property has been destroyed in the recent clashes, must get justice. And the land and water disputes that have long fuelled tension in the area must be addressed judiciously. None of this will be easy in a tribal area which has seen decades of on-again, off-again skirmishes, exacerbated by sectarian differences and geopolitical factors. But the state cannot ignore the suffering of Kurram’s people.
Published in Dawn, January 7th, 2025
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Note: Read the following editorial for information and also to learn how to write a short expository essay.
Editorial Published January 7, 2025
PAKISTAN has utterly failed in protecting its children from polio, a preventable disease that has been eradicated nearly all over the world. With 68 cases reported in 2024 compared to Afghanistan’s 25, we find ourselves in the embarrassing position of being the worst performer among the only two countries where polio is still endemic. Officials from Pakistan’s polio programme point to our superior reporting mechanisms and suggest that Afghanistan’s numbers may be underreported. However, this can in no way excuse our dismal performance. The fact remains that Pakistan, with its considerably stronger infrastructure and institutional capacity, should not even be in the same conversation as war-torn Afghanistan when it comes to public health metrics. Polio in our parts has spread to 83 districts. Our environmental surveillance has detected the virus in 591 sewage samples across 106 sites. These are scary numbers. Security challenges in erstwhile Fata, Karachi, and Peshawar have indeed hampered vaccination efforts. Yet, this narrative of perpetual hurdles is wearing thin. Pakistan’s polio eradication programme, active since 1994, has lately been hurt by mismanagement, vaccine refusals, and gaps in immunisation coverage. Despite nine vaccination campaigns and mapping efforts, 12pc of our infected children had zero doses of the oral polio vaccine. This failure cannot solely be attributed to external factors; it underscores systemic inefficiencies and lack of political will.
The formation of a new team by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, including focal person Ayesha Raza Farooq and national coordinator Anwarul Haq, suggests recognition of the crisis — but we have seen similar initiatives before with little lasting impact. The programme’s officials must adopt innovative strategies to overcome resistance, improve access, and ensure accountability at every level. The global eradication of polio is within reach, and Pakistan has no excuse to remain an outlier. It is time to end this national disgrace once and for all.
Published in Dawn, January 7th, 2025
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FROM THE NEWS ROOM
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan faced significant challenges in nutrition and food security in 2024, and despite some progress, the country still struggles with high rates of malnutrition and food insecurity, the latest nutrition sector bulletin says.
High food prices, climatic shocks, and reduced livelihood opportunities contribute to acute food insecurity.
Around 22 per cent people are facing high levels of acute food insecurity. This situation is expected to improve slightly post-harvest season, according to the bulletin, published by the ministry of national health services, registrations and coordination.
The country faces major challenges in meeting the food security and nutrition targets of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. Only 38pc of children are exclusively breastfed for the first six months of life. Over 40pc of children under five years are stunted; 17.7pc are wasted; 28.9pc are underweight; while more than half are anaemic and suffering from deficiencies in essential nutrients and vitamins such as iron (28.6pc), zinc (18.6pc), vitamin A (51.5pc) and vitamin D (62.7pc).
The National Nutrition Survey 2018 had revealed persistently high rates of under-nutrition along with an emerging trend of being overweight and obese. Wasting is extremely high in Pakistan, with several areas in the country considered to be at emergency levels of wasting.
Published in Dawn, January 7th, 2025
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JAKARTA: Indonesia launched an ambitious $4.3 billion free meal programme on Monday to combat stunted growth due to malnutrition, a key election promise of President Prabowo Subianto.
Prabowo has pledged to provide nutritious meals free to tens of millions of schoolchildren and pregnant women, saying it would improve their quality of life and boost economic growth.
“This is historic for Indonesia for the first time conducting a nationwide nutrition programme for toddlers, students, pregnant and breastfeeding mothers,” presidential spokesman Hasan Nasbi said late on Sunday.
At least 190 kitchens run by third-party catering services opened nationwide, including some run by military bases, and were busy preparing meals from midnight before distributing them to schoolchildren and pregnant women.
The government has allocated 10,000 rupiahs (62 US cents) per meal, with kitchens preparing rice, protein, vegetables and fruit for students.
The programme has a budget of 71 trillion rupiah ($4.3 billion) for the 2025 fiscal year and is set to deliver meals to almost 83 million people by 2029.
The free-meal programme is designed to tackle stunting, which affects 21.5 per cent of children in the archipelago of some 282 million people. The Southeast Asian nation aims to reduce the rate to 5pc by 2045.
Prabowo has championed the programme since last year’s presidential campaign and his team has said the poorest and most remote areas of the Southeast Asian archipelago would be prioritised.
Published in Dawn, January 7th, 2025
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