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2. Mapping the Structure of Well-Being and Social Networks of Refugees
- Author:
- Ammar A. Malik, Edward Mohr, Yasemin Irvin-Erickson, Loren Landau, Caroline Wanjiku-Kihato, and Benjamin Edwards
- Publication Date:
- 06-2017
- Content Type:
- Research Paper
- Institution:
- Urban Institute
- Abstract:
- Despite strong ethnic, linguistic and religious similarities with host communities, the presence of Afghan refugees since the 1970s has fundamentally altered Peshawar’s social fabric. Using an original household survey, we explore the structures and forms of refugees’ social networks and their relationship with economic well-being. We find that refugees maintain networks both within refugee and host communities, gaining critical help in finding jobs and housing, besides financial and emotional support. We recommend strengthening refugees’ capacity to self-organize via community-based interventions and clarifying the future of their legal status in Pakistan.
- Topic:
- Immigration, Refugees, International Development, Displacement, and Cities
- Political Geography:
- Pakistan, Afghanistan, South Asia, and Peshawar
3. Dynamic Cities? The Role of Urban Local Governments in Improving Urban Service Delivery Performance in Africa and Asia
- Author:
- Jamie Boex, Ammar A. Malik, Devanne Brookins, and Ben Edwards
- Publication Date:
- 07-2016
- Content Type:
- Research Paper
- Institution:
- Urban Institute
- Abstract:
- Cities are engines of economic growth that provide spaces for social transformation and political inclusion. Their ability to deliver widely accessible and efficiently functioning public services drives productivity and sustains development. We design and apply an assessment framework to 42 cities in 14 African and Asian countries to better understand the functional, administrative, and political dimensions determining the quality and coverage of water, sanitation, and solid waste collection services. We find that urban local governments are constrained in their authority and discretion to deliver basic public services. Reforming intergovernmental institutional structures to better match responsibilities is essential for realizing cities’ full economic potential.
- Topic:
- Government, Water, Governance, International Development, Economic growth, Urban, Sanitation, Services, and Cities
- Political Geography:
- Africa, Asia, and Global Focus
4. Women’s Economic Empowerment: A Review of Evidence on Enablers and Barriers
- Author:
- H. Elizabeth Peters, Nan Marie Astone, Ammar A. Malik, Fenohasina Rakotondrazaka Maret, and Caroline Heller
- Publication Date:
- 10-2016
- Content Type:
- Research Paper
- Institution:
- Urban Institute
- Abstract:
- Besides human rights protection and social welfare improvement, fostering female participation in the economy can stimulate growth with human capital accumulation and enhance the competitiveness of businesses. But women face many barriers to participating in the labor market, particularly in high productivity sectors, due to limited investments in education, time burdens from care responsibilities, legal prohibitions to land ownership, and sexual harassment and violence. We find evidence that improving access to infrastructure and public services, reforms in inheritance laws, family friendly workplace policies, and reduction in levels of violence can significantly improve women’s economic empowerment.
- Topic:
- Gender Issues, Labor Issues, Women, International Development, Economic growth, and Cities
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
5. Women in Pakistan's Urban Informal Economy
- Author:
- Ammar A. Malik, Hadia Majid, Husnain Fateh, and Iromi Perera
- Publication Date:
- 01-2016
- Content Type:
- Research Paper
- Institution:
- Urban Institute
- Abstract:
- In rapidly urbanizing developing countries, the prevalence large-scale informality within urban economies increases social vulnerabilities, stifles worker productivity and dampens regional economic growth. With the prospect of better jobs attracting millions into cities each year, rising urban poverty levels are encouraging international nonprofits to allocate greater resources toward urban programs. Our fieldwork in Pakistan reveals that above all else, urban informal workers require improvements in public service delivery, skillset development and collective bargaining capacity. We propose implementing future urban programs through an iterative learning, adaptation and implementation approach allowing nonprofits to leverage greater impact from finite resources.
- Topic:
- Gender Issues, Labor Issues, Women, Income Inequality, International Development, Economic growth, Family, and Cities
- Political Geography:
- Pakistan and South Asia
6. Decentralized Local Health Services in Tanzania: Are Health Resources Reaching Primary Health Facilities, or Are They Getting Stuck at the District Level?
- Author:
- Jameson Boex, Luke Fuller, and Ammar A. Malik
- Publication Date:
- 04-2015
- Content Type:
- Research Paper
- Institution:
- Urban Institute
- Abstract:
- This study analyzes local health finances in Tanzania by considering the extent to which public health resources in Tanzania flow from the district government level to primary health facilities, or whether these resources get stuck at the district level. Our analysis of health expenditures in six rural Local Government Authorities suggests that less than half of local health funding reaches the front-line dispensaries that provide the vast majority of local health services. The structure of the local health system appears to favor top-down interventions and control, rather than empowering local facilities to improve local health outcomes.
- Topic:
- Health, Health Care Policy, International Development, and Cities
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Tanzania