Policy-making in Pakistan's population programme

Abstract

Pakistan launched one of the first population control programmes in the 1950s, yet has lagged far behind other countries in effectively implementing or developing its understanding of population programmes. This paper explores the policy-making process which shaped the programme in Pakistan in terms of the political considerations of the various military and civilian regimes, the role of religion in politics, the influences of Western donors (particularly USAID), and the effect of international development ideology. The resulting instability of the population programmes is analyzed in terms of: a) the rivalry between the separate population and health programmes within government; b) the politically charged problem of over-centralized federal control over population; c) the unresolved and uneasy working relationship between government and non-government organizations. The paper concludes that the conflicts in these areas are directly related to the larger policy context in which they have evolved, and without addressing the latter, the population programme will remain victim to deep-rooted structural problems.