At the area level, nine districts, the reflecting the agro-ecological diversity and ethnic composition in Balochistan were selected. within each of these selected districts, the poorest union council was then determined and from within this union council, the prooest and a better-off sub-site were selected. the final districts and sub-sites are shown in table

Selected PPA Districts, Union Councils and Sub-sites in Balochistan

District	Union Council	Poorest Sub-site	Better-off Sub-site
Gawadar	Kallag	Kallag	Kalmat
Awaran	Teer Taij	Bazdad	Kahn Zeelag
Kharan	Lad Ghast	Kalag	Mashriqi Zawag
Kachi	Mehram	Awal Hashim	Khora Chalgari
Killa bdullah	Killa Abdullah	Jurang	Arambi
Killa Saifullah	Batozai	China Baratkhel	Nalai Sar
Loralai	Toesar, Saddar	Nikhal Adinzai	Nawai Bazar
Quetta	Haji Abdul Qudoos	Pushtoo Darah	Qaisar Colony
Panjgur	Dasht Shahbaz	Joisar	Katagari

Three teams of five members (two women Three men) were selected to conduct the fieldwork. the member of the field team were drawn from government departments and local NGOs. Selection was based on a set of criteria including experience in participatory methodologies, particularly participatory Reflection and Action (PRA), understanding of Socio-economic and political issues, willingness and ability to undertake though fieldwork, skills in documentation and fluency in local languages. A specially designed tow-phase training module was organized for PPA fieldworkers. the training focused on developing a shard understanding of the objective and methods of PPA. It enhanced the technical capacities of the fieldworkers in facilitating participatory analysis using PRA, including communication skills and self-awareness. The training also addressed the behavior and attitudes of the fieldworkers raising awareness of principles of respecting poor people, their knowledge and their capabilities. During the fieldwork in each site, the field teams sought views from a range of local people, especially those who could usually be regarded as marginalized and excluded from research, analysis and policy processes, for example the very poor, women minority ethnic groups and the very old. in each sub-site, groups of local men and women analyzed local poverty issues using participatory reflection and Action methodologies. the PPA field teams facilitated this process and also recorded the analysis in activity and site reports that are the main basis of the provincial synthesis reports. field teams also noted separately their own observations and experiences in these reports. analysis from the field was complemented by data from secondary sources to enable a degree of triangulation of research results. the Balochistan PPA process was coordinated by a management group consisting of the Chief poverty planning and Development Department representatives of IDSP- Pakistan and the PPA office in Islamabad. the management group worked under the Balochistan steering committee headed by the additional Chief Secretary. planning and development department.

Research Question

A livelihoods framework was used to bridge the gap between realities at the grassroots level and the implications for policy makers. the participatory analysis conducted in all of the research sites focused on three basic research question:

• who are the poor (within each site) and the better off?
• what have been the principal changes affecting the area/group over different periods of time and what factors have influenced these process?
• what resources, socio-economic and gender relationships, organizations and institutions are relevant to the area/group?
• What scope is there for improvement in public policies, institutions and regulatory frameworks and what other changes would increase the opportunities open to poor people?

Perceptions of Poverty

while much is known about the causes of poverty, policies that affect poor people are often driven by prejudices and vested interests and with an indifference to external or structural causes of poverty. the PPA tries to avoid mistakes based on ignorance and the self-interest of the powerful by beginning from the way actual groups of poor people describe their situation and their problems and policy issues. the PPA in Balochistan showed that the perceptions of poverty held by the poor did not focus solely on economic or material concerns (i.e. income or material resources) but went much further to encompass cultural, social and political identity. poverty in other words, was perceived to be multidimensional. it was also understood that poverty is not evenly distributed throughout society, but that well-being depends on gender, age, tribe/caste, religion, family structure and local conditions. while different categories of analysts in terms of gender, age, tribe/caste or religion placed different emphasis on different aspects of poverty, there were also common criteria used across the Balochistan sub-site.

Local terms used to describe the poor in Balochistan included gharib (poor), miskin (passive and submissive) this terms give a clear indication that local analysts considered poverty to comprise lack of resources, lack of support, lack of dignity and lack of power. common indicators of poor households and individuals described by the local analysts in Balochistan included being a widow, having few or no male children in a household, landlessness, owning on livestock, households having no income earner, working for daily wages, unemployment, not having sufficient clothes or shoes, being unable to afford sufficient food. Additionally, other indicators of poverty included powerlessness, lack of influence in decision-making processes or access of justice, and the poor and poorest lacked access to basic services such as health and education. Although these indicators were generally common across the PPA sites and analysts, perceptions also differed both within communities dependant upon gender, ethnicity and social status) and between communities. poverty status was also strongly associated with social characteristics. widows who had no support, orphans and people in low castes were considered to very poor, as were the disabled and mentally ill Tribal, religious and political leaders were considered to be well-off. in the rural sub-site of Balochistan, analysts generally described the characteristics of the better-off as including having land, water and tractor for cultivation, owning livestock, having a car, being able to afford the education of male children to being able to afford private education, having access to healthcare services, being educated and having a business. the well-off were also perceived to have power and influence in local decision-making institutions and processes. the power even went as far as having control over the votes of lower castes in the area, their tenants, and people who had borrowed from them. Across the PPA sites, analysts generally perceived that poverty levels were increasing. the effects of droughts were stated to be major factors to declining well-being at both household and community level. household which were previously better-off had become poor, and poor household had become very poor.

Policy Summary

A group of analysts in Quetta stated, "We have expectations that the present government will initiate activities for the betterment of the poor people". the PPA participants across Balochistan were clear regarding their rights. who was denying people rights and why; and how the denial of rights was responsible for much of their poverty. the policy points and implications raised or re-emphasized in this chapter are summarized below along four broad lines that will contribute to a route out of poverty and fulfillment of perceived basic rights.

1. Increase access to ,quality of , and control over resources and assets

• Effective policies for managing natural resources are essential to reducing poverty in Balochistan
• The government should examine strategies to reduce inequitable distribution of land
• In addition to equitable land distribution policies, investments in infrastructure, services and institution should be examined to enable increases in productivity
• Interventions to support and strengthen livelihoods, and reduce poverty should not be focus exclusively on one type of asset or capital
• Access to affordable education and healthcare must be equal for all, regardless of gender, caste or social status.
• Staff absenteeism is a major factor in determining access to and quality of public services and must be addressed
• The quality of basic services must be monitored and improved
• the provision of basic infrastructure plays a vital role in increasing access to employment, markets and basic services
• The government should implement policies and strategies that will increase employment opportunities, together with legislation to protect workers from exploitative employment practices

2. Reduce vulnerability and provide adequate social protection

• The government should take a board view of social protection to include risk reduction, impact mitigation and coping strategies
• Current formal safety net provision must be improved by increasing funding transparency and accountability
• The government should examine other possible mechanisms for providing social protection to the poor and vulnerable

3. Eliminate discrimination based on gender, ethnicity or caste

• Gender-based discrimination must be considered in all policy and strategy formulation to ensure that women benefit fully and are not marginalized further
• The government must ensure that minority groups are not discriminated against in provision of social services, employment opportunities, or in the dispensation of justice
• Both supply side and demand side constraints on the access of women to basic services must be addressed
• Cultural and traditional discrimination must new addressed through strong and effective policies and strategies backed by the political and judicial will to implement the fully
• The traditional practice of bride price with results in the commodification of women, must be addressed
• Inequitable social relationships resulting in forms of bonded labor must be addressed and eliminated

4. Ensure equal access to justice regardless of gender or social status

• Addressing the subjects of crime, disorder and police/frontier corps corruption should be considered a central focus in any political platform or policy initiative claiming to promote development and reduce poverty
• Access to affordable and fair justice for the poor and marginalized, and particularly for women, must be increased
• Perpetrators of crimes must be prosecuted regardless of their social, economic, or political status.