The Institute of Social and Policy Sciences () is a policy research and advocacy think tank with its headquarters located in

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. The Institute also has offices in Lodhran and

Mardan Mardān (Pashto and ; Urdu ; Pashto: ) is a city in the Mardan District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan. Located in the Valley of Peshawar, Mardan is the second-largest city of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (after Peshawar). It is a fast-growing ...

History

The Institute was founded in 2008 and is governed by its board of directors. The Institute works in the fields of

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...

health Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organ ...

, disaster risk reduction,

governance Governance is the process of interactions through the laws, norms, power or language of an organized society over a social system ( family, tribe, formal or informal organization, a territory or across territories). It is done by the g ...

, conflict and stabilization. Institute of Social and Policy Sciences (I-SAPS) emerged from Consumer Rights Commission of Pakistan; a consumer rights advocate organization. Since its inception, I-SAPS has undertaken initiatives to improve access and quality of education and ensuring children's right to free and compulsory education in Pakistan. In this relation, I-SAPS started reporting education budgets in Pakistan in 2007-08. Each year, the Institute publishes its report on the state of education financing which analyzes the trends in education spending in Pakistan at Federal, provincial and district levels. The latest report in the series analyzed education budgets in Pakistan for a period of 2010-11 to 2015-16. I-SAPS has also facilitated the creation of Pakistan's National Caucus on Education with an aim to synergize the political and technical sides of education reforms in the country.

Initiatives

In 2015, the Institute started working on adult literacy and has teamed up with Mobilink Foundation and GuarantCo for empowering the rural women in

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the northwestern region of the country, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ...

by providing them literacy skills. The initiative is being implemented in eight districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa including

Swabi Swabi ( ps, صوابۍ; ur, ) is a city in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan,Nowshera,

Buner Buner District ( ps, بونیر ولسوالۍ, ur, ) is a district in Malakand Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. Before becoming a district in 1991, it was a tehsil within Swat District. History The Buner Valley lies bet ...

, Malakand, Haripur,

Mansehra Mansehra is a city in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan and the headquarters of Mansehra District. It is the 71st largest city of Pakistan and 7th largest city in the province. The name of the city (written in Hindko, Urdu and Gojr ...

and

Kohat Kohat ( ps, کوهاټ; ur, ) is a city that serves as the capital of the Kohat District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is regarded as a centre of the Bangash tribe of Pashtuns, who have lived in the region since the late 15th century ...

. For the last many years, the Institute has been advocating for compensation of civilian victims of conflict and terrorism. I-SAPS has also promoted the need of an effective disaster risk management framework in Pakistan and has raised the issue of compensation of flood-affected communities on various forums. In 2011, I-SAPS launched the Journal of Social and Policy Sciences, a double-blind peer-review research journal. The Journal publishes multi-disciplinary policy-oriented research especially media and society, trade policy and tax reforms, post-colonial societal changes, education and health sector policies and reforms focusing mainly on Pakistan and South Asia. Since 2017, I-SAPS is implementing the "Sustainable Transition and Retention in Delivering Education (STRIDE)" program to address the transition and retention challenge for students at post-primary levels. STRIDE is being implemented in collaboration with the provincial governments of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in districts Bahawalpur, Kohat, Muzaffargarh and Swabi.

References

External links

* * * * * * * {{cite web, title=I-SAPS Community Health Partners for Empowerment, Voice and Accountability, url=http://i-saps.org/program/service/15/32 Organisations based in Islamabad Political and economic think tanks based in Pakistan Organizations established in 2008