Human Security Discourse: A Case of Civil Society Activism in Sindh, Pakistan

Abstract

This study strives to build a nexus between human security and civil society in Sindh which is a highly marginalized and socio-economically challenged province of Pakistan. Keeping the qualitative nature of the study in mind, field visits were conducted in District Ghotki and Umerkot, Sindh province in October 2022. The visits enabled the gathering of data through in-depth interviews, focused group discussions (FGDs), and community engagement. Purposive sampling technique was adopted to select the respondents for interviews and FGDs. The findings shed contextual light on the human security landscape and the state of civil society groups of the districts. The study concludes that that local civil society groups are playing a significant role in the accomplishment of human security goals while enduring numerous challenges across intellectual/ideological, organizational, bureaucratic, political and financial fronts. In order to effectively address the human security issues in the districts, the research suggests the autonomous functioning of of civil society groups, adequate understanding of human security issues among those groups and their proper collaboration with government agencies.