Date: 18 December 2025
Venue: Conference Hall, Department of Economics, University of Peshawar
Organised by: Development Insights Lab (DIL), University of Peshawar
In Collaboration With: Department of Economics, University of Peshawar
Technical Partner: Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Introduction
The Development Insights Lab (DIL), in collaboration with the Department of Economics, University of Peshawar, successfully conducted an Expert Workshop on Developing Localized Social Vulnerability Indicators for Charsadda and Nowshera. The workshop is part of a broader provincial initiative in support of the Multi-Hazard Vulnerability and Risk Assessment (MHVRA) currently being undertaken by the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The initiative aims to shift disaster-risk planning in the province from traditional hazard-centric assessments toward a people-centred, evidence-based approach where vulnerability is understood not only through physical exposure, but through social, economic, demographic, and institutional conditions .
Background
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa remains one of Pakistan’s most climate-sensitive regions, experiencing recurring flooding, storms, and landslides. Districts such as Charsadda and Nowshera, situated in riverine floodplains, are especially vulnerable due to a combination of factors including agricultural dependence, infrastructure gaps, poverty, and limited access to key public services. These conditions underscore the importance of building a social vulnerability framework that enables targeted and equitable preparedness, response, and resilience planning.
The global shift in disaster-risk research — as reflected in SoVI (Social Vulnerability Index) approaches and UN-aligned frameworks — demonstrates that vulnerability is a social construct, arising from inequality in exposure, sensitivity, and coping capacity. Measuring vulnerability therefore requires locally grounded indicators that capture how real people, communities, and institutions experience and respond to hazards.
Objectives of the Workshop
The expert workshop aimed to :
- Develop an initial set of localized Social Vulnerability Indicators for pilot districts Charsadda and Nowshera.
- Align indicator development with NDMA & MHVRA Guidelines and international methodologies.
- Contextualise global SVA and SoVI-inspired frameworks to KP’s socioeconomic realities.
- Produce indicators that are both statistically viable and operationally useful for district-level resilience planning.
- Strengthen academic–policy collaboration between PDMA KP and the University of Peshawar.
Workshop Proceedings
The session began with a recitation from the Holy Quran, followed by opening remarks by Dr. Sajjad Ahmad Jan, Coordinator of DIL and Chairman, Department of Economics. He highlighted the importance of understanding vulnerability as a multi-dimensional social phenomenon, noting that “disasters do not kill, poverty does” — emphasizing that social and economic inequality determine which communities are most harmed when disasters strike.
Technical Presentations & Discussions
Facilitators from PDMA KP and academic experts led thematic sessions, including:
- Understanding and Measuring Social Vulnerability — framing exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity.
- Localized Indicator Building for KP — connecting international lessons with data realities in Pakistan.
- Interactive Expert Consultation — participants refined indicator sets, identified data sources, and debated methodological options.
Participants stressed the importance of designing indicators at the finest feasible geographic scale, ideally village (moza) level, while acknowledging data constraints. Suggestions included incorporating female-headed households, housing structure, MPI-linked socioeconomic metrics, and proxy indicators where direct information is unavailable. Limitations related to data availability, statistical non-linearity, and governance constraints were also noted.
Participation
The workshop brought together representation from:
- PDMA Khyber Pakhtunkhwa – senior officials and technical specialists
- Faculty and researchers from Economics, Geography, Environmental Sciences, Sociology, Political Science, and Statistics
- Research associates and students of DIL and the University of Peshawar
This multidisciplinary participation enriched discussion, ensuring that indicator design reflects both analytical rigor and local context.
Key Insights
- Vulnerability cannot be reduced to hazard exposure — social systems produce unequal disaster outcomes.
- Indicator design must incorporate gender, income inequality, local governance capacity, and social capital.
- Local knowledge and community-level validation are essential for contextual accuracy.
- District-level mapping should prioritise high-risk zones while applying data downscaling to overcome statistical limitations.
Way Forward
Insights and recommendations from the workshop will directly inform PDMA KP’s ongoing MHVRA. The Development Insights Lab will continue working with government counterparts to:
- Finalize a district-level Social Vulnerability Index framework for Charsadda and Nowshera.
- Support policy uptake through briefs, maps, and targeted capacity-building.
- Advocate for institutionalised academia–government partnerships to advance resilience-based development planning across KP.
Conclusion
The expert workshop marks an important milestone in KP’s transition toward data-driven, preventive, and resilience-oriented disaster-risk management. DIL expresses appreciation to PDMA KP and all participants for their collaboration and commits to sustaining this critical policy-academic dialogue for the benefit of communities across the province.