Fieldwork: June 2024 – Islamabad and Lahore

Overview

In June 2024, I conducted two focus group discussions on foreign aid in Pakistan, one in Islamabad and one in Lahore, in collaboration with Gallup Pakistan. These discussions brought together diverse participants to reflect on how they perceive foreign aid, its donors, and its relationship to domestic politics and everyday life.

The Islamabad discussion centered on how media coverage and political narratives shape trust in different aid donors, while the Lahore discussion focused more on local development experiences and whether aid projects are seen as responsive to community needs. Together, these conversations provide a grounded view of how citizens interpret promises, delivery, and credit-claiming around foreign aid.

Insights from these focus groups inform my broader research agenda on foreign aid, accountability, and trust: they help connect large-scale datasets and text-as-data work with the lived experiences and narratives of Pakistani citizens across cities.

Gallery

Focus group discussion on foreign aid – Islamabad

Focus group discussion on foreign aid – Lahore

Discussion leader Prof. Shamaila Athar and me