We've heard reports of moderate well-educated Pakistanis holding peaceful demonstrations. Is there a general groundswell of opinion in any particular direction? Yes, we at ActionAid have been a part of this. Progressive groups are holding rallies even though there is not much scope to express ourselves these days because the government wants to control law and order.
Still, there have been very peaceful and very conceptually clear rallies where they are saying that war is not the way to resolve these issues. Instead, the answer lies in peaceful mechanisms and political negotiation. They are also saying that, whatever happens, it should be through the UN and not through bilateral action.
ActionAid was one of the facilitators and funders of a national consultation on peace. The peace movement here is really gaining momentum. In small villages and districts there have been gatherings to propagate peace and peaceful strategies to resolve the conflict.

Does ActionAid Pakistan have any specific plans to address ethnic and religious tolerance? Yes, this is high on our agenda as the ground is very fertile for ethnic and religious conflict these days. One important target that we have identified for ourselves is to promote multiple identities. Let me explain this concept.
An individual should have several identities - so, for example, I am a woman, I am a south Asian, I am a Pakistani, I am a Muslim, I am an educator, I am a development worker, I am an activist - and, with all of these identities, I should be able to relate to people and be a part of my society.
As a woman, I could join a women's group; as a Pakistani, I can promote my Pakistani culture. If there is one dominant identity then that is where ethnic or religious conflict takes place. If I only live my life thinking that I am a Muslim and I perceive everything according to who is Muslim and who is not - if I start analysing everything I see with that identity - then that is a problem.
So, one way of avoiding or reducing religious and ethnic conflict is to make people switch their hats all the time so that they don't cling on to one identity. There are certain decisions we need to take as human beings, there are certain decisions we need to take as Pakistanis, and not with one dominant identity.

How does ActionAid's work in Pakistan relate to the present crisis? A lot of the elements addressed in our existing programmes - non-democratic decision making, social hierarchies, ethnic and religious conflict - are present. This gives us an opportunity to make an appeal for democratisation at all levels - including the UN, the WTO and other international institutions.
Since long before the current situation, our work has been about pointing out how poor people and poor countries, because of lack of opportunities, become poorer. This crisis really highlights the core of that problem and therefore gives us an opportunity to question these big international institutions which per se are democratic but, in reality, are not.

Will ActionAid Pakistan be working directly with Afghan refugees? Yes, inside Pakistan. We are already working in areas where refugees are coming in to Pakistan, not just at the border but further south as well where they go looking for jobs or relatives. Nushki is one border area where we have a disaster management programme. Loralai, to the east of the country, is not a border area but there are lots of refugees and we have a fully-fledged programme there too.

Have you started any planning to deal with the longer-term effects of the present situation? Yes, at several levels. Firstly, focusing specifically on Pakistan, several economic and trade sanctions are being lifted so we want to keep a close watch on that. We want to see how is it going to affect our economic and financial policies in the long term. We want to be able to monitor whether any money coming into the country is used for social development. Ten years down the road we want to be able to look back and see what we have gained.
We are also aiming to look at the psychological effects of the current crisis because it is extremely important in the long term. We really need to look at this amongst the refugees and the host communities as well as Pakistanis in general. Among the refugees especially we must help to heal the trauma.
Look at Bosnia and the separation of Pakistan and India as well as many other traumatic experiences that people have had - there is usually very little attention paid to the healing process and therefore, even after 50 or 100 years, the wounds are still very fresh and raw. People get back into conflict situations because they have never really gone through the healing process. It is a huge task but we are going to start with humble efforts.

Dr Fouzia Saeed, Director of ActionAid's programme in Pakistan