Negotiating rights and faith: A study of rights-based approaches to humanitarian action in Pakistan

The study examines the implementation of rights-based approaches (RBA) in Pakistan, focusing on Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) and its partners. It finds that global RBA norms are rarely applied directly via international law but are instead translated into three frameworks: humanitarian standards, citizen rights, and Islamic principles. The author identifies two modes of engaging with religion: 'instrumental engagement,' where religious leaders are used as gatekeepers to achieve project goals, and 'substantial engagement,' where the substance of religion is used to find overlapping values with human rights, particularly regarding women's rights. The paper argues that religion is an integral part of the lifeworld of aid recipients and essential for gaining legitimacy in the Pakistani humanitarian arena.

• Humanitarian actors in Pakistan rarely implement rights-based approaches (RBAs) by referring to international human rights; instead, they translate these norms into three dominant frameworks: humanitarian standards, citizen rights, and Islamic principles.
• When translated as humanitarian standards, RBAs are linked to international codes of conduct (such as the Sphere Project) and are most easily applied to 'uncontroversial' needs like water, sanitation, hygiene (WASH), shelter, and education.
• The translation of RBAs as citizen rights involves anchoring entitlements in the Constitution of Pakistan and national law to empower people to claim rights from the state, though this approach is often resisted by government officials.
• RBAs are translated through Islamic principles by identifying overlapping values between international human rights and Islamic tradition, particularly regarding basic needs like health, education, and water.
• The study identifies 'instrumental engagement' with religion, where NGOs use religious leaders and mosques as gatekeepers to gain community access, trust, and legitimacy for their programming.
• The study identifies 'substantial engagement' with religion, which involves a dialogue about the substance of faith to create an overlapping consensus of values, often requiring the reinterpretation of both rights and religion.
• Women's rights represent a significant challenge for RBA translation in Pakistan due to gender-traditional ideologies; NGOs address this by using Islamic law to provide protections (e.g., inheritance) that may be stronger than local customary practices.
• There is a divide among humanitarian actors regarding the use of religion: secularly-oriented professionals may avoid it to prevent legitimizing discriminatory views, while organizations like NCA view religion as a flexible resource that can be a 'powerful source for good'.

APA

Borchgrevink, K. (n.d.). Negotiating rights and faith: A study of rights-based approaches to humanitarian action in Pakistan. Peace Research Institute Oslo. https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/9aa50187-a207-4a21-87cf-afb9143ae421/Negotiating rights and faith A study of rightsbased approaches to humanitarian action in Pakistan.pdf?inline=true

Chicago

Borchgrevink, Kaja. Negotiating rights and faith: A study of rights-based approaches to humanitarian action in Pakistan. Peace Research Institute Oslo, n.d. https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/9aa50187-a207-4a21-87cf-afb9143ae421/Negotiating rights and faith A study of rightsbased approaches to humanitarian action in Pakistan.pdf?inline=true.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Borchgrevink |first1=Kaja |title=Negotiating rights and faith: A study of rights-based approaches to humanitarian action in Pakistan |publisher=Peace Research Institute Oslo |url=https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/9aa50187-a207-4a21-87cf-afb9143ae421/Negotiating rights and faith A study of rightsbased approaches to humanitarian action in Pakistan.pdf?inline=true |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{borchgrevinkndnegotiating, author = {Borchgrevink, Kaja}, title = {{Negotiating rights and faith: A study of rights-based approaches to humanitarian action in Pakistan}}, institution = {Peace Research Institute Oslo}, url = {https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/9aa50187-a207-4a21-87cf-afb9143ae421/Negotiating rights and faith A study of rightsbased approaches to humanitarian action in Pakistan.pdf?inline=true}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }