Manāra Policy & Practice
Bridging insights across sectors, perspectives & geographies
What we do
Information Governance & Digital Ecosystems
We work at the intersection of technology, rights, and policy to address how societies govern information flows and digital systems in ways that serve the public good. Our analysis and advisory services span access to information frameworks, AI ethics and governance, digital transformation strategies, media development, press freedom, platform governance, data protection regimes, and the regulatory architectures needed to ensure technology advances human development rather than undermining it.
Cultural Heritage & Collective Memory
We work on heritage preservation, narrative construction, and collective memory to examine how societies document, interpret, and transmit their pasts. This goes beyond technical preservation to questions of whose stories get told, how historical narratives shape present identities, and what role heritage plays in social cohesion or exclusion. Our work spans documentary heritage management, archival systems, intangible cultural heritage, exhibitions and memory projects.
Growth & Innovation Ecosystems
We work at the intersection of organizational performance and entrepreneurial development to enable economic transformation. We support corporations in integrating technology, building capacity, and restructuring for agility. This includes navigating the transition from voluntary Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to mandatory Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) reporting, developing diversity and inclusion strategies, designing frameworks that create measurable impact. We advise on policies that enable inclusive development, and strengthen economic resilience.
Climate Justice & Social Equity
Our work examines climate impacts alongside broader questions of gender equality, minority rights, poverty reduction, disability inclusion, and social protection. We analyze how environmental and social vulnerabilities compound existing inequalities based on gender, class, caste, ethnicity, disability, and geography.
Cities, Spaces & Society
We examine how built environments, spatial configurations, and public spaces shape social relations, economic opportunity, and environmental futures. This thematic area addresses urgent questions of rapid urbanization, spatial inequality, internal displacement, migration dynamics, urban violence, and how cities and settlements can become more equitable, sustainable, and livable.
The 'sixth' area: The Caravanseraye
Beyond client-commissioned work, Manāra maintains an independent knowledge platform that advance thought leadership, public discourse, and collective learning. Scroll down for details.
Services We Provide
Research & Policy Analysis
We conduct strategic policy reviews examining existing frameworks against benchmarks and best practices, sector landscape analyses mapping stakeholders and trends, rapid policy assessments on emerging issues, baseline studies and needs assessments, comparative research across jurisdictions, political economy analyses examining power dynamics and incentives, and evidence syntheses bringing together disparate research
Strategic Planning & Program Design
We facilitate organizational strategy development combining stakeholder consultation with environmental scanning, design programs with robust theories of change and results frameworks, create monitoring, evaluation, and learning systems, develop implementation roadmaps with milestones and accountability mechanisms, and conduct feasibility assessments examining technical, financial, and political viability.
Stakeholder Engagement & Capacity Building
We facilitate strategic planning retreats, design and lead stakeholder consultations, conduct validation workshops and moderate multi-stakeholder dialogues. We provide training programs on specialized topics, organizational capacity assessments, toolkits and guidance materials, ongoing technical advisory through retainer arrangements, quality assurance and peer review.
Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning
We develop results frameworks and theories of change, design monitoring systems and data collection methods, conduct baseline and endline assessments, lead mid-term and final evaluations and facilitate participatory impact assessments. We establish feedback mechanisms connecting beneficiaries to decision-makers, and develop data visualization and reporting systems that make evidence accessible.
Communication & Knowledge Products
We create accessible, compelling materials that drive action. We write policy briefs that busy policymakers actually read, design advocacy campaigns that shift discourse, produce visual reports combining narrative with data visualization, develop multimedia content (video, podcasts, interactive features), create digital strategies, design infographics and data stories, and develop advocacy campaigns and messaging frameworks.
ESG Strategy & Corporate Responsibility
We design diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies, conduct ESG gap analyses, materiality assessments, develop and implement CSR frameworks, and create partnership ecosystem mapping connecting private sector actors with government and development stakeholders. We guide organizations in translating sustainability commitments into measurable data, building internal capacity for ESG reporting and monitoring, and crafting narratives that communicate impact credibly.
Our Work
Building Coherence in RTI Governance through Institutional Dialogue
A national platform convening federal and provincial Information Commissioners to strengthen coherence in the implementation of Right to Information (RTI) laws. Through structured peer dialogue and reflection on emerging challenges such as disinformation and digital technologies, the initiative promotes more consistent practice and proactive disclosure, complemented by advocacy and IEC materials to reinforce public awareness and trust in transparency institutions.
District Climate Adaptation Plan (DCAP), Rajanpur (2025–2030)
A district-level climate adaptation strategy aligned with Pakistan’s National Adaptation Plan, translating national priorities into a localized, actionable resilience framework addressing flood risk, drought, extreme heat, agriculture-water systems, ecosystem protection, disaster risk management, and climate-resilient infrastructure.
Road Safety in Pakistan: A Hidden Crisis
A national-level analysis of road crash mortality, institutional fragmentation, and economic impact, with actionable recommendations for data reform, enforcement, infrastructure safety, and trauma response systems.
Information as Infrastructure: Mapping Pakistan’s Knowledge Economies
A systems-level research initiative examining how data and information function as economic, institutional, and cultural infrastructure across key sectors in Pakistan. Through sectoral value chain mapping, and economic analysis, the project traces how information is owned, monetized, and regulated, revealing power structures, gaps, and opportunities for more equitable and resilient knowledge governance.
Curatorial Research on Pakistan’s Independence Movement Exhibition
Curatorial research on Pakistan’s independence movement, focusing on key figures and their stories, detailed biographies, timelines, and human-interest narratives that shaped the exhibition’s layered presentation of personalities and their contributions.
AI-Enabled Green Jobs Compendium
A national guide mapping emerging AI-enabled green job pathways for Pakistani youth, linking climate adaptation priorities with digital transformation trends and outlining practical skills, training routes, and institutional recommendations to address the country’s growing skills mismatch.
Memory Museums: Preserving Dignity & Identity After Disaster
A community-led museum model to preserve the lived heritage of disaster-affected and displaced communities in Pakistan, beginning with a pilot concept inspired by the formation of Attabad Lake. The initiative reframes museums as spaces of dignity, healing, and climate memory, with a replicable framework currently under development and fundraising.
Mīrās میراث : Honoring Her Story - A Legacy-Based Archive Project
Miras is a Manara flagship project dedicated to preserving and celebrating women across Pakistan through the creation of a women’s history archive. Through a unique, legacy-driven approach, partners such as individuals, philanthropists, or organizations make preservation pledges, selecting women from their families, communities, or regions to honor, while simultaneously supporting research and curatorial work that uncovers and celebrates additional unsung female heroes from a specific geographic area, field of work, or sociocultural movement. Together, these legacies are building a growing repository of women’s stories that will form the foundation for a future physical archive.
Youth trainings on heritage preservation through documenting endangered languages
A crowd sourced, youth led project for preserving oral and documentary heritage of mountain communities in Gilgit Baltistan. The initiative is funded by Manāra, and part of its celebration of International Decade of Indigneous Languages.
Rethinking Gender-Based Violence: Policing and Legal Pluralities
Research exploring gender-based violence in Pakistan and the Pakistani diaspora in Norway, focusing on how multiple legal frameworks and policing practices shape women’s experiences. The study highlights human-interest stories, legal pluralities, and community-based approaches to support gender-inclusive policing and protection.
Hazard vulnerability assessment in the mountain ecosystem of Pakistan
A comprehensive research study proposing an expanded vulnerability assessment framework for rural mountain communities in Pakistan’s HKH region. The model integrates six dimensions; social, economic, physical, institutional, attitudinal, and gender, introducing gender as a dynamic component of climate risk analysis. Applied in Hunza-Nagar, the framework offers a replicable methodology for inclusive resilience planning in hazard-prone regions.
The Caravanseraye - کاروان سرائے
This is our 'third space': Named for the historic gathering places where travelers, merchants, and scholars exchanged goods, stories, and ideas, The Caravanseraye brings together diverse voices for substantive dialogue on critical development questions. These gatherings deliberately resist fixed formats. We design each session around what the conversation needs. This is primarily an analog engagement and informal exchange over chai for digital-weary minds.
Manāra-Led Projects: Core team secures clients and assembles expert teams. Experts contribute technical expertise, we handle business development and administration. Fair compensation, professional support, collaborative environment.
Expert-Led Initiatives: Experts identify opportunities and lead resource mobilization under Manāra's umbrella. We provide institutional backing, infrastructure, and quality oversight. Our collaborators maintain ownership, and commensurate resource share.
Our team & Collaborators
Work with us
COMING SOON !
Content and Engagement Assistant
This role supports Manara’s digital strategy by actively monitoring sector trends, conversations, and key actors across platforms, identifying opportunities for engagement, partnerships, and funding. Informs content creation through audience insights, thematic analysis, and engagement opportunities, ensuring online activities drive meaningful in-person connections and advance Manara’s work. The role will initially be remote/virtual, later expected to be hybrid (i.e. remote/Islamabad).