52nd Regional Science Conference

on

Resurgence of Regions

To be held at

The Institute of Development Studies Kolkata (IDSK), Kolkata, West Bengal, India

Call for papers for the

RSPP Special Session on

Sustainable Development of Afghanistan

by

Abdul Shaban

Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai and

Rohina Zaffari

University of Kabul, Kabul

Human capital, democracy, peace, economic openness, and physical resources play determining role in the development of any country or region. Afghanistan, a country with about 39 million population, is endowed with enormous natural resources. The country is located on the crucial crossroad of China, India, Central Asia, and the Middle East. Notwithstanding its geopolitical significance and the rich mineral resources, the political and social instabilities have acted as barriers to the economic development of the country. The war over the years and conservative social practices have kept Afghanistan economically deprived. It is not surprising that today’s Afghanistan is one of the least developed countries of the world. Scarce data reveal that about 38% of the population of the country lived below the poverty line in 2010, and per capita income was only US $461 in 2020. Because of war and poverty, the net migration in 2020 was -315 thousand.

Given, the difficult political history and development situation, Afghanistan requires deeper analysis of its existing situation and human practices to learn and track itself on the path of sustainable development. The major challenge before the country is how to evolve a war-torn economy into a peaceful, prosperous, and sustainable economy?

This proposed special session will attempt to understand the possibilities of development of Afghanistan in the context the regional history and current realities, with the following major subareas (though not limited to),

• From war to peace, prospects for regional development in Afghanistan
• Regional philosophy of peace and development and spatial practices
• Economic structure and potentials of growth
• Inequality, poverty, and potential for sustainable community development
• The role of trade, especially the regional trade (India, Pakistan, China, Iran, and Central Asian Countries), and investment in development,
• Urban centres, regional growth (including rural-urban), and development
• Educational Institutions, skills, and human capital
• Women and development
• Sustainable Development Goals in the Regions of Afghanistan

Submission of abstract for the special session

For the special session, we invite an abstract of 250-500 words from prospective authors highlighting the research problem, data, methods, major findings, and policy suggestions. The last date of submission of the abstract is 25 November 2021. Author(s) of papers will be communicated about the suitability of their abstracts, with suggestions if any by 23th November 2021. This Special Session will be held online on 10th December 2021

The authors presenting paper in this special session will have an opportunity to submit their paper for special issue of the Journal Regional Science Policy & Practice. For details see,

https://regionalscience.org/index.php/news/journals/item/2872-rspp-call-for-papers- special-issue-on-sustainable-development-of-afghanistan.html

The abstract can be emailed to  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with copy (cc) to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Please mark in Subject Line “Abstract for RSPP Special Session”

The authors of the abstracts will be requested to register for the conference once their abstract is accepted.

https://forms.gle/DZs66yTYvDKyZYTT8 

The conference will be held in online mode.