Dr. Sidra Ishfaq

Ph.D. Economics                                                                                                      

Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE), Islamabad 

• D. Thesis on “Women’s Empowerment and its Impact on Household Food and Nutrition Security, and Vulnerability to Food Security in Rural Areas of Pakistan”.
• Scholarship holder of International Research Support Initiative Program (IRSIP) from

Higher Education Commission (HEC), Pakistan for six months’ research in Scotland, University of Edinburgh, UK

National Institute of Population Studies (NIPS)

• Worked as “Quality Controller / Office Editor” at the National Institute of Population Studies (NIPS), Islamabad from 15 January 2017 to 30 June 2018.
• Worked as “Office Editor” at the National Institute of Population Studies (NIPS), Islamabad from 06 July 2018 to 30 June 2020.
• Worked as a “Researcher “at the National Institute of Population Studies (NIPS), Islamabad, from 1 July 2021 to 31 December 2022 in two different projects named

“Longitudinal Panel Study-Performance Monitoring for Action Approach” funded by UNFPA and “Impact Assessment of Benazir Nashonuma Program (BNP) to improve maternal and child nutritional status” funded by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF)

Health Services Academy (HSA)

• Currently working as a “Senior Research Officer” (PPS-08) under the PSDP Project “Need Assessment of Health Human Resource for Driving Innovation and Achieving SDGs 2030” at Health Services Academy (HSA), Islamabad.
• Also serving as an “Assistant Professor” at HSA and teaching Population Dynamics Course to BSPH 3^rd
• Supervised one MSPH student. The title of the dissertation is:
  1. Contraception choice among HIV-positive reproductive-age women on Antiretroviral therapy in Pakistan
• Currently supervising two MSPH Students. The titles of their dissertations are:
  1. Migration Intentions among healthcare professionals and Their Potential Impact on Achieving Universal Health Coverage: a case Study from Islamabad, Pakistan

Assessment of Tobacco Harm Reduction Among Students in Selected Universities of Sindh, A Comparative Analysis of Smokers and Non-Smokers

Other Experience

• Experience in handling microdata and performing analysis in statistical packages like STATA and SPSS
• Worked as a Research Assistant (RA) at PIDE and produced a report on “Understanding and Summarizing Indus River System Authority (IRSA), Under the supervision of the Chief of Economist at PIDE
• Worked as a Research Assistant at IBA Karachi and did Quantitative and Qualitative Research on four rounds of HIES Data Set by using statistical

Packages like STATA and SPSS and calculated Food Security Indicators

• Did Quantitative and Qualitative Research on the IFPRI Data Set by using statistical Packages like STATA and SPSS and calculated the Women’s Empowerment Index called “Rural Women Composite Empowerment Index (RWCEI)” Food Security and Nutrition Security Indicators, and Vulnerability to Food Security Index
• Estimated Socio-Economic Impacts of Climate Change on Current and Future Maize Production in District Sargodha, Pakistan
• Experience in using the Trade-off Analysis Model for Multidimensional Impact Assessment (TOA-MD) to quantify the socio-economic indicators like net farm returns, per capita income, and poverty of hybrid maize growers
• Did Research on the Impact of Special day markets in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi
• Did an Internship at PIDE (Pakistan Institute of Development Economics) Islamabad, Pakistan under the supervision of Dr. Usman Mustafa, Director,

Economics of Conflict Security & Development Centre

• Serving British Council as Invigilator and Assistant Supervisor for ILETS, ACCA, IGCSE, and O/A Levels exams in Islamabad
• Experience in Research at the National Institute of Population Studies (NIPS), Islamabad
• Experience in Research at Health Services Academy (HSA), Islamabad.

DIPLOMAS/SHORT COURSES

• Four weeks of Internship at Ayub Agriculture Research Institute, Faisalabad
• One-week Training Course on “Result Based Management” held at PIDE (Pakistan Institute of Development Economics) from April 9-14, 2012 in Islamabad
• Workshop on “Urban Analytics” arranged by PIDE-RASTA on Saturday 4th June,

2022. Instructor: Dr. Murtaza Haider, Professor of Data Science & Real Estate Management, Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto, Canada

• Two weeks of training on “Python for Social Scientists” arranged by RASTA, PIDE from 31^st Jan – 2^nd Feb, and 13^th – 15^th Feb, 2023

TECHNICAL SKILLS

• Internet surfing, Downloading, MSAMOS -Word, Excel, Power point, Installing ^, SPSS
• MS Excellent Microsoft Windows Experience Office, Tools in  Office, StataEMathematica-Views   

Management

RESEARCH INTERESTS

• Development Economics
• Trade and International Economics
• Operations Research
• Health Economics
• Gender Studies
• Applied Econometrics
• Impact of Climate Change
• Natural Resource Management

Publications

• The Relationship Between Women’s Empowerment and Household Food and Nutrition

Security: A Multi-Level Analysis. Journal: PLOS ONE

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0275713. Published Online: 20 October, 2022

• Impact of women’s empowerment on household vulnerability to food insecurity in rural economy of Pakistan. Journal: Pakistan Journal of Agricultural Sciences DOI:10.21162/PAKJAS/22.25. Published online: 28 August, 2022
• Measurement and Determinants of Rural Women’s Empowerment in Pakistan.

Journal: Global Social Welfare  

DOI: 10.1007/s40609–023–00275–w. Published Online: 09 March, 2023 

• Patterns of Health Services Utilization During Pregnancy, Delivery, and Postpartum Period: Evidence from Pakistan Maternal Mortality Survey.

Journal:  NUST Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities

 Special Issue (November 30, 2022) pp. 49-62

• The Impact of Health Expenditures on Economic Growth in Selected South East Asian Countries. Journal: Health Economics Review (Under Review)

Women’s Empowerment: Mediating the Link between Healthcare Access and Reducing Out-of-Pocket Health Expenditures in Pakistan. Journal: Public Health (Under Review)

Conference Papers

• Kouser, S., Ishfaq, S., and Abedullah. 2021 Unveiling Women Empowerment and its Determinants across Rural Areas of Pakistan. Research for Development Impact (RDI)

Virtual Conference: Pathways through disruption, 1-2 July 2021, the University of Queensland, Australia

• Ishfaq, S., Abedullah, Kouser, S., Jepson, R., and Nightingale, G. 2021. Impact of women’s empowerment on household food and nutrition security in rural Pakistan. Paper presented as oral presentation at 22nd Annual Population Research Conference organized by Population Association of Pakistan and National University of Science and Technology, Islamabad
• Ishfaq, S., Abedullah, Kouser, S. 2021. The Development and Determinants of Rural Women Empowerment Index in Pakistan. Paper presented in International Conference on Economic Transformation, Agriculture and Rural Development 2021 organized by Faculty of Economics and Management, IPB University
• Ishfaq, S., Abedullah, Kouser, S., and Jepson, R. 2022. Impact of Women’s Empowerment on Household Vulnerability to Food Insecurity in Rural Economy of Pakistan. Paper presented at 2nd International Annual Conference “DEVELOPMENT:

DISCOURSES AND CRITIQUES” organised by Centre for Business and Economic Research

(CBER) and Institute of Business Administration Karachi (IBA)

• Ishfaq, S., Abedullah, Kouser, S. 2022. Measurement and Determinants of Rural Women’s Empowerment in Pakistan. Paper presented in “One Day Symposium on The

Great Transformation in Pakistan: Feminisation of Agriculture and its Implications for

Food Security and Women’s Empowerment” Organized under the ACIAR Funded

Research Project “Developing Competitive and Inclusive Value Chains of Pulses in Pakistan”  

• Sheraz, A., Ishfaq, S., Zafar, R. 2023. Longitudinal Examination of Fertility Intentions and contraceptive Behaviors over a period of three years: A Performance Monitoring for Action (PMA) Approach. Paper presented in the Scientific Session “Universal Health

Coverage and Social Protection” of the 13th International Public Health Conference

2023 “Shaping Healthcare through Evidence: Pioneering Solutions for Disease Prevention & Control” Organized by Health Services Academy (HSA) on 12th December 2023.

• Ishfaq, S., Mahmood Ali, T. Sheraz, A. 2023. Bridging the Gap: Women’s Empowerment as a Pathway to Reducing Out-of-Pocket Health Expenditures, Catastrophic Health Expenditures, and Impoverishment in Pakistan. Paper presented in the Scientific

Session “Health Systems Strengthening through Innovations “of the 13th International

Public Health Conference 2023 “Shaping Healthcare through Evidence: Pioneering Solutions for Disease Prevention & Control” Organized by Health Services Academy (HSA) on 12th December 2023.

• Sheraz, A., Ishfaq, S., Zafar, R. 2023. Longitudinal Examination of Fertility Intentions and contraceptive Behaviors over a period of three years: A Performance Monitoring for

Action (PMA) Approach. Paper presented in the 24th Annual Population Research

Conference on the overarching theme “Healthy Families and Communities in a Changing Society – The Role of Family Planning”. The conference is organized in collaboration with Forman Christian College University (FCCU), Lahore, from 21-22 November 2023 at FCCU Campus, Lahore.

• Ishfaq, S., Mahmood Ali, T. Sheraz, A. 2023. Bridging the Gap: Women’s Empowerment as a Pathway to Reducing Out-of-Pocket Health Expenditures, Catastrophic Health Expenditures, and Impoverishment in Pakistan. Paper presented as a poster in the 24th Annual Population Research Conference on the overarching theme “Healthy Families and Communities in a Changing Society – The Role of Family Planning”. The conference is organized in collaboration with Forman Christian College University (FCCU), Lahore, from 21-22 November 2023 at FCCU Campus, Lahore.
• Ishfaq, S., Mahmood Ali, T. Sheraz, A. 2023. Bridging the Gap: Women’s Empowerment as a Pathway to Reducing Out-of-Pocket Health Expenditures, Catastrophic Health Expenditures, and Impoverishment in Pakistan. Paper accepted as a poster in the

Session: P08 – Education, Employment, and Inequality at the Annual Meeting of Population Association of America 2024 from April 17th – 20th, 2024 in Columbus, Ohio, United States of America.

Honours and Awards

• 2021 RDI Conference Registration Grant – Unveiling Women Empowerment and its Determinants across Rural Areas of Pakistan. Research for Development Impact (RDI)

Virtual Conference: Pathways through disruption, 1-2 July, 2021, the University of Queensland, Australia

HEC Scholarship holder – International Research Support Initiative Program