Abstract
This study attempted to develop a happiness index tool for evaluating rehabilitation initiatives used to reinstate returnees at district Swat, Pakistan. The Happiness Index (HI) tool compares two periods, i.e., HI before rehabilitation (BR) and HI after rehabilitation (AR). The returnees’ happiness index (RHI) is also compared with Pakistan’s Happiness Index to identify the difference. Data for this study were elicited from 382 respondents through a structured survey questionnaire. The results show that after rehabilitation (AR), the returnees’ happiness index improved from 3.89 to 5.36, which is still less than the world happiness index of Pakistan, i.e., 5.65 in 2019. This study concluded that rehabilitation projects had a significantly positive impact on the HI of the returnees. However, more effective and sustainable initiatives are required to align the RHI to the HI of Pakistan. Further, the RHI tool adopted by this study is significant for measuring the happiness of the marginalized and affected people in Pakistan and beyond.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 476 |
Journal | Social Sciences |
Volume | 10 |
Issue number | 12 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Dec 2021 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This work was supported by the European Union 6th and 7th Framework Programme IST Integrating Projects “Augmented Multi-party Interaction with Distance Access” (AMIDA, FP6-033812) and “Together Anywhere Together Anytime” (TA2, FP7-214793), and the Swiss National Center of Competence in Research (NCCR) on “Interactive Multi-modal Information Management” (IM2).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
Keywords
- Happiness index
- IDPs
- Rehabilitation
- Returnees
- Swat Pakistan
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Social Sciences (all)