This paper synthesises and assesses evidence from the existing literature on poverty and livelihoods, access to basic services and social protection, and aid and its governance in conflict-affected areas of Pakistan, particularly the north-western province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and the Federally Administrative Tribal Areas (FATA). More specifically, it focuses on a number of important questions, including: 

• How have crises affected the livelihoods, well-being and access to services of people in KP and FATA?
• What has the formal institutional response looked like (of both domestic and external actors), and how effective has it been in supporting and rebuilding damaged livelihoods?
• What is the role of markets in shaping people’s livelihoods, and how have crises affected local economic activity?

Where appropriate, special attention is also paid to the question ofevidence: in addition to its extent, what is the quality of the evidencebase? How robust are studies and are they ‘good enough’ to informdecision-making?

Babar Shahbaz, Qasim Ali Shah, Abid Q. Suleri, Steve Commins and Akbar Ali Malik