About Us – mhcost.com

Why MH-COST Exists

Around 70–80% of the Pakistani Bengali community in Karachi face ongoing challenges around citizenship and state recognition, despite many families having lived in Pakistan for three or four generations. Most are under 30, and were born in Pakistan

MH-COST was created to explore how these challenges around recognition impact young people’s mental health. It is the first study of its kind in Pakistan, and one of the largest studies conducted globally with a stateless population.

Our Mission & Approach

Understand

Generate rigorous, first-of-its-kind evidence on how statelessness affects the mental health of young people in Karachi.

Include

Centre the community at every stage from survey design to interpretation of findings, through our Community Research Team and Youth Advisory Committee.

Act

Turn research into co-produced mental health resources and a youth-led awareness campaign that creates lasting, practical change.

Why This Matters

~ 80%

of the community face citizenship barriers

900

young people taking part in the study

3

research phases, Oct 2025 onwards

1st

study of its kind in Pakistan

Get Involved

Whether you’re a researcher, a community member, or an organisation interested in partnering with us, we’d love to hear from you.