Category: Pakistan

TikTok Launches Brand-New Transparency Center as a Hub for Ongoing Transparency and Accountability

• The Transparency Centre comprises the latest H1 2021 Content Removal Requests Reports alongside previous Transparency Reports.

• Information in the Transparency Reports will be more visual and offer machine readable download data, following invaluable feedback from civil society organizations and other experts.

• The Center forms an important step in TikTok’s commitment to ongoing transparency and accountability.

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) TikTok has launched today a dedicated Transparency Center, to reinforce its commitment to accountability to its audiences. The updated Center will house the platform’s historical annual and quarterly Transparency Reports, in addition to upcoming interactive reports. The launch accompanies the latest H1 2021 Content Removal Requests Reports, also announced today. The Transparency Center and Reports are available in Urdu language as well. 

The platform diligently releases Transparency Reports, in recognition of the importance of staying accountable to the actions taken to safeguard the platform and protect its integrity. To build trust through transparency, TikTok began releasing reports in 2019 and have continued to evolve the studies and findings with new, deeper, and industry-first data disclosures. Key highlights include the volume of suspected underage account removals made, or the number of ads rejected for not meeting TikTok’s stringent standards.

To continue building on its transparency efforts, TikTok incorporated feedback from civil society organizations and experts to further develop refreshed report formats, now offering downloadable data in machine readable formats. Additionally, reports aim to be visually appealing, with interactive charts and graphs to better illustrate data and actions taken. To best reach its global audience, the reports will be published in 26 languages, including Urdu, English, French, German, Spanish, Traditional Chinese, Russian and Arabic, amongst others.

Through the Center, TikTok aims to make the Transparency Center a one-stop shop to learn about how it moderates and recommends content, develops products, and safeguards people’s information. The latest H1 2021 Content Removal Requests Reports updates are a continuation of that goal. The Center also comprises previous reports including:

• Community Guidelines Enforcement Report that offers quarterly insight into the actions taken to uphold Community Guidelines and Terms of Service.

• Information Requests Report that provides bi-annual data on the legal requests for user information received from government and law enforcement agencies and the nature of the platform’s response.

• Government Removal Requests Report that details the requests received bi-annually from government agencies to restrict content and any actions taken as a result.

• Intellectual Property Removal Requests Report that shows the volume of copyright and trademark content take-down notices and resulting response on a bi-annual basis.

For access to all Transparency Reports, visit the Transparency Center

Links for Urdu:

Transparency Center: https://www.tiktok.com/transparency/ur-pk/

H1 2021 Content Removal Requests Reports: https://www.tiktok.com/transparency/ur-pk/reports/

Community Guidelines: https://www.tiktok.com/community-guidelines?lang=ur

Karachi (Muhammad Yasir) Healthy Smiles, a locally registered & owned organization working on public health system initiatives, recently launched their website, www.healthy-smiles.org, at a recently held event in a private hotel in Karachi. The launch was attended by prominent members of the local and federal governments, foreign delegates, advocates, public health specialists, healthcare professionals and media personnel.

After numerous campaigns on Oral Cancer Awareness and the deleterious effects of Tobacco use, Healthy Smiles is a breath of fresh air, focusing on public health strategies by decreasing the tobacco-related health burden in Pakistan through new initiatives related to Harm reduction & Smoking Cessation.

The Healthy Smiles spokesperson said that consistent and concerted efforts are required to create a nation-wide narrative towards healthy behaviors through mobilization of civil and civic frameworks. All stakeholders, generally, are actively participating in creating 360 degree public health systems to benefit the general public and constant monitoring & evaluation can help us in identifying effective strategies for a significant impact.

Various attendees lauded the efforts of this organization in bringing about an initiative that will positively impact the lives of the general public. 

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) A delegation of senior executives, led by Adil Farhat, Chief Executive Officer, P&G (Procter & Gamble) Pakistan, met President Arif Alvi in Islamabad this week. The Company reaffirmed its commitment to Pakistan and to continue serving consumers and the community through its brands and operations in the country.

President Alvi lauded P&G’s efforts and said that Pakistan is gearing up towards new horizons as the Government is working hard to ensure that the country transforms into an attractive place for business from around the world.

The Company recently celebrated 30 years of its successful operations in the country. Since 1991, P&G Pakistan has been serving consumers with superior quality brands providing superior value and driving category growth. P&G has already brought valuable foreign direct investment into Pakistan by expanding its local manufacturing footprint and has made significant investments of over $150 million in fixed assets to date in the country. Its manufacturing plants at Port Qasim, Korangi and Hub enable over 80% of its business in Pakistan to be locally produced, allowing the Company to better serve its consumers. Moreover, P&G’s latest baby and feminine care manufacturing plant investment of over $44 million is a vote of confidence in the future of the country.

Today, P&G Pakistan exports its entire portfolio to Afghanistan as well as to 23 countries across Europe. This export approximately contributes over 10 million US Dollars to the country’s exchequer on an annual basis. P&G manufacturing sites in Pakistan are considered amongst the top 19 countries globally where 100% P&G manufacturing facilities meet the zero-waste-to-landfill qualification and deliver approximately 40%, 60% and 25% reduction in energy, water and CO2 respectively.

Expressing his views, Adil Farhat said, “Pakistan is an important market for P&G. For over three decades, we have improved Pakistani lives through world-renowned brands, investment in manufacturing facilities, the creation of direct and indirect employment, as well as helping communities in need. The support received from the Government of Pakistan over the years has been instrumental for our successful operations in the country.” He further added, “With the potential Pakistan has to offer, we remain committed to future growth and long-term investment in the country. We thank the President for his leadership, and hope that our strong partnership with the Government of Pakistan will help us to continue to serve Pakistani consumers in the years ahead.”

Islamabad (Muhammad Yasir) The federal government is seriously mulling to collect accurate number of people with disabilities (PWDs) in the next population census scheduled to be held next year in the country in order to have a data support for framing a national policy to ensure their rights as well as welfare.

“Discussions with relevant quarters as well as stakeholders are underway for possible considerations related to inclusion of PDWs in the next national census,” disclosed Dr. G.M. Arif, Member National Census Committee, government of Pakistan, while addressing a national conference titled ‘Inclusive Census 2022 in Pakistan’ here in Islamabad on Monday.

The event was organized by Community Based Inclusive Development Network Pakistan in collaboration with INGO Sightsavers and HANDS, a national NGO.

Key objectives of the conference were to advocate the government for ensuring effective counting of PWDs in the national population census 2022, and also to push for Pakistan’s effective participation in the second Global Disability Summit being held in Oslo, Norway, from February 15-17, 2022 (GDS22). The summit will mobilize efforts for the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), the principle of ‘Leaving No One Behind’ and on building back better and more inclusive with regards to Covid-19.

Dr. G.M. Arif also said that during the national census 2022, the focus should be on reaching out to the households with PWDs mainly both genders to collect their accurate population in the country.

Besides Dr. G.M. Arif, Rabia Awan, Director PSLM & Sample Design, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, Munazza Gillani, Country Director, Sightsavers Pakistan, Dr. Tanveer Ahmed, Chief Executive Officer HANDS, Asim Zafar, Secretary CBIDN, Dr. Sarwat Mirza, National Coordinator CBIDN, Itfaq Khaliq, Programme Manager, Sightsavers Pakistan, also spoke during the conference.

The speakers termed the PWDs as equal citizens of society and stressed the need for holding national census to collect accurate population of PWDs so that a sufficient chunk of government budget is ensured not only to secure their basic rights but also help them spend a respectable life by getting sustainable employment opportunities.

Rabia Awan, Director, PSLM & Sample Design, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, appreciated the efforts of Sightsavers and CBIDN Network in recognizing inclusion of people with disabilities in the national Census 2022.

Rabia Awan, Director, PSLM & Sample Design, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, appreciated the efforts of Sightsavers and CBIDN Network in recognizing inclusion of people with disabilities in the national census 2022.

She, however, said that the laws can be developed but it is important to ensure their effective implementation to provide basic rights to the people in general and people with disabilities.

She has endorsed the discussion and ensured that Pakistan Bureau of Statistics will make sure the inclusion of disability in the census. The digital tools will be used for effective counting of all the households. Overall the experts were of the view that accurate data of the people with disabilities is critical for the budgetary allocations and mapping out strategies for the development in disability sector. This would help in understanding the magnitude of a problem and making informed decisions accordingly.

Asim Zafar, Secretary CBIDN Network, was of the view that the actual data PWDs still remains a big challenge as it provides data support in planning and allocation of resources.

“We should focus on inclusion of PWDs in 2022 Census and for this purpose there should be a mechanism to empower the communities to include PWDs during data collection,” he said.

Dr. Sarwat Mirza said that disability itself is not an issue in society, as collective efforts from all stakeholders can be realigned to ensure rights of the PWDs.

“The data of PWDs can be collected through national census, population surveys and administrative data registration,” she said.

Lahore (NUT-DESK)

Inspector General of Police Punjab Rao Sardar Ali Khan has said that citizens who have attribute of honesty and spirit of service to people are real assets and heroes of our society. He said that honest man is honored by Allah and Adeel Ashraf’s honesty is a role model for whole nation.  Rao Sardar Ali Khan invited Adeel Ashraf, who had returned Rs 3 million rupees found in shopping bag in Khayali at Gujranwala to its original.

Upon this act of honesty, Adeel Ashraf was invited to Central police office. He was offered tea and an appreciation certificate by Rao Sardar Ali Khan.  IG Punjab also rewarded Adeel Ashraf out of his own pocket.  He said that co-operation between police and citizens is essential for betterment of society and police should encourage citizens to do good deeds.

Adeel Ashraf had found Rs 3 million rupees  in a shopping bag on the road a few days ago, which he handed over to  police and  police delivered it safely to real  owner.  Adeel Ashraf thanked IG Punjab for encouragement and said that he was sure that police would return full amount to the said citizen, so he handed over the money to police

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Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) Stressing the need to grab a substantial share of employments in international as well as local labour market, experts at a webinar have said this goal can be achieved only through getting technical education and vocational training that will also ensure economic stability in Pakistan.

The webinar titled ‘Accelerating Pakistan’s Economic Growth through Skilled Labour Force’ was arranged by the TVET Sector Support Programme (SSP) with the aim to highlight the significance of skills development for the youth to become globally competitive as well as ensure sustained economic and social development.

The TVET SSP is funded by the European Union, Germany and Norwegian Embassy while its implementing partner is the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) in close collaboration with the National Vocational and Technical Training Commission (NAVTTC), provincial Technical Education and Vocational Training Authorities (TEVTAs) and many other private sector organizations.

Labour Market, TVET and gender expert Sabina Ahmed, labour economist and labour market expert Dr Zafar Mueen Nasir and Head of TVET SSP Iris Cordelia Rotzoll were the experts in the webinar panel. 

Moderator Sonia Omair, Technical Advisor Communication TVET SSO, explained the importance of TVET sector and technical and vocational trainings to achieve strong careers in the national and global labour market.

Giving her expert opinion in the webinar, Sabina Ahmed said that education merely is not the way to progress and has the sustainable position in the job industry. “Trainings both technical and vocational for our people especially youth are direly needed to attain best career opportunities at national and international level,” she maintained.

Dr Zafar Mueen Nasir spoke in detail about how to gain the sustainable growth in social & economic sector. He mentioned that “sustainability in economic and social growth is related to the employment opportunities.”

He, however, linked job opportunities with the skills enhancement. “More the people are technically trained, more they have the chances to be recruited in reputable organizations,” he stressed.

Participating in the discussion, Iris Cordelia Rotzoll expressed the satisfaction that people are now realizing the importance of technical and vocational education and trainings for the workforce employability.

“People are enhancing their skills through TVET SSP and thus workforce employability is also increasing. Through green skills and digital skills, we can do more for the economy of Pakistan,” he said. 

The experts also focused on disparity between labour market demand of trained individuals and education given to the population in the contemporary era which is not according to the needs of the industry.

According to them, workforce employability depends on various factors such as education, managerial skills, adaptation of technology, level of investment and but technical and vocational competence remains on the top. They also stressed that the workforce must have a high-quality education along with demand-driven skills training.

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) This Saturday night, 30 iconic landmarks and monuments will turn blue in Pakistan to celebrate World Children’s Day and UNICEF’s 75^th anniversary.

Monuments will go blue in Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Quetta, Ziarat and Peshawar.

This initiative is led by the Federal Ministry of Human Rights, UNICEF and partners, to mark Pakistan’s collective commitment to child rights.

Pakistan has set a world record in the number of buildings turning blue on 20 November since 2019. Since 2018, buildings, monuments and landmarks across the world have turned blue to mark World Children’s Day as part of a global initiative led by UNICEF.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has been working tirelessly for child rights all over the world since 1946. UNICEF opened its first office in Karachi in 1948, in the year following Pakistan’s independence.