Category: Pakistan

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) Accelerate Prosperity, Pakistan has launched a two-month fast track incubation program, co-managed by the National Incubation Center, Islamabad, for green businesses operating in Sindh, KPK, Gilgit Baltistan and Rawalpindi/Islamabad. The program is focused on investment readiness and aims to take startups through an accelerated cycle for scaling their business. This will be a hybrid program and will be executed from the platform of the National Incubation Center – Pakistan’s largest incubator managed by Teamup in partnership with the Ministry of IT and Jazz.

The program has been designed specifically for green startups, and will cover areas of design thinking, business development, marketing, building financial narrative and determining legal structure, and most importantly investment readiness. Selected startups will undergo curriculum sessions in addition to one-on-one mentoring and pitching clinics, they will gain access to the expert teachings of industry veterans, seasoned entrepreneurs, investors, and trainers from Teamup’s extensive global network.

All areas of learning have been curated for Green Businesses specifically and aims to address the specific challenges for startups in the domain. Sector experts will be engaged to provide support to startups and provide key sector insights for scaling business.

The incubation program will conclude with a Pitching Competition, whereby top 3 to 5 startups will be eligible to receive seed financing from Accelerate Prosperity subject to due diligence.

While the program is open for all green businesses operating in Sindh, KPK, GB and Rawalpindi/Islamabad; however, women-led and youth-led (16-35 yrs.) businesses are highly encouraged to apply and will be given preference for induction.

If you are running a business focused on green solutions, apply for the opportunity to gain access to world class curriculum, expert mentorship, and investment opportunities. The last date to apply is 5^th November 2021.

Apply here: https://pk.accelerateprosperity.org/cycle/incubation-for-green-solutions-businesses/

Islamabad (Muhammad Yasir) GIZ, UNICEF and WaterAid collaborated to celebrate Global handwashing Day in the capital city. The event kicked off with handwashing demonstration presented to the participants followed by panel discussion on the topic “Our Future is at Hand – Let’s Move Forward Together”. “Comprised of experts from UNICEF Pakistan, GIZ, WaterAid Pakistan, Ministry of Health and Unilever. The panel discussion discussed the Civil Society perspective on hand hygiene for All, role of international development partners, and role of private sector in promoting hand hygiene The panel discussion was followed by the Award Ceremony for the winner of GHWD Campaign by the Youth Wizards. Mr. Wajid Zahid who won the cash prize and appreciation as his social media campaign attracted over 10,000 views. 

There was also a presentation of the provincial campaign of GIZ on Global Handwashing Day.

While speaking at the event, Ms. Seemi Ezdi, chairperson senate committee on climate change acclaimed the efforts of organizers of the event and emphasized that it is the need of the time to proactively bring the issue of handwashing in forefront to build a conducive environment. This can only be done through effective collaborations. “Government will always support such initiatives which educate masses about adopting hygienic practices and developing the habit of handwashing to curb COVID Pandemic”, she further added.

GIZ country Director Mr.Tobias Becker shared his thoughts on the importance of handwashing. He stated that 3.5 million children globally effected from disease related to handwashing. Handwashing offers most efficient response to pandemic as it removes germs, reduces health risk, prevent spread of germs and pathogen to others. Sanitation for million programs aims to raise awareness of handwashing habitat young age by providing handwashing facilities at school level. For this purpose, GIZ has been engaged with Schools in organizing various awareness activities and building infrastructure facilities in Balochistan region.

Speaking on this occasion, Mr. Munawar Hassan, head of programmes, WaterAid highlighted the change in people’s attitudes towards hygiene. He said “People’s own behavior is a major barrier in adopting the hand washing practices therefore we need to be self-reflective on our hygiene practices and try to promote positive hygiene practices in our families, communities and workplaces”.

Speaking at the same event, Mr Kamran Naeem, WASH specialist from UNICEF stressed the importance of universal handwashing towards achieving UNICEF core commitments for children. He appreciated government effort and commitment to hand hygiene by being the first country in the world to launch the Hand Hygiene for All roadmap and highlighted that currently provincial governments are developing costed hand hygiene work plans which will be used for resource mobilization. Through the Clean and Green Pakistan initiative, the Pakistan Approaches to Total Sanitation (PATS), and the WASH in institutions programs, UNICEF will continue supporting the government of Pakistan to achieve its WASH goals by 2030, Said Mr Kamran.

Dr Razia from the ministry of health highlighted her ministry`s commitment to improve hand hygiene in health care facilities and schools to reduce the spread of diseases and hospital acquired infections. She called upon the private sector to support the government in behavior change and also in complimenting little government resources to improve WASH in health care facilities. “ Now that we have concluded the health care facility scoping study which tells the WASH situation, the government moves towards ensuring availability of handwashing stations at critical points and providing menstrual health friendly facilities” said Dr Rabia.

Speaking on the role of the private sector in ensuring universal hand hygiene, Ms Fatima, from Unilever Pakistan highlighted that, COVID-19 has proved that failure to WASH hands with soap may not be an issue of affordability but of priorities. She appealed to government and the developmental sector to partner with the private sector to ensure product availability to everyone including the hard to reach areas. “As Unilever, we are committed to continue developing innovative products suitable for everyone despite class or location” said Ms Fatima. She indicated that every business would be happy to support any sustainable WASH program.

GIZ along with partnered organization initiated a program name Sanitation for Millions, to increase awareness and understanding about the importance of safe hand hygiene and to foster a culture of handwashing. The activities for the global handwashing days are targeted at students of primary, secondary and high schools of Baluchistan since students have proven to be the champions for changing unsafe practices. By celebrating the Global Handwashing Days, Sanitation for Millions has sensitized a wide range of affiliated WASH stakeholders outside schools such as community representatives, government officials and parents to participate and adopt safe hand hygiene practices. Overall, it is estimated that more than 100,000 people have been reached so far.

Under this program, they have re-established WASH Clubs in schools in Baluchistan where hygiene issues and cleanliness are discussed amongst students and safe hand hygiene is promoted. The leaders of the WASH Clubs ensure that all classes have one day a week for group handwashing and school toilet cleaning.

Sanitation for Millions Pakistan conducted theatre performances by trained artists on handwashing and personal hygiene in schools. This proved to be very effective since the artists conveyed their messages in a humorous way and school children paid good attention to their performances

Sanitation for Millions has designed workshops to train female preachers (Waithats) as trainers to train on safe hygiene and sanitation. 100 Waithats (female preachers) from the Ministry of Awqaf, Islamic Affairs and Holy Places (MoIA) attended the workshops on “Sanitation and Hygiene promotion” carried out by Sanitation for Millions in Amman, Irbid and Mafraq Governorates and learned about safe hygiene and handwashing practices.

Sanitation for Millions designed a concept for a guidebook on safe hygiene from an Islamic perspective. The guidebook includes the topic of safe hand hygiene, referencing both WHO standards as well as Islamic principles on the issue

Sanitation for Millions follows a child- and gender-friendly, inclusive and equitable approach by constructing facilities and promotes activities that encourage safe hygiene practices which are adapted to the needs of the users (especially of girls and women, and persons with special needs) and are culturally appropriate and regard age-related needs (especially of minor children). As a response to the current emergency due to COVID19 pandemic, the adaptation to the local context, repair rehabilitation and adequate maintenance of the existing infrastructure for proper hand washing should be a priority for Sanitation for Millions.

Hand washing is one of the core activities carried out with regard to safe hygiene. According to international research results, infections are transmitted in 80 % of the cases by hands. Therefore, hand washing is one of the most efficient response to pandemics and for infection control since it removes germs, reduces health risks, prevents the spread of germs and pathogens to others and is not costly.

 

Lahore (NUT-DESK)

The prime suspect in the murder of Noor Mukadam, Zahir Jaffer, has been formally charged for the crime by the Islamabad High Court on Thursday.

Besides Jaffer, two of the family’s employees — Jamil and Jan Mohammad — were also indicted, along with the Chief Executive Officer of Therapy Works, Tahir Zahoor.

Additional sessions judge Atta Rabbani indicted a total of six individuals in the case and all the accused were brought to the court from Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail.

Meanwhile, the court has summoned the prosecution witnesses on October 20 and directed that the trial must be commenced immediately and be completed within two months.  

During the hearing, the lawyer of Zahir’s parents, Advocate Rizwan Abbasi, said that the evidence produced in the court had nothing to do with Zakir Jaffer, therefore, he could not be indicted in the murder case.

In response, Shaukat Mukadam’s lawyer said the evidence can be reviewed during the trial. 

“The accused is being charged, but have not been sentenced yet, Shaukat Mukadam’s lawyer said.

During the court’s proceedings, Zahir continued to interject remarks and said that the employees of Therapy Works had entered his house when the murder took place.

Zahir also apologised to Shaukat Mukadam in the courtroom and begged him for forgiveness. 

“My life is in danger, please have mercy on me,” Zahir said to Shaukat Mukadam. 

The murder

Noor Mukadam, a 27-year-old woman, was raped and murdered with a sharp instrument on July 20 within the limits of the ​Kohsar police station in Islamabad. A case of murder was later registered at the same police station by Noor’s father, former Pakistani ambassador Shaukat Ali Mukadam.

Zahir is the prime suspect in Noor Mukadam’s murder case. The grisly murder, in which Mukadam was beheaded, took place on July 20 in Islamabad’s F-7 area.

The Islamabad police had arrested suspect Zahir on the night of July 20 from his house where, according to Noor’s parents, he killed her with a sharp instrument and severed her head.

The gruesome incident sparked a nationwide campaign seeking justice for her, with #JusticeforNoor becoming a top trend on Twitter.

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Islamabad (Muhammad Yasir)  The Pakistan Humanitarian Forum mark international disaster risk reduction day by organizing virtual session with the focus on current year theme “International cooperation for developing countries to reduce their disaster risk and disaster losses”. The virtual session was attended by imminent speakers, intellectuals, development, and humanitarian practitioners. Special Assistant to Climate Change, Mr. Amin Aslam also shared his recorded message for the important event.

Over the years, Pakistan managed to cope with the disaster such as 2005 earthquakes, floods in 2021, pandemic in 2020 but there is high need to work more on disaster preparedness and mitigation at all levels said Mr. Javed Jabbar, Former Senator of Pakistan. He further added there is need to expedite efforts at regional level such as the forum like SAARC which can play an important role for extensive cooperation for disaster mitigation and preparedness for South Asian countries. He further added there is need to work more on robust data and research which focus that how to anticipate disaster as currently there is hardly such data and research available in the country. He also stressed to activate official and non-official diplomacy channels which forge regional, national and international partnerships for disaster risk reduction.

Natural calamities are unavoidable so there is high need to focus more on right policies and practices which may help to stop natural calamities turning into disasters said, Mr. Abid Qayyum Sulehri. He further added, disaster risk preparedness should be the top priority of the government at all levels though Pakistan currently focusing on various initiatives led by NDMA but there should be more focused strategies to deal with regional disasters or to work in collaboration with neighboring countries during disasters.

He further added, there is high need to build alliances both at regional and international level to cope up with climate change to mitigate the risk of disasters. He also stressed to focus more on global parentship for human security as in such a digital age we can’t work in isolation and we have to reaffirm our commitment on sustainable development goals related to disaster reduction with a motto “to leave no one behind”.

Building resilience especially for communities should be the high priority of the government at all levels to mitigate the risk of disaster. Welthungerhilfe is highly focusing on building resilient communities in urban, semi urban and rural setting in Pakistan, said Mr. Amjad Ahmed, Disaster Risk Finance Coordinator, Welthunferhilfe. There is high need to sensitize communities on early responses to cope up with disaster.

Pakistan is among those countries which are badly impacted by Climate Change. We are among the top ten countries, and this is not the list of our choice said Mr. Amin Aslam, Special Assistant for Prime Minister on Climate Change. We are very prone toward to disaster and the only strategy to mitigate the climate risk is the disaster risk reduction. It is high time to speak more on disaster risk reduction and to come up with robust policies and programmes to mitigate the risk of climate and disaster. I highly congratulate PHF for organizing webinar on such important subject. We need to build more awareness on the subject at all levels.

Disaster impact people lives in many ways such as the impact of COVID-19 on people lives especially on the livelihood is quite catastrophic. Such impact really urges the international and national cooperation to cope up with the risk of such disaster at all levels. It is high time to focus on anticipatory response, early action to manage the disaster said, Taheeni from European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid (ECHO).  She further added, ECHO believes to reduce the potential impact of crisis specifically on vulnerable people and believe on timely response. Disaster preparedness is the top priority of the ECHO and we are stressing on regional and international cooperation for disaster risk reduction at all levels.

She stressed, there is urgent need that all development partners, government must focus on disaster preparedness and stress more on regional and international cooperation.

Disaster Risk reduction, preparation, mitigation, and timely response is very highly important. We need to focus more on international and national cooperation to mitigate the risk of disaster at all levels, said Mr. Farhan, Ex-Comm Chairperson and Country Coordinator of CESVI. He further added that people in Pakistan are very resilient people in the world and always cope up with disaster so it’s a high time to work on disaster mitigation strategies and to activate international and national forum for substantial action at all levels said, Mr. Farhan.

Islamabad (Muhammad Yasir) Four social enterprises have emerged victorious from the first cohort of the UNDP-Jazz’s SDG Bootcamps for Social Enterprises. Overall, 70 social enterprises from across Pakistan participated in the first cohort with over 40 percent participation by women.

The winning social enterprises include Digital Libas, an initiative from Balochistan providing skilled women workers with the opportunity to become financially independent; Sukoon, a health-tech initiative from Punjab aiming to revolutionize mental health care; Asani.io, an IoT and automation based social enterprise from Sindh working on solving water scarcity and mismanagement issues; and Peshawar Waste Management Company from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,  a social enterprise working towards building sustainable communities by converting daily waste into natural fertilizers.

Thirteen of the total participants were from Balochistan, 19 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 17 from Sindh and 21 from Punjab. Held online, these five-day bootcamps aimed at capacity building essential for enterprise market success and outreach. These bootcamps also managed to attract participants from some of the country’s most remote areas i.e., Bhurewala, Mastung, Naushki, Pishin, Bajaur, Jamshoro and Bahauddin.

Knut Ostby, Resident Representative UNDP Pakistan, said at the conclusion of the first cohort, “UNDP is proud to work with Jazz to support nascent social enterprises in Pakistan. We hope our SDG Bootcamps will help these young entrepreneurs play a vital role in addressing the development challenges of the country to ensure that we Leave No One Behind.”

Syed Fakhar Ahmed, Chief Regulatory and Corporate Affairs Officer, Jazz stated, “As a technology-driven company, our focus remains on digitally enabling the masses, especially the youth and women. We hope the social enterprises part of the first cohort have gained valuable knowledge on scaling up their innovative solutions. Wishing them luck on their respective journeys, we look forward to the second cohort to be conducted later this year.”

These five-day bootcamps, organized by School of Leadership Foundation (SoLF), were led by master trainers and covered a wide array of modules including Branding and Customer Engagement, Marketing and Digital Transformation, and Financial Management, Feasibility and Scaling. On the final day of each regional bootcamp, the social enterprises pitched their business ideas to a panel of judges of industry experts.

The winner of the national bootcamp, planned later this year, will be provided with an opportunity to join Youth Co:Lab, the largest youth social entrepreneurship movement in Asia and the Pacific along with access to mentorship opportunities and exclusive digital giveaways by Jazz. Registrations of second cohort are now open https://bit.ly/3tHwqTu.

These bootcamps are a part of the agreement inked between Jazz and UNDP in December 2020. The program comprises overall 20 bootcamps nationwide by December 2022 targeting close to 800 youngsters and 50 percent women participation. The aim is to promote promising social ventures that are addressing the country’s developmental challenges.

Lahore (NUT-DESK)

Bakhtawar Bhutto-Zardari, the daughter of Asif Zardari and late Benazir Bhutto, has been blessed with a baby boy.

Taking to Twitter, Bakhtawar announced that the baby was born on October 10.

Reacting to the news, PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and the brother of Bakhtawar also expressed his joy of becoming an uncle (mamoo).

Aseefa Bhutto-Zardari also tweeted about the news and expressed her gratefulness.

“Officially a khala!!! Alhamdullilah!” she wrote.

 Bakhtawar was married to businessman Mahmood Choudhry on January 29, 2021.

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Lahore (Muhammad Yasir)  “Lahore Prime” a project by Lahore Central Business District Development Authority (LCBDDA) also known as Central Business District Punjab (CBD Punjab) relocated trees from Lahore Prime site which has recorded 100% growth on new site within the CBD Punjab locality. CBD Punjab has been known for its initiatives on environment conservation during development.

Talking on this transplantation, Executive Director Commercial, LCBDDA – Muhammad Omer, told “Relocating a tree is not an easy task, especially when it comes to moving mature trees. Having the right tools and tree expertise ensures the survival of your tree during the tree relocation process. LCBDDA took this responsibility and with assistance of environment experts we achieved 100% growth on new locations within CBD Punjab vicinity”.

Lahore Central Business District Development Authority (LCBDDA) is aligned with the government vision focusing to encourage more influx towards the national exchequer. CBDs, the areas with high economic activity will provide suitable ecosystem and infrastructure to supporting income of people. This contribution may likely increase as Pakistan rides high on the economic growth. Urban groups, in presence of central business districts (CBDs), office facilities and business hubs will carry new opportunities.