Pakistan Development Forum

Simon Fraser University Surrey
Sponsored by the British Columbia Council for International Cooperation and The Maria-Helena Foundation
A number of organizations are joining hands to display and present their development work in Pakistan, including The Maria-Helena Foundation, The Citizens Foundation, the Human Development Foundation, and the CARE Foundation, Pakistan.
Please join us to learn about our development efforts in Pakistan. Let us work together to make a difference in the lives of millions of underserved, but deserving Pakistanis.

For full program, click here.

The all-day Forum was hosted by BCCIC and the Maria-Helena Foundation with participation from The Citizens Foundation, Oxfam Canada, and Care Foundation (Pakistan). It was intended to raise awareness amongst Pakistani diaspora about how they can support development efforts in Pakistan via these charities, particularly relating to education of women, and ending violence against women.

The Forum was well-attended by students, professionals, and families. The Executive Director of BCCIC, Shams Alibhai, articulated the Council’s commitment to support the fostering of leadership and organizational development for the various charities.

Subsequently, Aamir Baig and Abdul Allibhoy from the Citizens Foundation (TCF) showed a TCF achievement video and presented statistics on the current state of education in Pakistan. TCF strives to provide quality education to needy children of Pakistan, and, in the small span of 15 years, has built 660 schools in various urban and rural areas, providing quality education to 92,000 students. TCF only appoints females to its teaching staff, and currently employs 4800 female teachers.

Miriam Palacios, the Oxfam representative, spoke about her organization’s initiative to end violence against women. Miriam, originally from Guatemala, travelled to Pakistan to establish a chapter of the international 'We Can End All Violence against Women' campaign.

Dr. Muhammad Iqbal, President and Founder of the Maria-Helena Foundation (MHF), addressed the importance of tackling the population explosion and poverty in Pakistan. He mentioned education being a key factor in helping alleviate poverty, and emphasized the importance of female education to reduce fertility rates, child mortality, maternal mortality, and violence against women in Pakistan. Tahir Din, also from MHF, addressed the use of social networking to fundraise for scholarships.

The last speaker of the day was Hafsa Ishtiaq, who represented CARE Foundation, (Pakistan). Hafsa highlighted how CARE distinguishes itself from other organizations by adopting government-run schools, and improving their physical infrastructure and human capital. This is achieved by constructing missing facilities such as libraries and science labs and training teachers. In this manner, CARE maximizes existing physical and human capital, making its undertakings efficient and cost-effective.