Appreciating the significant contribution of INGOs towards humanity and development, Government and Civil society representative expressed that the role of civil society and development and humanitarian agencies is highly crucial to bring transformational change at the societal level.
These views were expressed at the annual showcasing event of the Pakistan Humanitarian Forum (PHF) on the work of PHF member organizations which was accomplished in year 2021.
Director General, Federal Directorate of Immunization Dr. Soofia Younas stressed on the joint efforts at all levels to meet the desired outcomes of development and humanitarian goal in the country. She further highlighted the importance of investing in the overall health with special focus on mother child health and immunization of children for a healthy and prosperous future.
Head of Office Pakistan & Iran, European Commission Humanitarian Aid Office – ECHO , Taheeni Thammannagoda said that organizations are aligning their program with development and humanitarian needs in the country. She highlighted their role in providing humanitarian relief such as food and nutrition, shelter, health care, water and sanitation and education in emergencies.
A five-year strategic plan of PHF was also shared at the ceremony to better educate audience at large about future plans to contribute to development and humanitarian sector of Pakistan.
Giving details of the PHF member organizations’ projects, Country Coordinator of Pakistan Humanitarian Forum Syed Shahid Kazmi informed the audience that 275 development and humanitarian projects were completed during the year 2021 with a total funding of Rs25 billion by reaching out to 19.9 million people in Pakistan.
He said that among the 275 projects, 131 were the humanitarian and 144 were the development projects. Through these 275 projects, PHF member organizations brought a significant change in the area of health, education, women economic development, nutrition, food security, disaster management, shelter/NFI and many other areas.
He mentioned that the INGOs are investing lots of resources in Pakistan and reaching out to communities in hard-to-reach areas and changing their lives but somehow their contribution is not really visible. “So it is a high time that the people must aware that this sector is fully committed to build the capacity of local organizations and to provide the assistance to the people,” he said.
Farhan Ahmed Khan, Chair of PHF Executive Committee, shared that among these 275 projects, 44 percent projects had COVID 19 component, 23 percent had cash component and 33 percent had DRR component. He further mentioned that PHF and its member organizations are fully committed to bringing a drastic change in Pakistan in both the humanitarian and development AAA development sectors and to playing a very effective role in fulfilling the targets of Vision 2025 and all the global and international commitments of Pakistan.
While addressing to the ceremony, Lt Gen (Retd) Omar Mehmood Hayat, Chairman PHF, Board of Trustees, said that how significant is the role of such forum to take position on any development and humanitarian challenge in the country. He further mentioned that the five-year plan is a strategic guideline, which helps PHF and its member organizations to take tangible actions and perform a viable role to meet the goals of SDGs and Vision 2025 of Pakistan.
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