KARACHI: David International Foundation and UNDP co-hosted the 9th session of the UNDP Women’s Fund at Acton House Gardens, Runnymede, British Deputy High Commission Karachi, with support from the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank, under the theme “Empowering with the Goals of Nations United Nations Sustainable Development: Partnerships for the Goals. The event centered around Goal 17 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, which is to build partnerships to achieve the Goals, by bringing together strong, dynamic men and women. Across sectors to come together, connect and find ways to connect and support each other to achieve people, planet and prosperity.
British Deputy Head of Mission Martin Dawson warmly welcomed the guests and shared insights on the Deputy High Commission’s 15 years of collaboration with the Ladies Trust, his three-year personal journey and his relationship with the Ladies Trust. He praised the Women’s Fund “for its exceptional impact on society, especially in promoting initiatives aligned with the UN Development Goals but also for its amazing work in education for young girls, food rations, wheelchairs and women entrepreneurs.” He expressed his admiration for the Women’s Fund’s dedication to empowering women and promoting community growth, highlighting the extent to which its initiatives are consistent with global goals for achieving progress. Concluding his speech, Mr. Dawson expressed his good wishes to the Ladies Fund and the distinguished guests present on this occasion.
Ladies Trust President Tara Uzra Daud welcomed the guests and gave a powerful speech about Pakistan’s heritage of natural upcycling and upcycling, and wanted to work with UNDP and other development agencies to not only train our people in our traditional sustainability (jali bottle, madka kulfi, newspaper covers) for street corn), renewable sustainability, solar ovens, and e-commerce, but we will take our training to other countries. “Pakistan’s interest in our country is something we are very proud of and others can learn from it.”
Raza Amjad Malik, UNDP, spoke about UNDP’s recent collaboration with David International Foundation to train 1,200 young people in the interior of Sindh in green skills, and their long-term partnership with the Women’s Fund since 2015 on the “Educate the Climate Girl” programme, 400 female journalists were trained in the field of climate journalism. She also spoke about looking forward to further cooperation with the Women’s Fund.
Sarmad Khan, formerly of the United Nations Development Programme, who traveled from New York City just to attend the event, spoke about being tasked by the UN Secretary-General to lead the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. He stressed that “Goal 17 serves as the cornerstone of sustainable development, as it enhances cooperation between governments, the private sector and civil society to achieve global goals. By strengthening comprehensive partnerships built on a common vision and common goals, this goal ensures the mobilization of the resources, technology and expertise necessary to effectively confront pressing challenges.” Sarmad stressed the importance of teamwork and strategic alliances to create a more sustainable, equitable and prosperous future for all.
Joyria Ali spoke about being a news anchor today and having roots as a Teach the Girl scholarship student. Faisal Katchelo spoke about a challenging time a few years ago when inland Sindh faced a devastating flood, and how Tara Ezra Dawood and the Dawood International Foundation team personally came with five truckloads of food rations.
The gathering also included a large panel of women in ECG, sponsored by HMB Bank, and women pioneers in aviation (Aisha Afzal, PSO), e-publishing (Amina Saeed), and sustainable finance (Madiha Sarim Alvi, HMB), in addition to Farooq Sabzwari (Chairman CEO of PSX), Mahfuz Qazi (World Bank Solar Project in Sindh), and Harun Khawaja (Asian Development Bank in Manila) who flew in from the Philippines.
The Who’s Who Guest list of 200 included Senator Nasreen Jalil, Senator Javed & Shabnam Jabbar, Jamila Habib, Tariq & Sabiha Kirmani, Amin Gulgee, Yaseen Anwar, Syed Ali Raza, Naeem Zamindar, Frieha Altaf, Saquib Malik, Shamaeel Ansari, Seema Taher Khan, Fatema Hassan, Izdeyar Setna, Hamida and Ayaz Dawood, Ameena Saiyid, Moneeza Butt, Sabiha Khatri, Aysha Baqir, Haseeb & Amrah Khan, Faisal Kachelo, Pir Muhammad Saleh, Irfan Soomro, German Deputy Head of Mission Andreas Wagner, Samir Dossa, Abid Qamar, Zeba Shah, Maliha Bhimjee, Nozrat Khan, et al.
Senator Nesreen Jalil won the Best Dressed award for Eco Glamor dress code, as she wore a stunning check print saree that is the height of sophistication, a true symbol of our culture, as well as eco fashion that has been worn over 30 times before. Nabila Bano gave a wonderful rendition of both the Pakistani and British national anthems, Muhammad Rajbir expertly performed the recitation, Misbah Khalid beautifully performed the recitation, Atiya Khan gave a thoughtful and eloquent translation of the recitation, and Fatima Hassan delivered a moving recitation in Urdu. A poem about the environment.
They were honored for their commitment to UNSDG and training women’s businesses to align with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Some of the grant sponsors include Habib Metro, Pakistan State Oil, Faisal Asset, Bisconi, Ismail Global, Maple Solar, Flow Petroleum, Bombay Lighthouse and our angel OGDCL. The organizers also expressed their gratitude to key partners, including Nestlé, Nescafe, Igloo, Sania Muscatia, Depilex, Macaron, IRMA, and a host of exceptional exhibitors such as Unique Collection, Jugnu Candles, Meem and StarShine-Truck Art.
Funds generated from this event will be used for DGF’s charitable efforts for the advancement of women with a focus on girl’s education.
