Diaspora raises US $2.5 million for poverty alleviation

Pakistanis living outside the country have raised US $2.5 million for a unique poverty alleviation project run by the government of Pakistan, in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). "There is a great desire on the part of Pakistanis worldwide now they have a new vision and see Pakistan as a new country in the 21st century," chairman of the national commission on human development, Dr Nasim Ashraf, told IRIN on Monday. "I have lived in America for 30 years and have moved back with my family because I have faith in the new leadership," he added. There are more than 1.5 million Pakistanis living in 76 countries - including the Gulf states and Europe. Established and prosperous communities of expatriate Pakistanis exist in many North American, Canadian and north European cities. The fund, under the national commission on human development, was set up by 25 Pakistanis, mostly from the United States, who contributed US $100,000 each. The government of Pakistan has pledged US $32 million and US $1.7 million has come from UNDP, which has also promised another US $10 million over the next three years. "This is the first time contributions have been taken for a project on a national level," Ashraf maintained, saying that he had been involved with grass roots projects in Pakistan for many years. The aim of the project is to cut severe poverty in the country by half by the year 2015 along with other millennium development goals. Some 34 percent of Pakistan's population of 140 million live below the poverty line, earning less than a dollar a day. "This fund had to be set up at a national level to make even a dent in poverty here," he explained. As part of the initiative, a national volunteer core has also been set up in collaboration with the United Nations Volunteer Unit (UNV), aimed at mobilising community members to support literacy, health projects and poverty alleviation at the grassroots level. In the Mardan district of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), 5,500 volunteers were taken on to assist with the project. "We aim to have 500 volunteers at the core level, who will work in all areas," Ashraf said. The first phase of the project got underway in 19 districts, covering all of the provinces in the country, with education as the primary focus. Already, the commission has helped to enroll some 52,000 children in conservative Mardan and Narowal in Punjab Province since August this year. The aim is to get 475,000 youngsters into school by March 2004. Other projects include reducing child and maternal mortality by 33 percent and 25 percent respectively. "We want to invite Pakistanis worldwide to give their time and their monetary contributions to contact us and get involved in our volunteer programme," he said. "This is the way forward and Pakistani's abroad have a big part to play in that," he added.