MPAs laud HANDS for ‘sharing state’s responsibility’

NGO delivers in over 21,000 villages across the country, says HANDS CEO

KARACHI: Sindh Agriculture Minister Muhammad Ismail Rahoo lauded on Saturday the Health and Nutrition Development Society (HANDS), a non-governmental organisation, on for sharing government’s responsibility towards tending to the public’s needs.

Speaking at the 40th National Community Convention, held to celebrate HANDS’ 40-year-long journey, he said, “It is the state’s responsibility to take care of its citizens and provide them basic needs but HANDS [too] has been fulfilling it successfully.” Assuring that the Sindh government would continue to extend support to the organisation, the agriculture minister appreciated that HANDS had come a long way since its inception. “Great people often begin [their journey] empty-handed,” he said.

Narrating the organisation’s journey of 40 years, HANDS chief executive officer Dr Shaikh Tanveer Ahmed said the journey hadn’t been a smooth one. It started in one of Malir’s small villages and since then, the organisation has expanded, presently comprising a workforce of around 10,000 and delivering services in over 21,000 villages in 59 districts of Pakistan, he shared.

“The organisation has launched various projects in different areas over the past 40 years,” he said, adding that it also partnered with the provincial government on multiple issues.

Speaking about the various issues faced by the country, HANDS chairperson Dr Abdul Ghaffar Billoo underlined the completion of the 2030 development agenda set by the government.

“As the government works towards achieving its targets, emphasis also needs to be laid upon [the provision of] basic human rights, including healthcare, education, livelihood, water, sanitation and shelter,” he added.

Also speaking on the occasion, Sindh Local Government Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah outlined different projects proposed by HANDS, including an institute for developing skills and a college for nursing students. He promised that the Sindh government would extend all possible support to the organisation for both the initiatives.

Sindh Women Development Minister Shehla Raza attributed the increase in the number of problems faced by the province to the growth of its population. “People from other provinces continue to come to Sindh which increases the province’s financial burden,” she said. She added that Sindh was already mired down by a host of problems, specifically pointing out that a number of villages along its coastal belt had vanished due to sea erosion.

In such a situation, “how can a province run on limited resources?” she asked, adding that “other provinces need to consider Sindh’s problems.”

Raza further said that women in different areas of Sindh, especially Tharparkar, were being allotted land, which she termed a move towards women empowerment. “We want women to move forward and progress,” she said.

However, Sindh Human Settlements Minister Ghulam Murtaza Baloch acknowledged that the “standard of education in Sindh is very poor,” adding that the government was “trying to fix it.”

Pakistan Muslim League-Functional MPA Nusrat Sehar Abbasi too stressed the need for empowering women and said she was pleased to see “visible participation by women on the occasion.”

“Here, I can see the entire country under one roof,” she said, praising HANDS for its endeavours. “It does well what is actually the state’s responsibility,” said Abbasi.

The convention was attended by over 5,000 HANDS workers and around 2,000 community activists from different organisations operating across Pakistan. Approximately 65 per cent of the participants comprised women, who had set up stalls displaying local handicrafts.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 26^th, 2020.