Diana Award recipient continues to serve

Alina Azhar, who became the first Pakistani to claim the prestigious Lady Diana Award for philanthropy in summer of last year, has now taken her humanitarian work to the international stage. In Istanbul, where she is a student, Azhar has focused her philanthropic efforts towards increasing access to education and healthcare for refugees, with the aid of her friends and the local Pakistani community.

The 21-year old, who was also recently elected as a member of Pakistan’s National Youth Assembly, is reputed as one the most promising young humanitarians in the country.

Last year, the young change-maker came to fore for her work towards increasing awareness about mensuration among vagrant women in Lahore. For her efforts, she was presented the Lady Diana Award, which the only charity is set up in the memory of the Princess of Wales and her belief that young people hold the power to reshape the world.

Today, back in her home country, Alina has once again directed her charitable endeavors to the city of Lahore, where she, along with her team, has been increasing awareness about the global pandemic. Her latest charity drive involved distributing facemasks, shoes and warm clothes among vagrant communities living in the city’s Jauhar Town area.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Azhar said that her journey towards philanthropy started when she was a primary school student in Lahore. “I volunteered for a project for the Imran Khan Foundation in fifth grade. That single experience made me realise my calling for social work,” said the budding philanthropist. “The passing of my father in 2015 was a devastating setback in my mission. But my mother, grandfather and my friends urged me to continue my social work and it has been almost 11 years now that I have been associated these humanitarian causes,” she added.

Alina Azhar, who runs a charitable organisation called Aasra, said that she hasn’t necessarily particular community to serve. Her organisation however takes a special interest in working for the rights of underprivileged women, gender minorities, orphans and the elderly living in slums and deplorable conditions.

“We have been actively involved in educating women living in vagrant communities and slum areas, about their reproductive health and hygiene.

Other than that, we are also working towards increasing financial independence for gender minorities by conducting tailoring lessons for transgender individuals. In the future, I hope to create more shelter homes for orphans and elderly in my country, while advancing my efforts for refugee betterment in Turkey, where I study,” Azhar told The Express Tribune.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 9^th, 2020.