Social Development Goals: ‘Exceptional engagement needed from government’

Young entrepreneurs, leaders meet to discuss civic engineering

PESHAWAR: A diverse group of young leaders and entrepreneurs met to discuss ideas on youth entrepreneurship and civic engineering, to help the country achieve sustainable development goals (SDG).

The ideas were discussed on Wednesday at a hotel during the Social Good Summit, organised by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in collaboration with Peshawar 2.0, a tech start-up. The event was held regarding the 17 sustainable development goals adopted by the United Nations General Assembly last week.



UNDP Pakistan Director Marc-André Franche, in a video message, said the world leaders are reviewing and adopting the next generation of SDGs. Calling the goals ambitious, he said, “An unprecedented engagement from civil society and leadership from the government [is required] to achieve the 17 goals.”

Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Peshawar 2.0, Faisal Khan, said, “It is of vital importance that we embrace technology and entrepreneurship in our pursuit of the new SDGs,” adding the youth, with their passion, energy and resilience, will have to play a special role.

Pakistan Software House Association (P@SHA) President Jehan Ara, one of the panelists at the event, said changes were observed as students are getting a more “practical” education, thereby promoting entrepreneurship. However, she said the government needs to provide young entrepreneurs with infrastructure that helps them establish their ventures. “Mentorship is extremely important,” she added.

“Peshawar is a small city where people are well connected to each other. To add to that, most of its population includes the youth,” said Amjad Arbad, who is working on getting angel investments. Adding to the discussion, he said, “Dedicated people and donors” were needed to promote entrepreneurship.

Besides others, Iftikhar Firdous from The Express Tribune, RTI Commissioner Professor Kalimullah, and Digital Editor for ARY News Omar Qureshi, were among the speakers.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 1^st, 2015.