Oxfam in Pakistan in collaboration with Bargad held a ceremony to mark the end of their nation-wide campaign to engage youth for sustainable development goals (SDGs) across Pakistan. Through the campaign over 2000 students from eleven universities in Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi and Quetta were encouraged to work towards climate change, gender equality, inclusive and sustainable growth and peace, justice and institutional developmentaligned with Pakistan’s Vision 2025.

Oxfam in Pakistan’s Country Director Mohammed Qazilbash appreciated the efforts of the youth of Pakistan and said, “Youth are a catalyst for development and especially in Pakistan where youth constitute more than 60% of country’s population. The objective of the youth campaign was to involve youth from higher education institutions in Pakistan with the SDGs through orientation and awareness. The SDG framework provides an avenue where 17 goals and 169 targets call for involving Pakistani youth with the SDGs. Pakistan has around 56 million youth and youth spaces are shrinking day by day. The speakers called for creating awareness and knowledge about how critical the SDG goals were to improving the lives of people and how to make the process sustainable and inclusive. They encouraged Pakistani youth to be an active part of achieving the SDGs.

Sabiha Shaheen, Executive Director Bargad stated, “We are investing a lot in youth and synchronizing youth through these pilot initiatives while evaluating their progress for further development. We will use the power of youth to address issues like poverty, gender discrimination, climate change, livelihoods, massive urbanization and conflicts.”

Published in Young Nation Magazine on April 28, 2018