Children First

Cllr Shabir Pandor and myself with Mubashar Nabi and Children First colleague

I attended the presentation  at PKWA, given by Mubashar Nabi, Chief Executive of the Pakistan children’s charity, Children First. My ward colleague Shabir Pandor also attended, as did several other councillors. It was an informative and enjoyable evening. The scale of their operation was astounding. In addition to their work in general, to improve the lives of children, they initiated an emergency response programme in the aftermath of the flash floods in Muzzaffarabad.

They explained what they have achieved in the last year, which is awe-inspiring. Their vision is a society where children and their best interests come first.

Their mission:

·         Protecting children from neglect, abuse and exploitation;

·         Increasing access and quality of education

·         Expanding livelihood opportunities for the poor;

·         Improving community physical infrastructure;

·         Developing institutional capacities for disaster risk reduction and response to emergencies.

They are funded by ten organisations including the UN, the British High Commission and the British Council.

2010 was a challenging year for children in Pakistan and many were pushed into the labour market in order to survive. Children First remained committed to working with children to inspire dramatic change in their situation. They continue to increase their work in education, health and child protection and have a specific focus on child survival and maternal health.

Children First’s core values include child protection, gender equality and non-discrimination. They reached 170,000 children last year and in the coming year, aim to expand work in community participation and support for women.

They collaborate with local partners, government departments and international partners so that by working together, we can bring lasting change to the lives of children and help them realise their dreams. They would like to expand their work to Britain and are keen to set up exchange visits between young people in diaspora regions of the UK and Pakistan.

Omar Farooq, Chair of Children First, said Children First must ensure that the cause of the child never wavers for it is our children that carry our hopes for a better world.

The presentation and the conversation afterwards, left me in no doubt that this is an organisation which does invaluable work to improve the lives of children in Pakistan. Communities like ours, which include a significant proportion of the Pakistani diaspora, should do all we can to support them.