Balochistan Youth Action Committee: A community support system in Pakistan

Balochistan Youth Action Committee 

An initiative of the Global Shapers Karachi and youth volunteers from Balochistan

The dramatic rise of COVID-19 has disrupted lives across the world and Pakistan is no exception. UNDP ranks Pakistan at 152 out of 189 countries in the Human Development Index, making its population one of the more vulnerable in terms of coping with the crisis. We are witnessing job losses, loss of daily wages, and paucity of medical care affordability among others. These factors put people at the bottom of the pyramid most vulnerable.

Why Balochistan? While this holds true for majority of Pakistan’s 200 million population, there are still some segments of this population who are the most vulnerable even within this strata. Balochistan is the South-Western province of Pakistan which covers almost half of Pakistan’s land area bordering Iran and Afghanistan. According to the UNDP's latest report on Balochistan, 71% of the people live in multidimensional poverty. This implies that every 7 in 10 families in Balochistan is currently living in poverty. Similarly, the National Human Development Report, it ranks 31 out of 32 districts of Balochistan amongst the worst areas in terms of access to education, healthy life and standard of living. Making the matters worse, the province has a rigid terrain which makes it difficult for aid organizations go into the far flung villages and settlements. 

A youth response system, Balochistan Youth Action Committee (formerly Balochistan Youth Against Corona) or BYAC was formed by Karachi Hub curator Mr. Sikander Bizenjo along with Ms Banari. The group has so far mobilized and trained over 260 volunteers/community champions and helped over 400,000+ needy and deserving people in over 70 villages of Balochistan and aim to continue serving. They were among the first responders in numerous natural disasters, including earthquake in October 2021 and flash floods in January 2022.

Goals: The main goal of the initiative is to empower 100,000 young champions/volunteers in Balochistan to be part of this sustainable change movement. We believe in empowering communities to lead the change in the most sustainable way - all our champions are young people from the villages and rural settelements that we are working. 

Get involved 

a. Donate 

Please contact Mr. Sikander Bizenjo on TopLink or through email to get the banking details for donations.

b. Partnerships

The BYAC team firmly believes in all kinds of partnerships and collaborations. You can help them arrange virtual fundraisers or meetings, find supplier discounts, assist in ration bags delivery and transportation, connect with more donors or volunteers and become their ambassadors. They are open to exploring and finding ways to work with different stakeholders.

Point of contact:

Sikander Bizenjo (Co-founder BYAC and Curator Karachi Hub of Global Shapers)

Email: Sikanderbizenjo@gmail.com

TopLink: https://toplink.weforum.org/people/0010X00004KGTosQAH/sikander-bizenjo