Results
Protecting every child through immunization
“I have been vaccinating children for the last 25 years,” says Farrukh. “Vaccination is the first line of defence against vaccine-preventable diseases and every time I vaccinate a child it feels as if I have saved a life.” With a vaccine-carrier strapped to his motorbike, Farrukh reaches out to communities across Punjab’s Nankana district. When the Government introduced pneumococcal vaccine to prevent pneumonia, vaccinators like Farrukh learned how to administer the vaccine with UN support.
“Our entire vaccination team was trained,” he explains. “We were given easy to understand literature in the local language and initially made to practice on rubber models.” Each year, over 350,000 children die before their fifth birthday and 18% of these deaths are due to pneumonia. Since the introduction of the pneumococcal vaccine in Pakistan cases have fallen drastically. Farrukh and his fellow vaccinators are at the forefront of keeping children healthy by warding off disease, early mortality, and inequity.
Livestock as a lifeline for livelihoods
“It’s not easy to be displaced,” says Umbar Khan. “We produced all the food the family needed.” Everything changed when security operations displaced 1.7 million people from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s merged districts and Khan’s family fled North Waziristan, leaving many of their animals behind. Those they rescued lacked shelter, water and feed, and began to starve. Without the animals Khan’s family would have followed suit, yet UN support for dislocated farmers saved the Khan family livestock with a dearth of needed supplies like animal compound feed, urea molasses, milking and feeding implements, and vaccines to prevent diseases.
“This support is a lifeline,” Umbar Khan declares, “not only for our animals, but also for the entire family.”
Skills development changes lives in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
“In my village, after the father grows old, the eldest brother is responsible for providing financial support to the family,” explains Samiullah Khan. But the 23- year old, born with a medical condition that restricts his growth and mobility, couldn’t work as a day labourer in his corner of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bannu district. Just as Sami started to lose hope, the local Youth and Social Cohesion Project identified him as a promising candidate for a tailoring course—physical disability shouldn’t stand in the way of a better life.
Equipped with new skills, Sami became a tailor in his village. Today, he earns a regular income, supports his family and has plans to set up his own tailoring business.
Threads of hope in Punjab
“My situation never allowed me to hope for professional development,” says Shehnaz. She and her sisters lived a cloistered life—communities in this part of Punjab disapprove of women working outside the home and, as home-based workers, they scraped by on sporadic wages. The UN-backed Empowerment of Women Garment Workers Programme has given them hope by helping all three secure work at Anwar Khawaja Industries in the nearby city of Sialkot. “Following on-the-job training, our collective income increased to PKR 42,000,” explains Shehnaz. Not only did their income rise seven-fold by 2017, but the factory also now provides a pick-up and drop-off service to ensure workers’ security. What’s more, they offer equal pay to women and men and a harassment-free workplace, alongside social protection and career development. “Learning and working in the formal sector has been quite an eye-opener,” Shehnaz admits. “[It] has boosted our confidence in our own capabilities and talents.”
New horizons for Pakistan’s most vulnerable youth
“I used to only think about the next meal,” she says. “Now, I feel I can do much more in life.”
“If we paid the rent, we couldn’t buy food. If we bought food, we couldn’t buy clothes,” Humera explains. Growing up in Korangi, one of Karachi’s poorest neighbourhoods, was never easy. She left school after Class 8, toiling as a homebased worker for meagre wages, but the UN's Youth Employment Project changed Humera’s life. Ten days after completing training, the 20 year-old was hired as a machine operator at a local garment factory. Her initial uncertainty about working outside the home gave way to confidence. Within months, she was promoted to ‘machine supervisor’ and her steady income is a lifeline for her family.
Lowering the incidence of maternal and child mortality
“It is not easy to convince parents of premature babies to opt for a new approach,” says Dr. Naureen Rasul, but luckily for baby Afaq his parents did. Born premature, Afaq and his mother were immediately admitted to the new UN-supported Kangaroo Mother Care Ward at Lahore’s Services Institute of Medical Sciences. Kangaroo Mother Care saves lives without incubators, which is a lifeline for countries like Pakistan where incubators are few and far between.
Continuous skin-to-skin contact between mother and child is the focus, along with strict hygiene. This encourages babies to start controlling their own body temperatures, prevents infections and strengthens emotional bonds. “The results of the follow-up are 100% positive,” says Dr. Rasul now that Afaq is now a healthy infant who is exclusively breastfed. "Such cost-effective approaches are what make it possible for Afaq, and babies like him, to receive the healthy start to life that they deserve."
Social cohesion presents new possibilities
Hadiya Khan never imagined she would run her own business. The restrictive environment in which she grew up in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and its volatile security situation, meant that women rarely had a chance to pursue their dreams. Everything changed in 2015, when the UN Youth and Social Project organized a cultural festival for women in her village. Hadiya attended—it was the first time the 18-year-old had seen her friends outside the confines of school.
She soon became involved with a local youth group and attended a beautician’s training course at the new Multi-Functional Community Centre. Within a few months, she won a competition and used her prize money to open a parlour in her house. Since that first crucial trip to the cultural festival, Hadiya’s horizons have expanded.
Dispelling menstruation myths
“We never talked about puberty or any related subjects before,” says Saba Rashid, a teacher and WASH Club Supervisor at the Government Girls Elementary School in Punjab’s Bahawalpur district. Menstruation was shrouded in myth, a lack of knowledge exposed girls to the risk of infection, and 75% of students stayed at home during their periods. In 2017, things couldn’t be more different because, equipped with UN-supplied kits and training for teachers, the school conducts weekly awareness raising sessions.
“Thanks to these kits and sessions,” explains Saba, “Girls have knowledge and tools to better manage their menstruation even before their first period, ensuring they experience it with less trauma!”
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