PWF, Qatar Charity help alleviate expat woes

(MENAFN - Gulf Times) Pakistan Welfare Forum (PWF), an expatriate welfare organisation, has been making notable contribution towards education, social welfare, medical and legal needs of low-income segments of the Pakistani community in Qatar. PWF has been working in collaboration with Qatar Charity (QC) for the welfare of Pakistani expatriates. QC is engaged in welfare activities for expatriate communities and implements various projects for the benefit of low-income families and workers throughout the year. In a recent interview with Gulf Times, Asfandiar Ansari, honorary president, PWF Steering Committee (2019-21), shed light on the aims and objectives of the forum with special focus on welfare activities carried out in collaboration with QC. Regarding the aims and objectives of PWF, Ansari said that the forum aims at making notable contribution towards education, social welfare, medical and legal needs of the low-income segments of the community. ''Education is a hallmark of PWF. It cherishes the forum’s core slogan – ‘Learn, Earn and Return,’ which focuses on the concept of ‘pay back to the society’. One flagship programme of PWF is ‘Education for All’ (EFA) with the basic theme of educating children who are out of school due to social, economic, cultural or any other reasons.” The efforts of the forum have led to establishing The First Assalam School (FAS). ''In partnership with the Education Above All Foundation, Ministry of Awqaf and Ministry of Education, FAS was established to provide access to education to children facing financial barriers and age or educational gap in the community. The school aims to provide children with support programmes enabling and preparing them for mainstream education. PWF has also been actively involved in supporting communities in the past.” PWF joined hands with QC in 2018. The strategic partnership complements the efforts of both the organisations which seek to contribute significantly to meeting the social, education and medical needs of the community members. ''The PWF provides the funds through its community fund-raising events, as approved by Regulatory Authority for Charitable Activities. On the other hand, QC provides its well-spread infrastructure and extensive experience in supporting the communities in Qatar. PWF and QC are fully aligned in their objectives to serve the community.” Ansari added: ''By joining hands, both organisations have become more effective in achieving their common goals. PWF, due to its deep contact within the Pakistani community, provides QC both the opportunity to collect funds and to distribute them to deserving community members. ''At the same time, PWF avails the opportunity of utilising QC’s well-established name and infrastructure to streamline both the fund collection and its distribution. With the financial arrangement with QC, PWF is directly extending financial support to 5-10 Pakistani families on an average, both as a regular and one-off support.” Further speaking about different areas of collaboration with QC, the PWF president said that the forum works hand in hand with QC to carry out a number of welfare activities for the community. ''PWF identifies and evaluates different cases and forwards it to QC for approval. These cases may require one-off support or a regular monthly support. PWF also provides support to QC in their initiatives to serve the community. ''Last year, PWF volunteers distributed food packets from QC among low-income Pakistani families before the advent of the holy month of Ramadan. Another example is the meat distribution during Eid al-Adha last year. QC took the initiative to provide meat of over 100 goats to be distributed among the community. PWF took the responsibility to deliver on the QC initiative. ''PWF organised a team of volunteers that first listed out the deserving families and individuals and then made hundreds of packages which were distributed to them. There were many instances in the past when QC provided the opportunity and PWF availed it for the benefit of the community.” Ansari further noted: ''Another recent example of collaboration was the urgent support needed by the community during Covid-19 lockdowns last year. PWF provided names of those who were in desperate situation due to the lockdown to QC. ''QC promptly responded by arranging food packages that were distributed to the expatriate communities. PWF stepped forward and arranged to distribute over 2000 packages with close co-ordination of other volunteer organisations. Moreover, PWF worked closely with QC throughout last year, despite mobility restrictions to extend support to families affected by Covid-19. These included families needing regular support due to job loss or health issues.” PWF also interacts with the community in a number of different ways. These activities, however, were suspended due to Covid-19 restrictions in 2020. ''On the other hand, Covid-19 situation was a blessing in disguise in bringing all expat communities together. Here again, QC played a leading role with support from government organisations like Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs. ''PWF, together with other expat organisations, worked closely with QC on this task, and provided support to deserving families and individuals irrespective of their country of origin.” Thanking PWF Founding Executive Committee and Steering Committee members for their active support and guidance, Ansari said: ''I would request my compatriots to come forward and strengthen our hands in carrying out welfare activities. The community members in need of support can reach us for any assistance in co-operation with QC by contacting us onMENAFN03062021000067011011ID1102208190