Pakistan is planning to mobilize one million young people as community volunteers to support education, health, nutrition and social development campaigns across the country.
Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal said the initiative would use Pakistan’s large youth population to help address some of the country’s most persistent human development challenges, including low literacy, childhood malnutrition and the large number of children who remain out of school.
Nearly one-third of Pakistan’s estimated 257 million population is between the ages of 10 and 24, according to the UN Population Fund, providing a large potential pool of young people for the proposed volunteer program.
Pakistan also has one of the world’s highest numbers of out-of-school children. UNICEF estimates that around 25.1 million children aged 5 to 16 are not attending school.
The World Bank has also reported that around 40 percent of children under the age of five in Pakistan suffer from stunted growth, highlighting the scale of the country’s nutrition challenges.
Youth to Work as Community Mobilizers
According to Ahsan Iqbal, the government is developing a nationwide program under which young Pakistanis will work as social mobilizers within their communities.
The volunteers will focus on creating awareness and encouraging behavioral changes at the grassroots level. The initiative is intended to connect national development priorities with communities and households across the country.
One of the key areas will be education. Volunteers will help encourage families to send children to school and support efforts aimed at reducing the number of out-of-school children.
Health and Nutrition Awareness
The proposed volunteers will also participate in health and nutrition awareness campaigns.
They are expected to educate communities about healthier lifestyles and encourage people to adopt better health practices. The program will also focus on discouraging drug and tobacco use among young people.
Childhood nutrition is another major area of concern that the volunteers will address through community-level awareness activities.
Environmental Campaigns Also Planned
The initiative will not be limited to education and healthcare.
Young volunteers will also participate in environmental activities, including plantation campaigns and other community-based initiatives aimed at improving environmental awareness.
The government hopes that involving young people directly in these campaigns will strengthen community participation and create a wider network of social mobilizers across Pakistan.
Program Expected to Launch in November
Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is expected to formally launch the program on November 9.
However, several important details about the initiative have yet to be announced.
The government has not clarified how the one million volunteers will be recruited and trained. It has also not disclosed whether participants will receive financial compensation, the estimated cost of the program or the mechanism that will be used to measure its impact.
The success of the initiative will therefore depend on how effectively the government develops its recruitment, training, monitoring and evaluation systems.
If implemented effectively, the program could provide Pakistan with a large grassroots network capable of supporting campaigns in education, healthcare, nutrition, environmental protection and social awareness.
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