Karachi, November 21, 2016: Engro Pakistan held the IATC (I Am The Change) Awards 2016 to celebrate the people behind Pakistan’s contemporary evolution with the aim to explore new ideas and write new narratives.

IATC is a corporate initiative to amplify the efforts of individuals working in the fields of education and health and for the betterment of livelihoods of under-privileged people in the country. It is also one of the first full-fledged crowd-funding platforms in the country that helps individuals and institutions to crowd-fund for CSR projects in the three categories.

This year, IATC 2016 highlighted the agents of change – individuals who have rewritten the narrative of Pakistan and helped in bringing a meaningful change in their respective fields. The event began at the picturesque and significant Frere Hall with opening discussions, impact videos and finally the handover of awards to the people who had created impact in various communities related to education, health and livelihood.

IATC award in the education category went to IDSP Community Learning Centres that was initiated in 2009. The Community Learning Centres project aims at nurturing and developing individuals and communities that will change power structures by demystifying processes of education and development and generate value-based partnerships and practices at all levels.

IATC applauds IDSP for improving education across marginalized communities in Balochistan and bringing positive transformation to society by acting as a true change-agent.

Speaking at the occasion, Khalid Siraj Subhani, President and CEO, Engro Corporation said, they strongly believed in empowering individuals and communities who had dedicated their lives for championing the cause of education, health and livelihood.

“As a country, Pakistan is a land of untapped potential, a space where we have numerous talented citizens who have been deprived of the resources that are necessary for self-actualization,” he said adding that given this predicament, it was crucial to acknowledge these change-agents working relentlessly for a better Pakistan but also take advantage of IATC’s crowd-funding platform to strengthen and amplify efforts in bringing about much-needed change. He said that the onus was on all of us to write the story of change together because it was only through collective action that we could together change the world.

The recipient of the IATC award in the category of health was Afzaal Memorial Thalassemia Foundation (AMTF). Actively working in the field of health, AMTF provides solutions to all blood-related diseases under one roof, completely free of cost. IATC applauds AMTF for improving health-care opportunities for the marginalized communities suffering across the country.

IATC recognized REEDS (Rural Education and Economic Development Society) as the recipient of the award in the healthcare category. REEDS aim at creating income-generating opportunities for sustainable livelihoods of marginalized communities in district Rahim Yar Khan. IATC recognized REEDS for improving livelihood opportunities in its respective area of operations.

The recipient of the Special Category Award was “doctHERS,” an up-and-coming digital, healthcare platform that connects female doctors to needy patients in real-time while leveraging leading-edge technology. IATC applauded doctHERS for improving Health across the country.

The agents of change illuminated the evening with their bright ideas and thoughts regarding social change. Quratulain Bakhteari, the founding Director of the Institute for Development Studies and Practices who has also worked with UNICEF and the Government of Balochistan, focuses on healthcare, education and social activism. In addition, Humaira Shaikh, the Director of Peace and Pluralism at Shirkat Gah also talked about human rights issues, particularly for women and minorities in areas marred by social and political turmoil. She is also one of the founders of the Purple Women’s Movement that aims at assisting in peace building initiatives and also builds resistance to culturally-justified violence against women.

Throughout the evening, the event shed light onto Pakistan’s 70 years of existence and took the audience through a nostalgic journey of Pakistan’s rich and varied cultural heritage. From art and architecture, prose and poetry, fashion and music, to sports narrators Imran Aslam and Nadia Jamil kept the audience engrossed through their conversation and dialogues spanning the past 70 years as they looked back and appreciated the contribution of many personalities who loomed large over the cultural landscape of the land we call home.