My Journey from Development Practitioner to Community Development
I have been working with the Youth Development Foundation (YDF) for the past several years and currently serve as a Program Manager, leading program management, planning, and project implementation. Although I did not begin my career specifically in welfare organizations, I have worked extensively with nonprofit organizations, particularly in youth development, minority inclusion, education, women’s empowerment, and community development.
My motivation comes partly from my own experience. I grew up in a minority community in a lower-middle-class family where opportunities and guidance were limited. Although my family was educated, I did not have anyone who could guide me about what to do after school or college. I completed my education with limited resources and eventually studied sociology. These early experiences- particularly discrimination at school and limited access to opportunities, made me realize how important information, guidance, and institutional support are.
A major turning point came in 2018, when an organization invited me to participate in a focus group discussion about discrimination. It was the first time someone openly asked me about my experiences. Until then, I had been taught, like many others in my community, not to talk about such issues. Through that organization, I also met people from Hindu, Sikh, and other Christian communities and heard their experiences. I realized that these problems were not isolated and that conversation itself could be a pathway towards solutions.
I subsequently worked voluntarily with different organizations for four years, from 2018 to 2021. As my education, experience, and professional network grew, organizations began offering me employment. One institution that particularly inspired me was led by members of the Muslim community who were openly discussing minority issues. It made me think- if others can speak about our issues, why can’t the Christians themselves speak and make efforts for change? That experience helped shape my commitment to this field.
My three major areas of expertise and interest are- peacebuilding and interfaith harmony, education, and women’s empowerment. My academic and research work has also focused on educational inequalities and discrimination experienced by Christian youth.
Building Political, Economic, and Social Empowerment for Minorities in Pakistan
The Youth Development Foundation (YDF) primarily works for youth, with approximately 99 percent of our target population being Christian youth, although our broader work is open to everyone. Since 2010, our goal has been to promote young people’s economic, social, and political participation and help them understand governance and legislation.
One important initiative is the ‘Minority Civic Agents Programme’, through which we train minority youth and connect them with government institutions such as the Punjab Assembly, Punjab Minority Caucus, and the Human Rights Department. We also connect communities with service-delivery institutions such as National Database & Registration Authority
(NADRA), Water and Sanitation Authority (WASA), and Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC). The purpose is to bridge the gap between government and communities, and ensure that minorities gain employment and have a voice in key state offices.
For example, many people do not know how to approach a government office, complete an application, or use their right to information. We train young people to understand these processes, including how to submit Right to Information (RTI) requests. We also offer internships and create direct links between young people and institutions so that community problems can be addressed more effectively.
These connections can make a significant difference. In some cases, minority citizens have faced problems with identity cards or birth certificates when their religion has been incorrectly recorded. They may not know where to have such information corrected or may move from one office to another without receiving assistance. YDF helps people understand where to go and how to pursue such issues.
Our second major area is economic empowerment, particularly for minority women in Lahore and Faisalabad. We provide three to five-day training in business and entrepreneurship, connect women with markets and institutions, and help them develop existing or new businesses. Some women already have businesses but lack resources, knowledge, or experience to expand them; others have skills and ideas but do not know how to establish a business.
We provide market exposure, financial or resource support where possible, and link women with chambers of commerce and larger markets. Some women who began at the grassroots level are now selling their products nationally and internationally. Our target age group is generally 18-45 years, with women forming an important component of our development programs.
We believe that political and economic empowerment also contributes to social empowerment. When people gain education, employment, resources, institutional access, and political participation, their social position changes as well, allowing them to have equal status in society.
Building Safer Pathways for Minorities through Awareness and Digital Empowerment
Minority communities continue to face serious challenges, including discrimination, forced conversion, blasphemy-related concerns, and incidents such as those in Shantinagar, Gojra, and Jaranwala. These experiences create fear, particularly among women and young people.
The declining representation of minority students as they move from school to university is particularly concerning. Economic limitations are one reason, but lack of information about scholarships and quota opportunities is another major gap. YDF therefore provides awareness about educational quotas and available scholarships and connects students with relevant government institutions. For example, we connected five students from Youhanabad with the Human Rights Department. Once those students become aware of the hundreds of scholarships available to minority students, they further shared this information within their communities creating a ripple effect. This is how political engagement can also create educational and economic opportunities.
Digital literacy has become another important area of our work. Recent incidents have shown how social media can intensify issues involving blasphemy, forced conversion, misinformation, and misunderstandings. We therefore train minority youth about what to post, what not to post, privacy, the benefits and risks of social media, and the potential consequences of online activity.
We have trained groups of minority youth who then engage with young people through churches, parishes, and dioceses in Islamabad and Lahore. The aim is to build awareness before an online issue develops into a larger community problem. Digital inclusion and digital safety are now essential parts of welfare and development work.
Sustaining Welfare when Resources and Donors are Uncertain
Working with vulnerable communities inevitably involves barriers. Religious and ethnic minorities, rural populations, women, and children face different forms of exclusion. Women may face harassment and violence, while minority communities experience fear, discrimination, and social pressures. We have limited first-hand experience with serving the transgender communities and persons with disabilities, but we know that these groups also face great challenges and exclusion.
An important lesson for us has been the need to remain flexible. Two years ago, digital literacy was not a major part of YDF’s work. However, after observing incidents such as Jaranwala and recognizing the growing role of social media in blasphemy and forced-conversion concerns, we adapted our programs.
Financial sustainability is another major challenge, particularly for smaller organizations. A one-year grant does not necessarily mean an organization can operate for only one year. If funding stops for six months, the institution still has to survive, retain staff, and maintain its work. Management therefore has to balance sustainability with accountability and transparent use of donor resources.
Inflation can also dramatically affect programs. For example, in a three-year women’s entrepreneurship project covering Sheikhupura, Lahore, and Gujranwala, rising costs eventually made it impossible to continue operating in all three districts within the original budget. The donor responded positively and allowed us to reduce the project to two districts. This experience showed me how important transparent communication between organizations and donors is, but also the challenge of over-reliance on limited donations and the inability to sustain welfare projects in times of rising inflation.
Smaller organizations also face shortages of trained financial and administrative staff, particularly outside major cities such as Lahore, Islamabad, and Karachi. There can be significant differences between organizations in large cities and those working in places such as Faisalabad, Sargodha, and Sialkot in terms of funding, reporting, monitoring, auditing, and accountability.
Digital financial management can strengthen transparency and security, particularly as organizations handle larger amounts of funding. Strong management is equally important. Employees and volunteers can make excellent contributions, but without effective leadership, planning, and systems, resources can be wasted. Political instability, economic uncertainty, inflation, and changes in government can also affect projects and access to institutions.
Building Collaborative Pathways for Sustainable Impact is Essential
No organization can address these challenges alone. Government, civil society, donors, the private sector, academia, communities, and local leadership all have different resources and expertise. Stronger collaboration between public and private institutions is particularly important because communities ultimately lose when government and nonprofit organizations work separately.
NGOs and community organizations should also learn from one another rather than competing for visibility. Larger organizations can support smaller grassroots organizations, while smaller organizations bring strong community knowledge and local networks. Donors are increasingly recognizing the importance of strengthening smaller institutions, but institutional capacity often takes five, ten, or even twenty years to develop.
YDF also works to promote local leadership. For example, we have youth groups whose members are engaged in community issues and may eventually move into leadership positions within government and local governance. Building this pipeline of local leadership is essential for long-term community participation.
International development funding remains important because national funding alone is often insufficient to sustain social-sector institutions. At the same time, organizations increasingly need innovative financing models. Social enterprises, consultancies, training programs, research, and capacity-building services can provide additional sources of income and reduce dependence on unpredictable grants.
Innovation is particularly important because the way young people think and work is changing rapidly. Organizations may need to adapt every two or three years. Gen Z, for example, has different expectations and ways of communicating from previous generations. Welfare organizations must therefore continue learning from one another, international institutions, technology, and emerging social-enterprise models.
My experience has taught me that community ownership is essential! People should participate in identifying their problems and designing solutions rather than being treated simply as beneficiaries. Young people should be regarded as partners and leaders, and inclusion must be intentional so that women, minorities, persons with disabilities, marginalized youth, and other vulnerable groups are not left behind.
Training alone is also not enough. Skills development must be connected to employment, markets, mentorship, financial resources, and networks. Digital inclusion and safety must now be integrated into welfare programs because education, employment, civic participation, and social interaction increasingly take place online.
Grassroots organizations need long-term, flexible institutional support. Partnerships among government, civil society, donors, academia, private-sector organizations, and communities are critical. Programs should be evidence-based and adaptable, using community feedback, monitoring, and data to understand what is working.
I believe policymaking should become more participatory, with meaningful consultation of women, youth, minorities, and affected communities. Government and civil society should collaborate in policy development, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation. Policies should use reliable, locally relevant data and move away from short-term projects toward sustainable welfare programs.
There should also be stronger accountability mechanisms, coordination among government departments, greater private-sector involvement in employment and entrepreneurship, investment in grassroots organizations, digital inclusion and safety, and meaningful institutionalized youth participation. Most importantly, implementation must be strengthened at the local level through adequate budgets, trained personnel, local partnerships, and accountability.
From Welfare Recipients to Agents of Development
In my experience, welfare development should move beyond simply providing assistance. It should create an enabling environment in which people can exercise their rights, develop their capabilities, earn dignified livelihoods, and participate equally in society.
Communities often already possess motivation, knowledge, and capacity. What they frequently lack is access- to quality education, employment, markets, technology, information, institutions, and decision-making spaces. Welfare policy therefore needs to address these structural barriers rather than only their symptoms.
I believe development cannot be sustainable without inclusion. Women, young people, religious minorities, and other marginalized groups must be included in economic, social, political, and digital life. People should not be viewed merely as recipients of welfare but as partners and agents of development.
Ultimately, my philosophy is simple: Welfare development should restore dignity, create opportunity, strengthen people’s agency, and ensure that no community is left behind. Sustainable progress comes when people are not simply given solutions, but are empowered to shape, own, and sustain those solutions themselves.
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