I established Indus Earth Trust (IET) in 2000, and since then IET has been helping alleviate poverty in Pakistan. Our target was and is the rural population in Sindh and Balochistan. We, as a team, have learned an enormous amount since then and have moved forward with the support of our donors especially the World Bank and Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF) to whom we are extremely grateful.
Since then we have become registered with the Pakistan Center of Philanthropy (PCP) and I-CARE. Both organisations add to our credibility and have assisted us to be able to deliver our projects on time and within budget.
It is our belief that by providing a complete Integrated Development approach a long lasting and sustainable programme can be achieved and maintained for many generations. It is our intention to first provide the basic facilities and then create wealth at the grass roots thus evolving a ‘trickle up’ system. The ‘trickle down’ effect, talked about for so long by governments and institutions alike, only makes those at the top richer and those at the bottom poorer. By increasing the GDP at the grass roots, real prosperity can be felt in communities and a much needed economic revival becomes possible. This has already started and evidence of its success is being witnessed in the communities where IET has projects
This approach also helps to reduce problems due migration to urban centers as jobs are created in the villages. Migration to cities increases poverty and exposes people to militant recruitment, crime and corruption issues plaguing Pakistan. Our approach provides a sustainable solution for both social and economic uplift and at the same time recognizes resource protection of our depleting environment as an integral aspect of development in the long term.
One of civil societies responsibilities in a developing nation is to help the government in achieving the goals of poverty alleviation as outlined in the UN millennium development goals 2015. The other aspect is to inform the population of their human and constitutional rights so that they can lobby their elected representatives with knowledgeable confidence, with women’s empowerment being a vital aspect to achieve this objective.
It is now more than ever that Pakistan needs help from the national and international community to in improving the lives of those that have very little. In our monitoring and evaluation over the years we have seen slow but steady changes taking place in peoples lives and the difference increasingly becoming apparent.
I trust that you will find this website not only interesting, but a useful resource in finding out more about poverty alleviation work that is being done in Pakistan. Indus Earth Trust welcomes online donations, as every amount given assists us to continue our work. If you have any enquiries, please do not hesitate to contact the IET team.
Shahid Khan, CEO Indus Earth Trust 2015