On the 1st of February, His Excellency Thomas Drew met with the Pakistan Network Group that comprises of UK-based NGOs working on development projects in Pakistan at the DFID office in London.
Mr Thomas Drew CMG has been appointed as the British High Commissioner to Pakistan this year, in succession to Mr Philip Barton CMG. The meeting was informal, focused on collaborating and building synergies, with NGOs discussing their projects and ways in which the High Commission could assist them in achieving their goals.
It is an exciting time for Global One as we are beginning three new projects in Pakistan this year! At the Pakistan Network Group meeting, I shared details of our maternal health project and WASH education project in Southern Punjab, and our latest initiative focused on engaging the UK diaspora in polio eradication. Recognising the potential of the diaspora in the UK to make changes on ground in Pakistan and based on the findings of a research report published in 2014 by MADE about the barriers to eradicating polio from the Muslim world and the role of UK diaspora communities[1], Global One has secured funding from Charities Aid Foundation for a project focused on engaging the UK diaspora in eradicating polio in Pakistan.
Mr Drew spoke about how Britain is linked with Pakistan strongly through the diaspora, with over 1.5 million British people of Pakistani origin that have made the UK their home. He showed interest in Global One’s polio eradication initiative and the emphasis on harnessing the power of the diaspora to bring about positive change.
Connecting the UK civil society with the one in Pakistan is central to our initiative that aims to encourage the two to work together to eradicate polio. The project aims to build support for polio eradication between diaspora faith leaders in the UK and the Global Polio Eradication Initiative and engage influential and skilled diaspora men and women to become ambassadors – championing the cause through community engagement and media.
Pakistan and Afghanistan remain to be the only two polio-endemic countries in the world. Pakistan has made significant strides in polio eradication, with 54 polio cases reported in 2015 as compared to 306 in 2014. Global One looks forward to working with the diaspora to end polio completely.
[1] https://www.made.ngo/education/resources/item/report-on-diaspora-polio-eradication
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