Daily Times

Pakistan contributes 2% of its GDP to charity. The report of Stanford Social Innovation Review-2018 shows that Pakistan leads Canada and the UK that give 1.2% and 1.3% of their GDP in charity. Pakistan ranks low on the Human Development Index which shows that 29.5% of its population lives below the poverty line. There are several factors preventing the extremely poor from lifting themselves out of extreme poverty, these factors include natural disasters, climate change, illiteracy, gender inequalities and lack of income sources.

A society turns to hold the helping hands when it becomes victim of multiple social issues, economic disabilities, diseases and inequality. There are several factors fueling the tradition of charity including moral factors, cultural factors, sense of compassion and social factors. Charity is undoubtedly a very important practice in helping to establish a healthy society. It helps people to gain temporary financial support to stand on their feet and helps people of different economic status to interact. It is considered a noble act that removes selfishness, greed and superiority. It helps create a sense of humbleness, which leads to removing the negative aspects of society.

There are several examples of natural and humanitarian disasters that led criminal and outlawed groups and organizations to infiltrate in the damaged and conflict zones portraying themselves as humanitarian workers to construct a legal defense in order to raise funds for their own means.

Karachi generates more than half of the national revenue and accounts for the lion’s share of the country’s GDP. The city traders donate millions of rupees to charity but unfortunately the business community was severely affected by the criminal activities, including the abundant uncertainties pertaining to kidnapping of entrepreneurs for ransom.

Most of the citizens are aware that their charitable contributions go to the deserving and genuine welfare organizations and not to individuals and groups using the money in criminal activities. It is also obvious that most of the people are unaware of existing charitable organizations as well as the policy initiatives aimed at growing philanthropic giving. Therefore, a widespread awareness campaign is needed to raise awareness about factors that ease individual giving.

Most of the citizens are aware that their charitable contributions go to the deserving and genuine welfare organizations and not to individuals and groups using the money in criminal activities

The government of Pakistan and the private sector need to protect the charitable sector from misuse, including the manipulation of charitable resources to support criminal activities.

In order to promote safe charity practices NACTA has entered into a partnership with Pakistan Center for Philanthropy (PCP) to evaluate and certify the performance of National Productivity Organizations (NPOs). The MoU between the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and the PCP provides the details of this working relationship. The Pakistan Center for Philanthropy (PCP) evaluates national productivity organizations (NPOs) against the FBR approved certification standards. The aim is to enhance the volume and efficiency of indigenous philanthropy for social development in Pakistan.

There is a dire need to make the public and business community to be careful in donating their charities and avoid donating charities to the organizations whose whereabouts are not known. Charities must choose deserving people and organizations in nearby places to ensure that the charity given to the individuals and organizations is used for the social welfare of the public

Criminal and violent activities have a negative impact on the private sector businesses These include interruption in supply chains, security costs, loss of customer base, decrease in investments and loss of work-forces.

The private sector in Pakistan needs to invest some percentage of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds to promote peaceful co-existence. Through these funds the private sector can promote the feelings of pluralism, peace and harmony. The CSR funds can be used to promote healthy activities for the youth like sports, technical skill training and training on effective use of social media in order to promote diversity, provide opportunities for growth and employment to the masses, and create physical and digital safe spaces for community engagement.

In keeping with the trends of recent years though, authorities have taken several measures. Sindh government cancelled the registration of 4,693 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) for being inactive and violating the rules prescribed by the government.

There are many motives why companies should make charitable contributions. Donating to charities can help change business and work culture. It can also have an intense impact on society. So the charity donors should pick a cause that they believe in and to make their community a better place to live and make sure that your charity is going to the deserving individual or organizations and it is not used for any violent activity.

The writer is a Researcher at the Sustainable Development Policy Institute, Islamabad