Thematic Areas
Biodiversity
Pakistan is a country with a rich tapestry of biodiversity, hosting a wide range of ecosystems from arid deserts to lush forests, expansive grasslands, and diverse freshwater and marine environments. This biodiversity is not just a natural heritage but forms the backbone of the country’s agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and tourism industries, contributing significantly to its economy and the sustenance of its population. The ecological balance maintained by biodiversity is crucial for water and air purification, soil fertility, and the pollination of crops, all of which are essential for food security and health.
Despite its importance, Pakistan’s biodiversity faces severe threats from habitat loss, climate change, pollution, overexploitation of resources, and invasive species. These threats not only jeopardize the survival of numerous species but also the well-being of human populations that depend on these biological resources. The preservation of biodiversity is thus not only a matter of environmental concern but also of national security and socio-economic stability.
The Huqooq ul Ebad Development Foundation (HEDF) is deeply committed to the conservation of biodiversity in Pakistan. Recognizing the intertwined fate of nature and human well-being, HEDF actively works to integrate biodiversity conservation into its broader goals of sustainable development and social empowerment. The foundation’s initiatives focus on promoting sustainable agricultural practices that protect biodiversity, conducting environmental education programs to raise awareness, and advocating for policies that ensure the conservation of natural habitats and ecosystems. HEDF’s efforts are geared towards empowering local communities, especially marginalized groups such as women and youth, to become active stewards of biodiversity. This community-based approach not only helps in preserving local flora and fauna but also in building resilience against environmental challenges, ensuring a healthier future for all citizens of Pakistan.
Environmental Issues
- HEDF works to strengthen climate governance and address climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution, and waste management through advocacy and awareness campaigns, capacity building, knowledge sharing, and research in Pakistan by influencing policy making at all levels.
HEDF also focuses on the SDGs 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, particularly climate action (SDG 13), to achieve its goals. - HEDF is taking approaches to support mitigation and adaptation actions that strengthen resilience and reduce vulnerability by incorporating adaptation to relevant environmental policies for sustainable development, as well as socio-economic policies, etc.
- The HEDF also focuses on ecosystem services-forests, fisheries, rangelands, agricultural lands-that provide the majority of livelihoods and subsistence.
HEDF creates a conducive environment for the free flow of information on all issues related to climate change, deforestation, environmental and land pollution, and air pollution,
HEDF aims to promote environmental awareness and address environmental abuses through direct, non-violent confrontation with governments and various stakeholders at all levels.
Education
- HEDF launched its women and youth’s empowerment programme in 2012 to reach marginalised and socially excluded women and adolescent girls. Since then, the goal has been to empower them through innovative community practises, to help them obtain vocational training and livelihoods, to develop their life skills, to enable them to seek health care and bring about sustainable change in the community, and also to engage men and boys in creating a gender-equitable society.
- To increase enrollment through re-integration of dropouts of students (girls & boys) through capacity building and awareness raising campaigns.
- The programme aims to improve their access to basic rights, health care, and knowledge of various government programmes, and to improve their overall quality of life.
Health
- HEDF is providing health advocacy and awareness programmes as well as providing some specific services such as medical, social and psychological services.
- HEDF is also focusing on different integration activities services, such as health and care, educational and informatic services as well as capacity building trainings and financial support etc.
- HEDF working actively to promote a healthy way of life by eliminating drugs abuses and create awareness campaigns for drugs prevention care etc.
- HEDF Provides moral support and counselling.
- HEDF conducts different projects through advocacy and awareness raising programmes by conferences, seminars, workshops, walks as well as social media campaigns etc.
Special Projects
Good Governance
Good governance is the key process of evaluating public institutions for conducting public affairs, managing public resources, as well as ensuring the realisation of people in a good way essentially free from corruption and the rule of law to achieve the goals of development. Governance also fulfils the promise of human rights: economic, cultural, civil, political and social rights.
The United Nations has described eight key quality characteristics of good governance: participatory, consensus-based, accountable, transparent, responsive, effective and efficient, equitable and inclusive, and rule of law, ensuring that corruption is minimized. Right to Information laws (RTI) have become a symbol of a country’s commitment to good governance. Everyone has the right to access information on all matters of public importance, subject to legal regulation and reasonable restrictions. Access to justice and human rights protects individuals from discrimination, violence, injustice, and corruption, and supports international human rights organisations working to provide this protection. The most vulnerable marginalised groups in society face various barriers to accessing justice, including gender and gender identity, race, culture, age, language, literacy, disability, income, and geographic location. Today, the latest technology can help eliminate some inequities, but not all. There is a need to improve access to justice for all by providing free legal assistance and raising legal awareness in a variety of areas, from legal identity and peaceful resolution of disputes to family law issues and property disputes. Equality before the law necessarily includes the concept that all parties involved in legal proceedings must have equal opportunities to seek justice and present their cases in court.
Currently, HEDF is committed to the elimination of corruption, access to justice, and the right to information in Pakistan and will continue its activities in this regard through advocacy and awareness campaigns through various programmes such as seminars, workshops, trainings, walks, and conferences to increase its expertise and pressure against corruption.
