Pakistan at 141 Among 142 Countries on the Global Gender Gap Report 2014 of the World Economic Forum

Pakistan at 141 Among 142 Countries on the Global Gender Gap Report 2014 of the World Economic Forum.

The Global Gender Gap Report 2014
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In nine years of measuring the global gender gap, the world has seen only a small improvement in equality for women in the workplace. According to the Global Gender Gap Report 2014, launched by the World Economic Forum, the gender gap for economic participation and opportunity now stands at 60% worldwide, having closed by 4% from 56% in 2006 when the Forum first started measuring it. Based on this trajectory, with all else remaining equal, it will take 81 years for the world to close this gap completely.

The ninth edition of the report finds that, among the 142 countries measured, Pakistan has been ranked at 141 and occupies the last place in the regional ranking. The country score has been fluctuated over the past nine years, ending with a slight improvement compared to 2006.

On the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex Pakistan has experienced one of the highest negative percentage change relative to its 2006 score. Yet it has achieved one of the highest percentage change relative to its own 2006 score on the Educational Attainment subindex – even the score still falls below 2014 world average on that subindex. Pakistan ranks 141st on the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex this year. It is one of the ten lowest-performing countries on all indicators of this subindex with the exception of Wage equality for similar work. Pakistan is one of the three countries with the lowest percentage of firms with female participation in ownership. Finally, the country ranks 119th on the Health and Survival subindex and 85th on the Political Empowerment subindex.

Amir Jahangir, Chief Executive Officer of Mishal Pakistan, a partner institute of the Global Competitiveness and Benchmarking Networks, World Economic Forum, said, “as compared to 2013, Pakistan’s indicators have not changed much, instead other countries have shown improvements. Gender parity and socio-economic empowerment has not been a priority for governments in Pakistan.” “The fact that, there is not a single female full minister either in federal or any of the provincial governments, is an alarming situation”, he further added.

     

On the global front, the gender gap is narrowest in terms of health and survival. This gap stands at 96% globally, with 35 countries having closed the gap entirely. This includes three countries that have closed the gap in the past 12 months. The educational attainment gap is the next narrowest, standing at 94% globally. Here, 25 countries have closed the gap entirely. While the gender gap for economic participation and opportunity lags stubbornly behind, the gap for political empowerment, the fourth pillar measured, remains wider still, standing at just 21%, although this area has seen the most improvement since 2006. 

With no one country having closed its overall gender gap, Nordic nations remain the most gender-equal societies in the world. Last year’s leading four nations – Iceland (1), Finland (2), Norway (3) and Sweden (4) – are joined by Denmark, which climbs from eighth place to fifth. Elsewhere in the top 10 there is considerable movement, with Nicaragua climbing four places to sixth, Rwanda entering the index for the first time at seventh, Ireland falling to eighth, the Philippines declining four places to ninth and Belgium climbing one place to tenth.

Further up the index, the United States climbs three places to 20 in 2014, after narrowing its wage gap and improving the number of women in parliamentary and ministerial level positions. Among the BRICS grouping, the highest-placed nation is South Africa (18), supported by strong scores on political participation. Brazil is next at 71, followed by Russia (75), China (87) and India (114).

Nine years of data from the Global Gender Gap Report – first published in 2006 – reveal the pattern of change around the world relative to countries’ own past performance and in relation to each other.

“Much of the progress on gender equality over the last 10 years has come from more women entering politics and the workforce. While more women and more men have joined the workforce over the last decade, more women than men entered the labour force in 49 countries. These are far-reaching changes – for economies and national cultures, however it is clear that much work still remains to be done, and that the pace of change must in some areas be accelerated, ” said Saadia Zahidi, Head of the Gender Parity Programme at the World Economic Forum and lead author of the report.

Progress has not been even across the four pillars of economy, politics, health and education. On educational attainment and health and survival, although many countries have already reached parity, the trend is actually reversing in some parts of the world. In fact, nearly 30% of the countries covered have wider education gaps than they did nine years ago, and over 40% of countries have wider health and survival gaps than they did nine years ago.

“Achieving gender equality is obviously necessary for economic reasons. Only those economies who have full access to all their talent will remain competitive and will prosper. But even more important, gender equality is a matter of justice. As a humanity, we also have the obligation to ensure a balanced set of values,” said Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum.

The Global Gender Gap Index ranks 142 countries on the gap between women and men on health, education, economic and political indicators. It aims to understand whether countries are distributing their resources and opportunities equitably between women and men, irrespective of their overall income levels. The report measures the size of the gender inequality gap in four areas:

•    Economic participation and opportunity – salaries, participation and leadership

•    Education – access to basic and higher levels of education

•    Political empowerment – representation in decision-making structures

•    Health and survival – life expectancy and sex ratio

Index scores can be interpreted as the percentage of the gap that has been closed between women and men, and allow countries to compare their current performance relative to their past performance. In addition, the rankings allow for comparisons between countries. Thirteen out of the 14 variables used to create the index are from publicly available hard data indicators from international organizations such as the International Labour Organization, the United Nations Development Programme and the World Health Organization.

The World Economic Forum is an international institution committed to improving the state of the world through public-private cooperation in the spirit of global citizenship. It engages with business, political, academic and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas.

Incorporated as a not-for-profit foundation in 1971 and headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, the Forum is independent, impartial and not tied to any interests. It cooperates closely with all leading international organizations.

Underprivileged Children Gathered to Celebrate Global Dignity Day in Islamabad, Pakistan

Global Dignity Day; Underprivileged Children Gathered in Islamabad to Celebrate Human Dignity

The mission of Global Dignity is to implement the universal right of every human being to lead a dignified life. We all have the ability to increase the dignity of others and thus we increase our own dignity. The dignity approach works on all levels: it works for children and for adults, it works for men and for women, and it works on the micro and macro level.

To establish and recognize the right of every human being to lead a dignified life, the third Wednesday of October is celebrated as Global Dignity Day in all parts of the world. Global Dignity Day is a non-profit, non-partisan and non-political initiative taken by the Young Global Leaders of the World Economic Forum. 

In order to educate the children about the concept and importance of human dignity, the children of Mashal Model School and Master Ayub’s Street School joined together to celebrate the Global Dignity Day in Islamabad at the street school of Master Ayub located at Hill Road in F-6/3, organized by Right To Play. 

Mashal Model School is an initiative of Ms. Zeba Hussain, providing education and guidance to the street children in Bari Imam at the periphery of Islamabad. There are over 500 children enrolled at the school who regularly participate in play based learning activities guided by Right To Play’s trained Coach. 

Master Ayub’s school is another groundbreaking initiative to provide education of under-privileged children living in Bastis around F-6. Been recently awarded the Pride of Performance by the Government of Pakistan, Master Ayub is an inspiration in a country where 25 million children are still out of school. He is teaching voluntarily for the past 27 years and thousands of children have received free education from this humble yet legendary initiative.  

At the celebration of Global Dignity, children wrote letters to themselves in which they resolved to work for protecting their personal dignity and that of others. The purpose of celebrating this day is to educate and inspire, children and youth in particular, about the concept and importance of human dignity. Every human being regardless of race, culture or social background has the right to protect his or her dignity. This years’ theme is ‘dignity is every child’s right to go to school’. Right To Play, an international humanitarian organization takes the lead in celebrating Dignity Day in schools in Pakistan in all of its project areas in Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Islamabad. 

Right To Play collaborated with Mr. Amir Jahangir, the country chair for Global Dignity in Pakistan. Jahangir is also a Young Global Leader (YGL) of the World Economic Forum as well and Chief Executive Officer of Mishal Pakistan as well. In his message, Jahangir said, “Dignity is simply defined as, right to a better life is every child’s right; dignity for self and dignity for others is the basic right to every child”. 

“The purpose to commemorate the Global Dignity Day is to sensitize society to respect the dignity of every human. Right To Play endorses the five principles devised by Global Dignity. Right To Play believes that dignity is a human right and we are celebrating this day across Pakistan to aware children to treat themselves and others the importance of dignity”, said Iqbal Jatoi, the Country Manager of Right To Play, Pakistan.

Johann Olav Koss, the 4 times Olympic Gold Medalist and Founder of Right To Play has sent a special message for Global Dignity Day 2014 “Dignity is having the opportunity to fulfill your potential, Dignity is the right to go to school, Its knowing how to protect yourself from disease, It gives you the confidence to say NO, It creates personal boundaries, Its having the freedom to be yourself, to live in peace. All it takes is one child to positively influence your community, because children are the change makers of the world”.

In 10 districts of Sindh and KP and also in Islamabad, more than 40,000 children and youth are participating in Global Dignity sessions which started in Right To Play partner schools from October 13 and will continue till October 18. Right To Play’s leaders and coaches will facilitate sessions on dignity in classrooms and encourage children to share inspiring stories. Lead by the Junior Leaders of Right To Play, the students share dignity principles, perform role-plays and tableaus manifesting the need of human dignity, and also express their thoughts through drawings and songs.

Dignity events are also taking place in Right To Play partner schools in Mardan, Mansehra, Peshawar in KP and Thatta, Umer Kot, Khairpur, Ghotki and Karachi in Sindh and in Islamabad as well, where large number of children, teachers and parents, and civil society members are participating.

Right To Play is the leading international humanitarian and development organization using sport and play as tools to effect behavior and social change. Our trained Coaches and community leaders implement our programs which are designed to develop basic life skills, prevent diseases, teach conflict resolution and instill hope in children affected by war, poverty and disease. Right To Play implements programs in 20 countries in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and South America. Right To Play is currently working with more than 200,000 children in 11 districts of Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan. Right To Play has trained over 400 local youth as coaches to work in Right To Play’s partner schools in the country. 

Global Dignity is an independent, non-profit, non-political initiative focused on empowering people with dignity. Established in 2006 by Young Global Leaders; H.R.H. Crown Prince Haakon of Norway, Operation HOPE Founder, Chairman and CEO John Hope Bryant and Professor Pekka Himanen, the initiative inspires respect, self-esteem and tolerance of diversity and promotes the idea that every human being has the universal right to lead a dignified life. Global Dignity has developed a course on dignity, including five dignity principles, which is taught in schools around the world on October 15th – Global Dignity Day. In 2014, students in more than 40 countries will participate in Global Dignity Day. 

Pakistan Faces Health Emergency.

Pakistan Faces Health Emergency. 

Pakistan is facing health emergency as 352,000 children die every year before reaching the age of five. The country has the highest rate of first day new born and still birth deaths in the world and lead to deaths of 28,000 mothers every year.  Yet health is the most under reported sector in Pakistani media.

The role of media in highlighting health issues is often affected due to lack of information. It is time that the media should take up this issue and report it with such consistency that it pressurizes the policy makers to focus on their responsibility.

Awareness about breastfeeding remains a low priority area for the government as well as the media. Breastfeeding has increased at a snail pace in the last five years i.e .6 % while bottled milk has sharply risen to over 12% raising concerns over the health authorities efforts to promote breastfeeding.

This was the crux of discussion at the two-day health reporters training workshop held in Islamabad. The workshop was conducted by Save the children in collaboration with Mishal Pakistan.

Chief Executive Officer of Mishal Pakistan, Amir Jahangir mentioned that Pakistan’s health budget is still the lowest and under 1 per cent which is the lowest in the region and the world. 80 per cent of the budget accounts for salaries and existing costs. Pakistan medical association claims that corruption and mismanagement is rampant in the health sector. According to PMA the health situation cannot improve unless the budget is enhanced to at least 8 per cent.

The government embroiled in current political issues is giving almost no attention to the child mortality and mother mortality issues which require immediate attention.

Lead trainer and senior journalist Mubashir Zaidi told the workshop participants that most of the health targets, government of Pakistan committed at the international level under Millennium Development Goals No 4 & 5 for 2015, are certain to be missed. Instead most of the targets that were to be achieved by next year now been put in Vision 2025. Although most political parties in their manifestos mention health as their priority but the moment they come to power, the health sector remains neglected.

After 18^th Amendment health is now a provincial responsibility but the centre still supervises vaccination campaign and other major health initiatives. The lack of clarity on the devolution of health sector has led to confusion which was evident in last year’s measles deaths in Sindh. Lack of vaccination, poor health facilities and water and sanitation issues are compounding the problems as health workers throughout the country are currently battling to curtail polio which is reaching to a record level this year.

The reporters need to join hands with civil society and adopt innovative ways to bring health issues in focus in the media before it gets too late.

Dr. Samina Naeem Khalid, Assistant Professor, Department of Maternal, Neonatal & Child Health, Health Services Academy told the workshop that a coordinated effort from all stakeholders can drastically reduce child mortality.

Investigative journalist Umar Cheema said human profiling of health stories coupled with investigative journalism can bring back the issue in the mainstream media.

Marriyum Aurangzeb, MNA and Chairperson Parliamentary Taskforce on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) said that media can play vital role in helping the provincial and the federal government in highlighting challenges that still confronts the country in meeting the MDGs target. She also distributed the certificated among the participants of workshop.

Over 300,000 children die every year due to malnutrition in Pakistan

Over 300,000 children die every year due to malnutrition in Pakistan

The health sector in Pakistan needs immediate media attention to highlight deteriorating child health issues in particular. The shocking facts are that Pakistan has the highest number of first day child deaths in the world- breastfeeding not increased even 1 per cent in the last five years while malnutrition is affecting half of mothers and children amongst Pakistani population.

Save the Children campaign EVERYONE is aiming to change that and seeks active media support.  For the purpose a two-day training workshop is conducted in Karachi on September 22/23 for health journalists.

Prof. Dr. Iqbal memon, President Pakistan Paediatric Association disclosed that over 450,000 children die before reaching the age of five out of which 300,000 children die every year in Pakistan due to malnutrition this in a seminar on child mortality held by Mishal Pakistan in collaboration with Save the children. He said that in Sindh alone every 3^rd new-born child is affected by malnutrition.

The sole purpose is to not only apprise the health reporters and media representatives about the alarming current situation on child and mother health issues which are getting worse because of marginal increase in the health budget which accounts for less than even 1 per cent. Pakistan Medical Association believes that a budgetary allocation of 6 per cent is a minimum to improve mother and child health issues.

Save the Children provincial representative told the training session that it is willing to facilitate media representatives to highlight the issues.

Pakistan’s performance on health and nutrition indicates a deplorable public healthcare system in the country, becoming an impediment to eradicating poverty due to lack of proper governance measures required despite the increase in expenditure to Rs. 102 billion in 2013-14. The Govt since 18^th Amendment has been unable to produce a robust policy which is centric to human capital development in the country; said Puruesh Chaudhary, Founder and President AGAHI.

Pakistan is certain to miss targets of Millennium Development goals No 4 & 5 which relates to child and mother mortality in 2015. The targets have now been included in Vision 2025 by the Government of Pakistan, which were supposed to be achieved by 2015.

But as it is said that it is never too late the media, civil society and health organizations can join hands and create a pressure on policy makers to get their priorities right and focus on child health issues.

Breastfeeding stands at a record low of 37.7 per cent in Pakistan while bottle feeding has increased to over 42 per cent showing a sharp rise of over 11 per cent in the past five years as compared to breastfeeding which has registered an increase of .6 per cent in the last five years.

Agahi’s lead trainer Mubashir Zaidi told the training participants that media is acting as an agent of change but seems to be losing its direction by focusing more on politics and conflict areas rather that reporting on social issues that includes health and education. He also asked journalists to make use of social media to create awareness amongst youth to raise their voice for a better health system in Pakistan.  He said editors should also give importance to health stories and encourage reporters to do more health reports

President Karachi Press Club, told the journalists that reporting on health should be enhanced in the media in order to pressure the authorities to improve the health sector. He asked the media to uncover corruption and mismanagement in the hospitals and also highlight negligence on part of some doctors who discourage breastfeeding and suggest bottled milk after getting favours from some companies which promote bottled milk.

Asif Farooqi, Chief Operation Officer for Mishal Pakistan a country partner institute of the Center for Global Competitiveness and Benchmarking Networks of the World Economic Forum, said that this year’s Agahi awards will also be focusing on health reporters for producing relevant content on challenges related to mother and child health.

Syed Nasir Shah, MPA of PPP, who is also the member of Infant Feeding Board told the media that the government is taking all necessary measures to encourage breast-feeding. He distributed certificates among the participants.

Pakistan Ranked at 129 on the Global Competitiveness Index of the World Economic Forum

World Economic Forum Improves Pakistan’s Competitiveness Ranking.

Securing 129^th rank among 144 Economies around the world, Pakistan improves 4 ranks as compared to 2013.

Pakistan has been ranked at 129 out of the 144 economies around the world in the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Competitiveness Report (GCR) 2014 - 2015, released on the 3^rd of September 2014 in Geneva.

The Global Competitiveness Report 2014-2015 assesses the competitiveness landscape of 144 economies, providing insight into the drivers of their productivity, innovation and prosperity.

The report findings show that Switzerland tops the overall rankings in the Global Competitiveness Report for the fifth consecutive year. Singapore remains in second position, the United States in third position, and Finland ranked at 4th.  Germany 5, Japan 6, Hong Kong 7, The Netherlands 8, the United Kingdom 9, and Sweden ranked at 10.

The report evaluates that among the South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), Pakistan is the at the last among the SAARC member countries at 129, whereas India is at 71, Sri Lanka at 73, Nepal at 102, Bhutan at 103, Bangladesh at 109. Afghanistan and Maldives have not been included in the report this year. However India and Sri Lanka both lost 11 and 8 points respectively as compared to last year.

“Although Pakistan has shown slight improvements on the Global Competitiveness Index, it is still passing though a difficult time”, said Amir Jahangir, Chief Executive Officer of Mishal Pakistan, the country partner institute of the Global Competitiveness and Benchmarking Network of the World Economic Forum. He further said “Pakistan is facing serious challenges on the economic management side; with a double-digit inflation, very low savings rate of 13.2% of the GDP, general government debt at 63.1% of GDP and the 8% budget deficit gives little room for government to create socio-economic dividends for its citizens”. “Pakistan needs to make competitiveness as part of its growth and stabilization strategy for sustainable development across all factors of economy”, Jahangir said.

This year report consists of three main indexes and 12 pillars. Among 144 economies, Pakistan ranked in basic requirements at 134, in efficiency enhancers at 101 and in innovation and sophistication factors ranked at 83. All the 12 pillars included into the report ranks Pakistan as follows: Institutions are ranked at 123, infrastructure at 119, macroeconomic environment at 137, health and primary education at 129, higher education and training at 127, goods market efficiency at 100, labor market efficiency at 132, financial market development at 72, technological readiness at 114, market size at 30, business sophistication at 81 and innovation at 88.

After two consecutive years of steep decline, Pakistan (129th) remains essentially stable since last year. The country obtains low marks in the most critical and basic areas of competitiveness. Its public institutions (125th) are constrained by red tape, corruption, patronage, and lack of property rights protection. Its security situation remains alarming (142nd). Pakistan is the third least safe countries covered, behind only Yemen and Libya.

Thanks to a lower inflation rate and a smaller budget deficit, the country’s macroeconomic situation improves slightly but nevertheless remains dismissal (137th). Pakistan’s infrastructure (119th) particularly for electricity (133rd) is underdeveloped. Moreover, the country’s performance in terms of health and education is among the worst of all the countries covered. Infant mortality (137th) is the highest outside sub-Saharan Africa, and with one of the lowest enrollment rates in the world (132nd) is the estimated that almost a quarter of children do not go to primary school.

Pakistan’s competitiveness is further penalized by the many rigidities and inefficiencies of its labor market (132^nd, up six). Female participation in the labor force is the world’s fifth lowest (140^th). The potential for ICTs is not sufficiently leveraged and access to ICTs remain low (114^th). On a slightly more positive note, Pakistan does comparatively better in the more advanced areas captured by the Global Competitiveness Index ranking 72^nd in the financial development pillar and 81^st on the business sophistication pillar.

The most problematic areas in doing business in Pakistan stipulated in the report include corruption as the leading factor, along with, policy instability, access to financing, inefficient government bureaucracy, inflation, inadequate supply of infrastructure, government instability/coups, crime and theft, inadequately educated workforce, tax rates, tax regulations, poor public health and insufficient capacity to innovate. 

The most problematic factors for doing business in Pakistan: Global Competitiveness Report 2014-2015

The World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report is the most influential ranking of a country’s economic competitiveness and it affects Pakistan’s image in the world among business, governments and financial leaders. The Report series remains the most comprehensive assessment of national competitiveness worldwide.

“The global economy may have exited crisis mode, but the path to sustainable growth remains uncertain,” said Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum. “Quality growth is key to reinforcing inclusiveness and it is imperative that leaders act now to underscore prosperity and productivity for the future.”

On the global side the health of the global economy is at risk, despite years of bold monetary policy, as countries struggle to implement structural reforms necessary to help economies grow. In its annual assessment of the factors driving countries’ productivity and prosperity, the report identifies uneven implementation of structural reforms across different regions and levels of development as the biggest challenge to sustaining global growth. It also highlights talent and innovation as two areas where leaders in the public and private sectors need to collaborate more effectively in order to achieve sustainable and inclusive economic development.

The Global Competitiveness Report’s competitiveness ranking is based on the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI), which was introduced by the World Economic Forum in 2004. Defining competitiveness as the set of institutions, policies and factors that determine the level of productivity of a country, GCI scores are calculated by drawing together country-level data covering 12 categories – the pillars of competitiveness – that collectively make up a comprehensive picture of a country’s competitiveness.

Mishal Pakistan is the country partner institute of the Center for Global Competitiveness and Benchmarking Networks of the World Economic Forum. Established in 2003, Mishal has been engaged with key stakeholders in Pakistan to improve the state of competitiveness and media through good governance initiatives and by creating appreciation for data journalism.

The World Economic Forum is an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging leaders in partnerships to shape global, regional and industry agendas. Incorporated as a foundation in 1971, and headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.

International Youth Day: AGAHI Awards 2014 to have special categories on “Youth and Mental Health”.

International Youth Day: AGAHI Awards 2014 to have special categories on “Youth and Mental Health”.

With a median age of 22, 63% of youth is under the age of 29 years, making Pakistan as one of the youngest nations in the world – Puruesh Chaudhary, President Agahi

Youth is the most valuable asset for a country’s sustainable socio-economic, cultural and political development, AGAHI will create special categories in Youth Reporting at the upcoming AGAHI Awards 2014, this was announced on 12 August, 2014 on the International Youth Day 2014.

The theme of International Youth Day 2014 is “Youth and Mental Health” under the slogan ‘Mental Health Matters’. 

“Youth had played an acknowledged role in the creation of Pakistan. The founder of Pakistan, Quaid-e-Azam, Muhammad Ali Jinnah had always reposed great trust in the young people as the agents of future prosperity of Pakistan. The youth continued to be vibrant and active and eager to play significant role in the progress and prosperity of the nation. With a median age of 22, 63% of youth in Pakistan is under the age of 29 years, making Pakistan as one of the youngest nations in the world. Youth in the country are brimming with ambition, enthusiasms, dynamism and commitment to rise, said Puruesh Chaudhary, President Agahi.

She further said “given the importance of Youth to Pakistan's future development, it is necessary to provide means and environments in which this invaluable human resource attains the optimal growth potential, equipped with the requisite character strength and motivation to participate in the main stream of the practical life”. To highlight the importance of mental health for youth, the AGAHI Awards 2014 will have special categories on “Youth and Mental Health”, The Agahi Awards will be held in November 2014, with a call for submission to journalists in September this year, she further added.

Youth with mental health conditions can often experience stigma and discrimination, which in turn can lead to exclusion and/or discourage people from seeking help for fear of being negatively ‘labeled’. Efforts are needed to overcome this stigma to ensure that young people with mental health conditions can lead full and healthy lives free of isolation and unnecessary shame, and that they openly seek the services and support they need.

International Youth Day is observed all over the globe on August 12 every year. Young people face pressing global challenges, including high level of unemployment, vulnerable working conditions and marginalization from decision-making process. International Youth Day promotes national action and international support to improve the situation of young people. Every year, the UN works with governments, the private sector, civil society, academia and philanthropists to help increase opportunities for young people. The UN General Assembly proclaimed this day in its 1999 resolution A/RES/54/120.

The Agahi Awards are an annual series of journalism awards in Pakistan, developed under the umbrella of the Credibility Lab in collaboration with AGAHI Foundation and Mishal Pakistan, to encourage ethical and quality content. The evaluation methodology and criteria of the awards has been designed on the pillars of Media Development Indicators of UNESCO, with support from the Center for International Media Ethics (CIME) and UNESCO headquarters in Paris. Agahi Awards were inaugurated in March 2012 and have become the most prestigious annual awards for the journalism industry in Pakistan.