26 November 2021, Karachi – Standard Chartered – Karachi United Football League was recently organised at the Karachi United Stadium, by Standard Chartered Bank (Pakistan) Limited in collaboration with the Karachi United Youth Football Club. Featuring 199 thrilling matches, among 62 teams, it comprised more than 1300 young male & female players, who showed great performances, till the vibrant closing ceremony was held recently. Sponsorship of this tournament was a part of Standard Chartered Bank’s resourceful social-development initiative to promote healthy-sporting activities in the country.

The final matches of this tournament were recently held in Karachi, attracting more than 400 spectators and enthusiasts. The winning team in the under-14 girls’ competition was Karachi United Youth Center, while the victorious squad in the under-14 boys’ competition was Karachi United Team. Earlier, the under-10 team contest was won by Team Mauripur, while the top team in the under-12 contest was Lyari Center. The tournament kicked off in March 2021 with enthusiastic participation by children hailing from 12 community centres, 5 NGO teams, 10 government and private schools teams and the matches were played in different locations including Old Golimar, Clifton, Malir, Baldia, Lyari and Mauripur.

Standard Chartered has been sponsoring this league since 2017. Since then, over 2,800 children have been supported through sports, many of whom would otherwise have been engulfed in self-injurious activities such as violence and drugs.

Commenting on the sponsorship, Mr. Rehan Shaikh, Chief Executive Officer, Standard Chartered Pakistan said, “It is a moment of pride for us to witness how far Standard Chartered-Karachi United Youth Football League has come along. Initiated with engaging 600 children from underserved communities, today we have exceeded the headcount to over 2800 children.

Furthermore, we introduced participation of girls in 2018 and provided more inclusive opportunities for differently-abled children in 2019. Mapped on our community investment agenda the League has been instrumental in building on the passion for football at the grassroot level in addition to providing important coaching on life skills and teamwork. Not just this, the SC-KU league has enabled us to create opportunities, build healthy competition and inculcate respect in the local communities, whilst breaking barriers across class, genders, and abilities, through sport. We are hopeful that through our continued efforts we can bring a positive social benefit that should be the unifying force across our communities.”

Commenting on the league Mr. Imran Ali, Director Youth and Community at Karachi United said: “We must give huge credit to Standard Chartered and its leadership team to understand the benefit of such a platform for our youth and communities. The Youth League, during the very difficult last year with the pandemic, was one of very few rays of light and outlet for thousands of children. We thank Standard Chartered and look forward to their continued partnership, especially as we look to integrate their global sponsorship of Liverpool Football Club and to develop coaching capacity for millions of Pakistani children”.

Can we imagine a world without women when we can’t even imagine a home without her? Probably No, because we are all aware of the life-long effort and sacrifice our mothers, sisters, wives, daughters, and daughter in laws contribute to build their homes.

We see them as mothers caring for their children, wives caring for their husbands, daughters caring for their fathers. Driven by emotions yet we see them making responsible decisions for their family’s wellbeing and betterment. We see them nurturing their children with love and affection. We often see them making compromises for their family. We see them supporting their families in emotionally challenging times and financially distressing situations.

Despite seeing women play all these roles with care and compassion we rarely acknowledge them. This is the actual insight; the same attitude can be seen dominating mass media and the advertising world. We come across dozens of fad commercials that only glamorize women, representing her as a mere symbol of physical beauty. However, it was refreshing to recently come across a TV commercial for a steel brand that tried to break the stereotypical representation of women.

The recent brand communication developed for Mughal Steel represents the core emotional and compassionate side of women with a light mood. The two female characters can be seen caring for their family’s wellbeing and betterment with authority, making responsible choices for them. Based on strong consumer insight that connects with Brand promise, this emotionally wrapped T.V commercial represents a woman’s caring and compassionate core.

The storyline and beautifully written dialogues help both male characters to convey their gratitude and respect towards women. The way women have been shown caring for men, while men have been shown appreciating their role in building a Home, represents a healthy balance between both men and women in the home as well as society. This commercial focuses on narrative building and at the same time remains relevant to the brand message that translates to lifelong safety given to your home by Mughal Supreme Earthquake resistant steel bars.

This was the basic strategic depth that the communication Agency recommended and Mughal Steel brand team adapted the strategy. Here the brand Mughal Steel must be appreciated for realizing its responsibility, the way it has always believed in the institution of family, strengthened it and tried to create a healthy balance between men and women at a time when we see many pitting men and women against each other and aggravating social context.

Here, the credit also goes to the writer Mr. Hasan Raza and creative agency Aura Communication for coming up with a well-crafted story and concept, that emotionally and rationally targets all the right spots. Congratulations to both Mughal Steel and their strategic brand partners Aura Communication and IG square for successfully pulling an impactful concept that not only balances both men and women but also reminds “Marzi” to act responsibly while managing to still make it all about the brand only.

This article is written by Safia Fazeelat

In a recent virtual session held by the PR Digital Academy in Pakistan, multiple PR agency leaders, executives and students pursuing advanced communications degrees took part in a talk about the fundamentals of PR in a government environment. Hosted by Khurrum Pervaiz, one of the key founding members of the PR Digital Academy, the conversation featured Mr. Aneel Butt, Public Relations Officer for the Ministry of Commerce and focused on the government’s communications strategy and current challenges.

Some key learnings from the talk include the fact that the concept of setting up public relations for government communications is not new but is changing very rapidly in Pakistan. With the advancement of technology and the rampant use of social media, government is actively engaging these resources to communicate, send out key messages, clarify misconceptions, and also attempt to mitigate PR crises. It was revealed that the Government of Pakistan now has a well-defined structure developed to uplift and facilitate the communications system within the government and also develop its capacity. Information, on the other hand, is being disseminated from multiple sources that include the Information Ministry, the Press Information Department, and the Associated Press of Pakistan.

In terms of challenges, a few were highlighted by the speaker  related to what hinders effective communication from the authorities down to the masses. This includes the risk of misinformation in the country, where fake news and statistics are easily spread around through social media. There is seemingly a disconnect between local news bureaus and government spokespersons, and in certain cases, the capacity for journalists and beat reporters is also limited. They would like to instead foster better relations with the media and ensure that correct and factual information is shared at all times. Furthermore, there do exist some internal challenges as well that can sometimes damage government communications, like government officials breaching contracts and revealing confidential information.

An important takeaway from the discussion has been a revelation that within the field of public relations, the possibility of public-private partnerships can and should be explored, to encourage private agencies to lend out their expertise and help support government communications.

The PR Digital Academy is a group consisting of more than 250 public relations professionals from Pakistan and international communities and has been playing its role as a significant platform to bring together and cultivate the communications ecosystem in Pakistan. This virtual series of conversations is a brainchild of Khurrum Pervaiz, and will target to create a learning environment for the PR industry in Pakistan.

P&G is committed to the cause of gender parity and continues to broaden economic opportunities for women in a sustainable and transformative manner. Recently, they announced the extension of their cooperation with long-term partner HOPE for $100,000, to reach out to more women in marginalized communities to ensure that women and girls have equitable access and opportunity. The main aim is to motivate change within the community for a promising future. This all stems from their promise for a world free from gender bias, with equal voice and equal representation for all individuals. A world where everyone sees equal.

According to the ‘Global Gender Gap Report 2021’ published by the World Economic Forum (WEF), Pakistan ranks 153rd out of 156 countries on the gender parity index and the overall literacy rate amongst girls in the country is only 47%. Another alarming fact in Pakistan is that only one percent of entrepreneurs are women. And that is because, women business owners face a myriad of challenges, ranging from legal barriers that prevent them from establishing a business, to lack of access to loans and financial know-how.

Strengthening the economic role of women is critical to reducing poverty, improving health and education outcomes for their future generations. This program came into being to support this kind of empowerment. With the setup of 7 vocational training centers, many women and girls in areas such as Badin, Sujawal, Thatta, Gadap, Ghagger, Muzaffargarh and soon Muzzaffarabad, learn skills that provide them with a chance to have a brighter future.

One such example of an empowered woman, coming out of this initiative, is Hakima Baloch. After suffering from a major tragedy in life when her husband passed away, she was paralyzed with acute financial crisis. ‘HOPE’ turned out to be a savior and taught her the ‘art of fishing’ – that is stitching – so that she can become independent and provide a livelihood for her family. As of now, Hakima leads a respectable and happy life by earning for herself. Not just that, she also bears the expenses of her children’s schooling.

Hakima Baloch isn’t the only success story. Over the last three years, P&G in collaboration with HOPE has trained 11,695+ women through 6 vocational training centers and provision of quality secondary education to women and girls in semi-urban and rural areas of the country.

#HopeforPakistan remains steadfast in its approach in making a positive impact by promoting equal representation and opportunities for all individuals. It takes a gigantic leap forward in spreading this initiative with established firms to make them utilize their resources to the fullest for those who need HELP.

Women constitute approximately half of the population in Pakistan. Giving Economic opportunities to women is undoubtedly a crucial step in achieving female empowerment in Pakistan. #HopeforPakistan is another step forward towards the fulfillment of the company’s aspiration to build a world with equal representation and an equal voice for women, at the workplace, in the communities, and in the country.