KARACHI, Aug 6: Speakers at a function said that whatever economic progress the country had made was being neutralized by unchecked population growth.

They said that though the growth rate had been brought down considerably, it was among the highest in the region and a lot of work had to be done to bring down it further to a sustainable level.

They said if the government, the NGOs and CBOs joined hands to create an awareness among masses regarding the issue, the growth could be brought under control.

They were speaking at the function organized by the Pakistan Voluntary Health and Nutrition Association (PAVHNA). The function was organized to launch the Case Study Document “Courage to Challenge and Change” and to give Begum Zeba Zubair Awards to the NGOs working in partnership with the PAVHNA and the PAVHNA staff members.

The speakers also traced the history of the PAVHNA that was established by the late Begum Zeba Zubair under the guidance of Begum Ra’ana Liaquat Ali Khan in 1979 initially to provide nutrition to the poor masses, particularly women and children.

They said that later PAVHNA had been working in the health, specially reproductive health sector, for several years in partnership with other civil society organizations, donors and government and it has sought to bring about a change in the society that goes beyond reproductive health issues.

They said that interventions of PAVHNA had evolved through a process of need assessment and issues identification that explain the transformation from nutrition projects through family planning and reproductive health to development and change specially for women.

They said that the objective of publishing the case study document was not merely to document PAVHNA’s interventions but it was a measure to show how civil society organizations could contribute to the process of change in the communities.

Former Sindh Education Minister Anita Ghulamali, Afsheen Ahmad, Yasmen Sabih Qazi, Abdul Qayoom, Fauzia Matloob and others also spoke. Later, Ms Ghulamali gave awards to representatives of various NGOs working with the PAVHNA and the PAVHNA staff.