The future of Pakistan lies with our youth, which has lots of potential. They only need a right direction and a platform, which if provided can help them work wonders. These were the highlights of the Azme Alishan’s 2nd Azm Awards 2012.
The 2nd Azm Awards, organized by Pakistan’s fast growing social movement Azme Alishan, are aimed at celebrating the nation’s unsung heroes – ordinary Pakistanis who do extraordinary things to help others in Pakistan and promote a more positive image of the country around the world.
For Azm Awards, hundreds of nominations were received from all over Pakistan of people working in diverse fields of life, from education and health to women’s empowerment and IT. All the contestants went through a tough selection process that included an initial public nomination period, a short-listing phase in which 20 contestants were selected and the final public vote conducted over the first few weeks of March.
Prominent personalities including Shaukat Tarin, Sajjad Mir, Mujib ur Rehman Shami, Arif Nizami, Noorjehan Bilgrami, Seema Taher Khan, Rafiq Habib, Razzak Bengali distributed these awards at a grand ceremony held in Karachi.
This year the award winners included ten dedicated Pakistanis, who received the awards through a public and jury voting. Among the award winners was Amir Davis, a Dublin based Pakistani youth who is the pioneer of Amir Public School in Gujranwala. Rahnuma, a group started by Indus Valley students received the accolade for raising funds for flood affectees through concerts and plays. Khalida Brohi’s Sughar received Azm Award for its contributions for women empowerment. Syed Ali Abbas Zaidi the founder of a youth based platform against injustice, exploitation and social ills – dedicated his award to those working for a better Pakistan.
Roshni Public School received award for providing free quality education to the underprivileged children. Mehwish Abdul Sattar was awarded for her contributions in the field of IT. Nadeh Ali of PeshawarYouth Organization was acknowledged for creating social awareness in the youth of KPK. Manzil Education Foundation received award for spreading quality education in all corners of Pakistan. The contributions of the Citizen’s Archive of Pakistan for cultural and historic preservation were also acknowledged. 13 years old Malala Yousafzai, was awarded for championing the cause of the people of Swat.
