Ms Simi Kamal, Founder and Chairperson, Hisaar Foundation, Pakistan
Hisaar Foundation’s beginnings were grounded in a sense of responsibility for tackling the impact of drought in Pakistan’s poorest desert areas. In 2000, while the government procrastinated, a group of friends got together and took action. In 2003 these actions were formalized into a nonprofit company and Hisaar Foundation was registered and launched. Action has always been and will remain Hisaar Foundation’s distinguishing feature – whether it is bringing out policy documents after difficult consensus building, carrying out critical research, lobbying and engaging (with governments, corporate sector, NGOs, academia and media), building water partnerships across the country, developing solutions, building networks and responding to emergencies propelled by climate change and disasters such as floods and droughts. Hisaar Foundation is known for ‘walking the talk’ as we develop not only the intellectual and academic research base, but focus on actions that have impact. Hisaar Foundation’s largest initiative to date is the Panjwani-Hisaar Water Institute at NED University in Karachi. It is a public-private partnership, a multi-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary facility with innovative labs and unusual spaces for interaction. I am proud to have been associated with Hisaar Foundation for 20 years, and look forward to a new generation of professionals and committed thinkers and researchers coming forward for the next 20 years
Hisaar Foundation’s beginnings were grounded in a sense of responsibility for tackling the impact of drought in Pakistan’s poorest desert areas. In 2000, while the government procrastinated, a group of friends got together and took action. In 2003 these actions were formalized into a nonprofit company and Hisaar Foundation was registered and launched. Action has always been and will remain Hisaar Foundation’s distinguishing feature – whether it is bringing out policy documents after difficult consensus building, carrying out critical research, lobbying and engaging (with governments, corporate sector, NGOs, academia and media), building water partnerships across the country, developing solutions, building networks and responding to emergencies propelled by climate change and disasters such as floods and droughts. Hisaar Foundation is known for ‘walking the talk’ as we develop not only the intellectual and academic research base, but focus on actions that have impact. Hisaar Foundation’s largest initiative to date is the Panjwani-Hisaar Water Institute at NED University in Karachi. It is a public-private partnership, a multi-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary facility with innovative labs and unusual spaces for interaction. I am proud to have been associated with Hisaar Foundation for 20 years, and look forward to a new generation of professionals and committed thinkers and researchers coming forward for the next 20 years
