By Hira Nafees Shah
The U.S Embassy Islamabad’s Assistant Cultural Affairs Attaché Jennifer McAndrew, USEFP-PUAN staff members, U.S Embassy and Consulates’ Alumni Coordinators, presidents and general secretaries of 11 chapters of the Pakistan-U.S Alumni Network, and the outgoing president and general secretary (Islamabad chapter).
The annual National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of all 11 chapters of the Pakistan-U.S Alumni Network (PUAN) took place in Islamabad, January 24-25, 2014.
At the summit, chapter presidents and general secretaries reported on the performance of their chapters during the last year, pondered future activities and paid homage to the outstanding contribution made by outgoing PUAN Country and Islamabad Chapter President Samina Imtiaz, during her four year long association with the Pakistan-U.S Alumni Network.
The participants also elected new Islamabad Chapter President Haseeb Kiani as the network’s new Country President. He thanked the PUAN leadership for their faith and said one of the most positive aspects of the network was that the 11 chapters could replicate each other’s positive ideas, for the betterment of Pakistan.
“I will focus on engaging more alumni as I believe in inclusiveness,” said Kiani while underlining his agenda. “I will reach out to young alumni, but will also concentrate on the senior alumni, who are the opinion makers of the country.”
In her remarks, Samina Imtiaz said PUAN had enabled her to grow as an individual and as a professional. “I met so many people who had brilliant ideas and were enthusiastic about bringing a positive change in Pakistan,” she said. She also stressed that it was important that there should be an element of cooperation instead of competition, between the various chapters of the organization.
U.S Embassy Islamabad Cultural Affairs Attaché Robert Raines thanks outgoing country and Islamabad chapter president Samina Imtiaz for her service to PUAN.
During the proceedings, U.S. Embassy Islamabad’s Cultural Affairs Attaché Robert Raines appreciated the contribution made by the Pakistan-U.S Alumni Network in forging closer ties between the people of Pakistan and America. The presidents of the different chapters of PUAN also outlined their objectives for 2014.
KP and FATA chapter president Faisal Shehzad said his goal was to reach alumni in remote places in the tribal areas and provide them a platform to conduct activities to benefit the local population.
Lahore chapter President Waseem Anwar said he wanted to carry out more outreach with alumni this year and also hoped that there would be cross- chapter activities of PUAN.
“I want to double the activities of the PUAN Karachi chapter this year, work even harder and also start collaborations with other chapters,” said Faisal Malik, Karachi Chapter president, while discussing his aims for the network in 2014.
For PUAN Balochistan president Jawad Ahmed Khan, the goal for the year was to identify some themes to concentrate on in chapter activities; like environment and women’s empowerment issues.
“I want to link the alumni of far flung areas like Gwadar and Zhob to Quetta, so that they also take part in the activities of the network,” he said.
Gilgit Baltistan chapter president Shamshed Hussain said the leadership of the Pakistan-U.S Alumni Network should serve as role models for other alumni. He also highlighted how important it was to benefit more females through the network.
“For 2014, I want to open doors for more females in my community, so that they can also have international exposure through PUAN,” he said.
For more photographs from the NEC meeting, visit:
https://secure.flickr.com/photos/109908453@N05/sets/72157640172370026/.
