How it all Started:

Unlike most of its contemporary NGOs’ which came into being in the aftermath of a natural disaster or a man-made one- Awaz was not a consequence of any particular such an incident. Awaz was founded  by Mr. Mohammad Zia-ur-Rehman & the group of local university graduates who were politically enlightened and realized that they owe a great deal of return to the society at large in 1995. Widespread ignorance, poverty, sectarianism, violence, non democratic culture & values, human especially women rights violations and social backwardness of the region of Southern Punjab because of the feudalism and constant military regimes only provided extra impetus to this group of youth. Awaz is an Urdu word, which means ‘voice’. The whole idea was to provide a platform to facilitate and capacitate marginalized communities to raise their voice against socio-economic and political disparities of the region.

The statutory mandate was “To help promote the development of a socio-economic and politically sound society and to improve the living standards of rural and urban slums populations in Southern Punjab of Pakistan.” However, it is registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, (Act XXI of 1860) as a not-for-profit organization having mandate to operate in the entire Pakistan. Presently, it is operational in 15 districts (53 Tehsils) of Southern Punjab.