Zubair Faisal Abbasi
National Commission for Human Development
Banglow #1, Civil Hospital Colony, Near S.P. House,
Jafferabad, Pakistan.
Phone: ++92-21-4534524,4520799
++92-740-5610905
Cellular: ++92-300-5305749
zfa@comsats.net.pk
Areas of Expertise:
Project planning, management, and implementation, primary healthcare,
development information and communication, advocacy, and trainings.
Current Assignment:
Since April 2004, working as District Programme Officer at Jafferabad
District in Balochistan with National Commission for Human Development
(www.nchd.org.pk).
I am working as District Programme Officer- Health. The
health interventions focus on the improvement of health
indicators in the district. The programme includes Primary
Health Care Extension Project, Lady Health Worker Training
Project, Community Midwifery Project and Health Capacity
Building Project.
Since January 1998, occasionally write and work for the Daily “DAWN”, Daily
“The News”, and Daily “The Nation”, as writer and freelance journalist to
cover governance, gender, health, education, and other areas of socio-
economic development.
Work Experience:
From August 2002 to March 2004, worked as Regional Director with
APPNA SEHAT (www.appnasehat.org.pk) for Murree Region.
APPNA SEHAT is a subsidiary of Association of Pakistani
Physicians of North America and the organization runs a „primary
healthcare and development‟ programme for rural communities in
Pakistan. In Murree, I had a team of around 80 persons to work in 14
Units of more than 7000 households deployed to train and re-orient
the target population towards sustainable healthcare and development
along with 6 Sehat Marakiz to provide primary healthcare to people.
Worked as Development Communication Coordinator with Action Aid
Pakistan, http://www.actionaidpakistan.org, from March 12, 2002 to August
25, 2002.
o Key Responsibilities included programme support for sponsorship,
advocacy, image building, and communications with communities and
Action Aid global.
Worked as Project Director of ePoor.org from February 16, 2001 to
September 10, 2001.
ePoor.org is a non-profit initiative established to bridge digital divide and build
pro-poor orientation in socio-economic and technological development
processes. Focusing on four areas i.e., governance, services, technology,
and markets, the organization seeks to harness Information Technology
resources for poverty eradication with community development approach.
September 1, 2000 to February 14, 2001, worked with TheNetwork for
Consumer Protection in Pakistan as Manager Resource Center.
o Key Responsibilities: Developing electronic information architecture and
resources for health and medical help-line services, consumer rights
advocacy, efficient internal decision-making, and spearheading the
electronic edge for the development of knowledge based networks working
with regional and global consumer initiatives.
January 3, 1999 to October 6, 2000, worked as Deputy Coordinator with
Sustainable Development Networking Programme, Pakistan, a global
initiative of UNDP, managed by IUCN – The World Conservation Union in
Pakistan.
o Key Responsibilities: While establishing liaison with government
organizations, private institutions, and NGOs, develop Pakistan‟s first
development gateway portal and advocate the use of Information
Communication Technologies (e.g., email and Internet) for improvement in
(public domain) learning resources and response resources.
Consultancy Engagements:
Worked as Development Consultant with UNDP from March 18, 2002 to April 2,
2002 on project evaluation for Balochistan Trial District Management
Project.
From October 18, 2001 to November 28, 2001, worked as Consultant with
Action Aid Pakistan on a study investigating the „Formation of District
Governments and Devolution of Power Process‟.
Worked with Sysnet (PVT) Limited on Pakistan Country Gateway from
September 11, 2001 to January 17, 2002.
o The World Bank sponsored project Pakistan Country Gateway (PCG),
envisages to create a partnership-based e-development initiative and
working as „gateway‟ to knowledge and information resources for
development in Pakistan. The project also seeks to establish Public Key
Infrastructure and payment gateway to facilitate e-commerce in the
country.
October 15, 2000 to December 15, 2000, developed SUNGI Development
Foundation‟s web-based information and knowledge repository.
August 3, 1998 to January 2, 1999, worked as a Consultant to SUNGI
Development Foundation for advocating the development rights of Ghazi
Barota Hydropower and Tarbella Dam Project affected persons; organizing
debates and developing network on the issue of Large Dams was also part of
the job.
Academic Interest:
I have keen interest in academic analysis and discourses that approach health
and development, globalization, and governance related issues with
multidisciplinary perspectives encompassing socio-economic, political, and
anthropological dimensions.
My academic interest is further focused on socio-epidemiological research that
is part of my professional engagement with APPNA SEHAT as well.
Workshops and Conferences:
Occasionally work as Lead Trainer for training and orientation sessions on
development, primary healthcare, and management for Unit Health and
Development Committees, organized by APPNA SEHAT. These trainings and
refresher courses are designed to build capacity of community-based set-ups
for management of local health and developmental initiatives.
Participated in multistakeholder national consultation regarding the position,
role, and the way forward for government, civil society, and the private sector
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in World Summit on Information Society, organized by IUCN/UNDP in
Islamabad from November 17 to 19, 2003. World Summit on Information
Society would be held in Geneva in December 2003.
Presented APPNA SEHAT „Golra Sharif Project‟ in a three-day workshop
organized by UNDP/Small Grants Programme on the theme of „Working
within the System and Living within Means‟ from October 21 to 23, 2003,
in Islamabad.
Participated as panelist in International Conference „Youth and Promotion of
Human Development – Investing in Future‟ organized by SACHET in
Islamabad, Pakistan from August 10 to 12, 2003. As panelist spoke on Health
and Gender emphasizing the need of preventive healthcare training
programmes in Pakistan which could respond to the needs of women.
Participated in South Asia Forum „Governance and Local Development‟
organized by Wilton Park from April 29, 2002 to May 3, 2002 at Wiston
House, Sussex, UK.
Presentation on “Rural Connectivity: General Access Issues Problems and
Suggestions for Pakistan” organized by Sustainable Development Policy
Institute, Islamabad, on November 13, 2001.
Presented Book Review of State of Consumer Rights 2000, in a seminar
Chaired by Federal Minister for Finance Shaukat Aziz on September 24, 2001.
The main focus was on the need of „information disclosure-oriented policies‟ to
ensure „right to know‟ and strong pro-poor market based solutions for long
lasting socio-economic development.
Represented ePoor.org in workshop on “Urdu Internet Names System” on
July 28, 2001, Islamabad, Pakistan, organized by Sustainable Development
Networking Programme and Multilingual Internet Names Consortium
(MINC)
Resource person for “ICTs and Development” workshop organized by One
World International and ICIMOD (International Center for Integrated
Mountain Development) in Katmandu, Nepal from July 16 to 20, 2001. Spoke
on “Access and Use of ICTs for Pro-poor Socio-economic Development
in Pakistan”.
Delivered Lecture on “Consumer Rights Movement and Potentials of
Information Technology” in TheNetwork for Consumer Protection on October
22, 2000.
Delivered Lecture on “Integrating ICTs in Rural Support Programmes” in
Islamabad organized by IUCN – The World Conservation Union for Rural
Support Programmes and Civil Society Organizations on September 7, 2000.
Delivered lecture on “Water Crisis: A Creeping Disaster” organized by
Journalists Resource Center on May 6, 2000. The main purpose was to
sensitize journalists about the global, regional and local situation of water
availability, competing needs and relevance of the structural institutional
arrangements for equitable distribution of earth‟s water resources.
Conducted a two-day training session for journalists on the “Use of Internet
and Email for Information and Research” on May 3–4 May, 2000,
organized by United Nation Information Center, Islamabad.
Represented SDNP in a two-day workshop on “Integration of Gender in
Pakistan Environment Programme” held on 25th and 26th of April, 2000
organized by IUCN – The World Conservation Union.
Participated in workshop on “Devolution of Power to The Grassroots Level:
Optimizing the Government‟s Framework” organized by Liberal forum
Pakistan – Fredrich Naumann Foundation, Islamabad on 25th and 26th, March
2000.
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Helped organize Pakistan@Global Knowledge on September 10, 1999, a
follow up on TASKNET in India.
Represented Sustainable Development Networking Programme Pakistan in
TASKNET [Towards South Asia Knowledge Network] Vijayan Bhawan, New
Delhi India, November, 22nd and 23rd 1999.
Represented SDNP in "Water Resource and Management" workshop,
organized by IUCN from June 28 to July 1, 1999 at Abbotabad.
Participated in a training workshop on “Mass Awareness: Communicating
Conservation” organized by Sustainable Development Policy Institute,
Islamabad, from 13th to 15th of July, 1999.
Represented SUNGI Development Foundation at a workshop “Kalabagh
(Dam): The Crisis of Federation” organized by South Asia Partnership
Pakistan, from 13th to 18th September, 1998 in Lahore.
Computer Literacy:
Windows 95-98, MS Office 2000 (Professional Edition including MS Word, Excel,
Power Point etc), Corel DRAW, web-page publishing (Page Mill, Dream Weaver,
Swish 1.5, Netscape Composer, MS Front Page, HTML, and JAVA Script etc.)
Selected Articles/Papers:
1. Community-based Application of ICTs for Development. [Spider: South
Asia’s First Internet Magazine]
2. Conceptual itinerary on “Integrating Information and Communication
Technologies in Rural Support Programmes.” [Spider]
3. Research Paper on “Pro-Poor and Gender-sensitive Information
Technology: Policy and Practices”.
4. Research on Stem Cells To Help Fight Deadly Diseases.[Report for the daily
DAWN]
5. Gap Between Two Education Systems Should Be Bridged. [Report for the
daily DAWN]
6. Pro-poor and Gender-sensitive Information Technology: Policy and
Practice. [DAWN Magazine Science dot Com]
7. Human Development Taskforce: Social Interest Articulation Is The Key.
8. Consumers Have Rights [DAWN Book Review on State of Consumer Rights
2001]
9. Exploring Dimension of IT for the Poor and Excluded Communities. [DAWN
Magazine Science dot Com]
10. Pro-Poor and Pro-Gender Information Technology. [DAWN Magazine
Science dot Com]
11. Consumer Rights in E-commerce: Virtual of the Real [Spider]
12. Information Technology and Social Change. [DAWN]
13. Democracy at Lower Levels. [The News International]
14. The Little Cog in the Work Force. : Child Labor [The News International]
15. Disaster Mitigation: Book Review. [Dawn]
16. Double-edged IT. [Himal]
17. Knowledge Bytes. [Spider]
18. e-Governance: Efficient and Electronic. [Spider]
19. Help! Cries Small-scale Industrial Sector. [Scenario]
20. Chatting: (Inter)faces of self. [Spider]
21. Staying Away From Work in Anger, an interview with Jamil Fukhri. [The
News International]
22. Meet the Meat We Eat. [The News International]
23. We Must Draw a Line Between What Theatre is and What it is Not, an
interview with Firdus Jamal. [The News International]
24. On the Trail of a Mobile Mafia. [The News International]
25. Old Books for New. [The News International]
26. Unwavering Professionalism is a Moral Obligation, an interview with Khyam
Zia Sarhadi. [The News International]
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27. The Tuition dhanda. [The News International]
28. Decay at the Mortuary. [The News International]
29. Preparing for Burial. [The News International]
30. Inspired by Nature: An interview with Dr. Sohail Ahmed Khan. [The News
International]
31. Passing the Buck: Passports. [The News International]
32. Seven on a bike? ____Motor-cycle-rickshaw. [The News International]
33. A Puppet Taught Education. [The News International]
34. A Tale of Two Professionals, an interview with Syed Noor and Rukhsana
Noor. [The Nation]
35. Surviving Munoo Bhai: an interview with journalist Munoo Bhai [The
Nation]
36. Progressive Parliamentary System. [DAWN]
37. National Security Council. [The Nation]
38. No Need for A New Constitution. [DAWN]
39. Our Hapless Women. [Scenario]
40. New System of Local Government and The Devolution Plan. [Awami
Punchait]
41. Role of Women in National Development. [Awami Punchait]
Memberships:
Member of volunteer group for Balochistan Development Gateway
http://www.balochistan.org.pk, managed by IUCN Pakistan.
Working on organizing a civil society initiative by the name of „Alliance for
Health and Development‟. This initiative will focus both „health development‟
(preventive health care education) and pro-poor „development‟ perspectives in
community development activities.
Initiator of eSPOTS (http://espots.sdnpk.org), a volunteer focused, civil society
initiative essentially called “Electronic SPOTS of the Innovative Poor”.
ESpots manages an email discussion and circulation list for the IT and
development professionals of South Asia.
Representative from Pakistan for The Bytes For All: A voluntary online
initiative from South Asia. http://www.bytesforall.org
Mountain Forum: A global network of mountain communities, networks, and
sustainable development. (http://mtnforum.org/).
Social Sciences Forum, Islamabad, Pakistan.
Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.
Citizens‟ Peace Committee, Islamabad Pakistan.
Academic Qualification:
MA History (1995), University of The Punjab, Lahore.
Co-curricular:
Certificate of Merit, Government College, Lahore.
Assistant Editor, The College Gazette, Government College, Lahore.
Assistant Secretary, Majlis-e-Iqbal, Government College, Lahore.
Assistant Secretary, Blood Donor Society, Government College, Lahore.
Executive Member, Debating Team, Government College, Lahore.
Personal Details:
Father‟s Name: M. Hanif Abbasi.
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Date of Birth: January 24, 1974.
Marital Status: Married.
References: Fayaz Baqir
Chief Coordinator,
UNDP-LIFE GEF,
Saudi Pak Towers,
Islamabad, Pakistan.
Ph: ++92-51-2279079
fayyaz.baqir@undp.org
Dr. Moazzam Khalil,
Chief Primary Health Care,
National Commission for Human Development
Prime Minister Secretariat,
Islamabad, Pakistan.
Mob. ++92-333-5106504
Moazzam.khalil@nchd.org.pk
Hasan A. Rizvi
Project Director,
Sustainable Development Networking Programme,
12, Street No: 85,
G-6/4, Islamabad, Pakistan
Ph: ++92-51-2270684
rizvi@isb.sdnpk.org
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