KARACHI: For his humanitarian efforts in poverty reduction, Pakistani philanthropist and founder of the country’s largest interest-free microfinance program, Akhuwat Dr. Amjad Saqib has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
343 nominees from throughout the world — 251 individuals and 92 organizations — have been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022.
“My contributions are beyond such awards and they are purely for the sake of Allah,” Akhuwat Foundation Chairman Dr. Amjad remarked in response to the news.
“An official of a foreign country may have proposed my name for the prize because people all over the globe are aware of my humanitarian work… but I am not aware of any such development,” he stated in response to a question.
Dr. Amjad was one of five people honored with the Ramon Magsaysay Award, named after a Filipino president who died in a plane crash, for his “first-of-its-kind” interest- and collateral-free microfinance program, which has benefited millions of poor people.
Akhuwat has developed into the country’s largest microfinance organization, distributing the equivalent of $900 million and claiming a loan repayment rate of over 100 percent, some two decades after its launch.
Dr. Amjad was recognized for “his inspirational confidence that human goodness and solidarity would discover methods to overcome poverty” by using places of worship to distribute money. Dr. Amjad began his career in 1985, after graduating from King Edward Medical University, by entering Pakistan’s prestigious civil service.
He served in various high-level government positions including the Punjab Rural Support Programme (PRSP), a rural development and microfinance initiative by the government of Punjab for seven years. The program is aimed at social mobilization, community organization, and provision of financial access to the poor.
