Three teams used civic engagement and film to work with Karachi’s diverse communities to tackle the city’s hate, extremism and polarisation challenges.
Young Cities launched in Karachi in 2022. As part of our inaugural two-year, hybrid programme in Pakistan, 15 young people built their capacities and launched diverse initiatives to address youth political apathy, lack of awareness of civic rights and ethnic and religious discrimination. Karachi is one of the biggest cities of Pakistan and acts as a culturally diverse, economic hub of the country. With this diversity, minorities are especially at risk in the city, where extremist narratives interact with prevalent cultural norms to produce more intense violence aimed at women, the Trans community, and cities’ religious minorities. Unfortunately, it is also a hub for extremist and hate groups. Despite these challenges, Karachi offers a wealth of opportunities, as the the capital of Sindh province that is also recognised as a “trend setter” city in terms of youth and pop culture, and one of the centers of Pakistan’s burgeoning youth-driven, tech-savvy start-up scene. And their young citizens are self-driven, motivated agents of progress when given the right support.
