Faiz Kidwai first Pakistani to serve as Rotary Int’l director

Muhammad Faiz Kidwai, the newly-elected Rotary International (RI) director, on Friday said it was an honour for him to be a part of an organisation devoted to the betterment of every human in the world.

“The heart of RI is our clubs. I am committed to supporting them as they promote health, peace and prosperity in communities across the globe,” said Kidwai while addressing a press conference at the Karachi Press Club. He was accompanied by Muhammad Iqbal Qureshi and Dr Farhan Essa Abdullah.

Kidwai said the RI's mission was to provide quality services in the education and health sectors. “Eradicating polio from the world was a difficult target for the Rotary, which will soon be met,” he stated.

He added that the Rotary’s members were serving the human race regardless of colour and race. Qureshi said Kidwai was the first Pakistani to become the RI director. He added that during his service of more than 30 years as a Rotary member, Kidwai helped raise over $50 million to bring long-term solutions to Pakistan’s most persistent humanitarian challenges, and also actively participated in the Rotary’s top philanthropic goal of ending polio worldwide.

Kidwai, who is also the chairman of CG Global, is a leading architecture, engineering, real estate development and hospitality conglomerate. He will serve as the RI director while representing nearly 800 clubs with up to 16,000 Rotary members across Pakistan, Indonesia, and Bangladesh as part of a 17-member board that supports and guides Rotary’s 36,000 clubs worldwide.

As chairman of the Rotary’s Pakistan Flooding Recovery Fund Committee, Kidwai has been supporting a holistic economic and community recovery programme for 150 families affected by floods. He also initiated a project to enable 2,000 children in Pakistan undergo life-changing

congenital heart surgeries.

As the head of the Rotary Pakistan Literacy Mission, Kidwai is leading the Total Literacy and Quality Education Program, under which TEACH (Teachers Support, E-Learning Adult Literacy, Child Development & Happy Schools) project is being implemented in over 400 schools in partnership with the government.

He also initiated a books collection project and supported more than 2,000 libraries by distributing around 700,000 books collected from various countries. Former RI district governor Pir Ibrahim Shah, Chartered President Rotary Club of Karachi Sindh Valley Hameed Bhutto, Rotary Club of Karachi President Kehkashan Moin Khan and others were also present at the press conference.