Uber spreading smiles and lifting the spirits of communities across Pakistan
In Pakistan, Uber celebrated its ‘Global Service Week’, where employees engaged in various volunteer work across cities. Clad in black and white T-shirts emblazoned with ‘Uber in the community’, the volunteers, visited the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital (SKMH), Patient’s Aid Foundation (PAF), Fatima Memorial Hospital, and SOS village.
At Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital (SKMH), the Uber team distributed toys amongst the child patients and spent time with them at the hospital.
During this service week, Uber Pakistan also aligned with a leading non-profit in Karachi, Patient’s Aid Foundation (PAF) focusing on osteoporosis awareness. As part of the activity, Uber employees came up with ideas to promote DEXA scan – one of the screening methods for osteoporosis – at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, set-up by PAF, which is available free of cost for females.
Uber volunteers also managed to contribute to Fatima Memorial Hospital in a way that would create significant impact for the organization. The Uber teams did some brainstorming sessions with the hospital teams and provided recommendations to help the institution implement successful plans and campaigns.
Lastly, Uber team visited SOS Village and spent time while taking the children through creative thought-development games and activities, followed by an entertaining talent show put on display by the children alongside Uber team.
Uber Pakistan has organized a number of activities to serve the community both organically through the platform, and through programs and philanthropy. Last year, Uber partnered with Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) to empower women by helping selected BISP beneficiaries to acquire driving skills and providing them 100 rickshaws with minimal installments for repayment. Aiming to enable women to exit the poverty cycle through sustainable earning opportunity.
Similarly, last year, an awareness drive was conducted by driver partners in Lahore wherein they distributed free smog kits to Uber riders, to give them some relief during their daily commute in the smog season.
Uber also teamed up with Kashf Foundation in a bid to educate driver partners on how to refrain from inappropriate behavior to recognize and prevent unsuitable actions. Titled ‘Dignity at Work’, this training was a part of Uber’s global initiative to help prevent harassment of any kind.
Moreover, Uber’s Pakistan-based executives can be seen volunteering for mentorship programs at the National Incubation Center across Pakistan. Every year, the tech firm organizes a national startup competition giving an opportunity to aspiring tech startup professionals to be guided by experienced trainers and eventually have their ideas judged by investors and mentors during the course of the competition.
Such initiatives are a testament to the fact that Uber takes it social responsibilities seriously and continues to make a difference in the communities it operates in.
