Nexus of Socio-welfare Services and Sustainable Development: An analytical review of Overseas Pakistanis Foundation

Abstract

This exploratory research was conducted in the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad. The study was aimed at exploring the relationship between social welfare services and sustainable development. The aspiration to conduct this research was to investigate the role of social welfare services of a particular organization functioning under the federal government on domestic policy of securing the interest and rights of Pakistanis working abroad. This research was conducted through anthropological research methods with a logical combination of qualitative and quantitative methods. After attaining conceptual and theoretical clarity through literature review, the empirical findings were mainly collected from in-depth interviews. For the enrichment of data, participant observation and case study methods were effectively utilized. A sample of 65 respondents was thoroughly consulted for the perspective of OPF and its services and the same was triangulated from the OPs. It is worth mentioning that the sample population was composed of two distinctive groups; 20 respondents from the senior management, officials and staff from OPF and 45 respondents from overseas Pakistanis and their families. The findings of this research revealed that OPF is rendering a range of social welfare services including education, health, housing and other welfare initiatives. The study also has analyzed various procedures involved in the execution of social welfare services. The extent and intensity of these services was different in kind and nature however the impact of these services was highly recognized by the OPs. Field data revealed that OPs were highly satisfied with the education and welfare programs of OPF whereas they shared mixed opinions about the housing projects. Major findings through thematic analysis favored the objectives of the study. The results confirmed the contribution of OPF to sustainable development through implementation and application of polices and services which is creating a remarkable impact on the lives of overseas Pakistanis and their families. It was observed during the field work that the emigration to overseas countries has caused many socio-cultural changes which have impacted on the relationship of husband and wife, father and children and overall familial structures. Communication gap between the organization and its beneficiaries were also observed which has caused the lack of interest on the provision of services. The study concluded that the efficient and effective sustainable development is not possible without the contribution and involvement of welfare organizations.