Dr. Amjad Saqib, a Pakistani philanthropist and founder of the Akhuwat Foundation, has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022 for his outstanding efforts in eradication of poverty in the country.
Dr. Amjad Saqib is nominated by the Foreign Minister of Malta, according to the British group PA Media, because his organisation has already pulled more than five million people out of poverty.
According to PA Media, the first combined interest-and-collateral-free microfinance programme was launched in 2001 by Pakistani development specialist and social worker Muhammad Amjad Saqib.
He began disbursing zero-interest loans in places of worship of all faiths, including mosques, churches, and temples and achieved a fantastic loan return percentage of 99.8% by honouring the dignity of the recipients.
By supporting his programme through a wide range of social assistance programmes in education, health services, food and clothing, anti-discrimination, and COVID-19 emergency aid, the Akhuwat Foundation was able to ensure that funds were spent effectively.
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Dr. Saqib received Asia’s highest honour, the Ramon Magsaysay Award, in 2021 for his humanitarian work in poverty alleviation, and has now been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for humanitarian work.
Dr. Saqib, a development expert and former civil servant, founded Akhuwat in 2001. The organisation has grown to become the world’s largest interest-free microfinance institution, collaborating with both government and civil society.
He has also received the Queen’s Point of Light Award, the Schwab Foundation’s Best Entrepreneur of 2018, the World Economic Forum’s Life Time Achievement Award, and the President of Pakistan’s Sitara I Imtiaz.
