Hyderabad Families Can Ask PHWO for Free Support

From the bangle workshops of the old city to the flats of Latifabad and Qasimabad, Hyderabad is a place where many families live on small, uncertain incomes. Peace and Humanity Welfare Organization (PHWO) works as a voluntary NGO in Hyderabad and across Sindh, serving households here without charging anything and without taking sides in politics or sect.

We are honest about how we work. PHWO has no office in Hyderabad; our single office is our registered address in Larkana. People in Hyderabad send requests on the website, message PHWO from your free PHWO account, or meet one of our local volunteers.

Hyderabad at a glance

The 2023 Census recorded 2,432,540 residents in Hyderabad District, packed into just 993 square kilometres. That gives the district a density of roughly 2,450 people per square kilometre, and 83 percent of its people are urban. The district grew from 2,199,928 people in 2017.

Hyderabad is truly bilingual. Sindhi and Urdu are both spoken widely, and many families move easily between the two, with Punjabi, Pashto and Gujarati-rooted communities adding to the mix. Hyderabad and the Karachi districts are the only ones in Sindh where literacy is above 60 percent, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.

Workers behind the bangles and the markets

Hyderabad is known across Pakistan for its glass bangles, and much of that work is done at home by women and children who are paid by the piece. Others work in Shahi Bazaar, in small factories on the SITE area, or as drivers on the Indus Highway and the motorway to Karachi. When a piece-rate earner falls ill, the family’s food budget collapses first.

That is why ration requests from Hyderabad matter to us. So do requests for debt relief, since many home-based workers borrow advances from contractors and end up tied to them.

Students who need a laptop or phone

Hyderabad is a student city, close to the University of Sindh and LUMHS in Jamshoro and full of colleges and coaching centres. A shared phone in a family of six is not enough for online classes or freelancing. If a device is the one thing standing between you and your studies or a job, explain it in Request help: which institution, which course, what device and why. Our team checks each application, weighs it against the need, and support is arranged only where the case is confirmed. Nothing is guaranteed.

Free legal aid in Hyderabad

Women in Hyderabad write to us mostly about khula, maintenance and the custody of children. These cases start in the family courts at the district courts, and the Sindh High Court sits at a circuit bench in the city for appeals and petitions.

The free legal aid page lets you explain your case in your own words. There is no need to have lodged an FIR. Our volunteer advocates look first at custody disputes and at cases with an early hearing. Nobody at PHWO can promise that an advocate will take your file or how the judge will rule. What we can do is explain the honest options open to you in Hyderabad, among them the District Legal Empowerment Committee, which may appoint counsel paid for by the state.

Flood damage in the district

The 2022 monsoon did not spare the city. PDMA Sindh counted 160 union councils affected in Hyderabad District by mid-September 2022, more than any other district listed in that report, along with 76 kilometres of damaged road. Rain water stood for days in low-lying colonies, and homes built of unfired brick cracked. Families still repairing that damage can include it in their request.

At the same point, the district administration was running 29 relief camps that held 6,530 people, many of whom had come from flooded villages in neighbouring districts and from low-lying parts of Hyderabad itself. Families who lost their belongings then may still be paying back what they borrowed to replace them.

Use government schemes alongside PHWO

A request to PHWO works best when it sits next to the public support you are already entitled to. Women heads of household should check their eligibility for Benazir Kafaalat at a BISP office; the survey is free and nobody should take a cut of your payment. Patients referred from rural Hyderabad Division usually end up at Liaquat University Hospital, where many tests are free or subsidised. For violence at home, the Sindh women’s helpline 1094 and the police on 15 respond around the clock. Tell us in your request which of these you have already tried. It helps our team understand the gap that is left, and it never counts against you.

Volunteering and giving from Hyderabad

Hyderabad is one of the cities our volunteers come from most. Lawyers at the Hyderabad bar, university students and teachers are all welcome. Join through Volunteer; you can check cases in your own colony, help people fill forms, or run a small fundraising drive. In return for your time, PHWO issues a volunteer certificate, plus appreciation and experience letters you can show an employer or university.

You can donate money or goods, choose to sponsor a case, or open the Zakat calculator to work out this year’s amount on your savings and gold. Zakat and Sadaqah reach the needy in full. Families in Latifabad, Qasimabad or the old city who are looking for a rishta can use the free Rishta Desk; Muslims, Hindus and Christians alike may join, each profile is checked with a live selfie and reviewed by PHWO staff, and each family decides for itself.

Public services in Hyderabad you can also use

• Liaquat University Hospital, HyderabadMain public teaching hospital, run under LUMHS.
• District & Sessions Court Hyderabad and family courtsFamily, civil and criminal matters; ask about the District Legal Empowerment Committee.
• Sindh High Court, Hyderabad circuit benchAppeals and constitutional petitions.
• BISP tehsil officesBenazir Kafaalat enrolment and payment problems; helpline 0800-26477.
• Sindh Emergency Rescue Service 1122Rescue and ambulance; also police 15, Edhi 115, women's helpline 1094.

These are public or independent services, listed to help you. They are not part of PHWO.

Frequently asked questions