Help for Every Community in the Valley: How to Apply Online to an NGO in Quetta

Quetta is a city of many peoples: Pashtun and Baloch, Brahui and Hazara, Punjabi settlers and Afghan families, all sharing a bowl-shaped valley ringed by bare mountains. It is also a city of hard winters, water shortages and large families on small incomes. For anyone who wants an NGO in Quetta that will treat every community the same, Peace and Humanity Welfare Organization (PHWO) is non-political and non-sectarian, and it welcomes requests from anyone.

PHWO does not have an office, centre or staff in Quetta or anywhere else in Balochistan. Its only office is in Larkana, Sindh. People from Satellite Town, Sariab, Kuchlak, Hazara Town, Pashtunabad and the rest of the district get in touch through the website, a call or a volunteer they know. Services are free. Requests are verified and assessed; help is arranged where a verified need can be met, and no outcome is guaranteed.

Quetta's population in the 2023 Census

Quetta District had 2,595,492 residents in the 2023 Census, about 60 percent of them urban. Its households are among the largest in the country, averaging almost nine people (PBS Balochistan district table). The mother-tongue table shows Pashto as the largest language at about 60 percent, followed by Brahui at about 15 percent and Balochi at about 7 percent, with a further 8 percent speaking other languages, among them the Hazaragi of the city’s Hazara community.

Nine people sharing one or two incomes is a fragile arrangement. When prices of flour, gas and electricity climb, Quetta families feel it at once.

Water is a quieter crisis. The valley depends heavily on groundwater pumped from tube wells, and many neighbourhoods rely on tankers in summer. Families on the city’s edges often spend a real share of their income buying water that people elsewhere get from a tap. If water costs are part of why you have fallen into debt, say so in your request.

Cold, gas and the winter budget

Quetta winters are the coldest of any big Pakistani city, with nights well below freezing. Gas pressure falls when demand is highest, and families who cannot afford heaters or firewood suffer, especially the elderly and small children. Winter is also when construction work slows and daily earners lose income.

If your family is short of food or has fallen behind on gas and electricity bills, apply through Request help with a live photo of yourself. Across the country, the requests PHWO sees most often are for groceries, for clearing small debts, and for a laptop or phone so a young person can study or earn.

Poverty across Balochistan

Balochistan is Pakistan’s largest province by area and its poorest. Using 2014-15 survey data, the Planning Ministry’s poverty index report counted about 71 percent of the province’s people were multidimensionally poor in 2014-15, compared with under 39 percent nationally. Quetta is better off than most districts, but people from across the province come here for hospitals, courts, colleges and work, and many arrive with nothing.

Floods also reach the city. In the 2022 monsoon the floods that hit Pakistan caused deaths and damage in Quetta and dozens of other Balochistan districts, and the Provincial Disaster Management Authority declared most of the province calamity-hit.

Family law and free legal aid in Quetta

The Balochistan High Court has its principal seat in Quetta, and the district and family courts are in the city too. Khula, maintenance and child custody are the most common legal requests PHWO receives from across the country, and Quetta is no different. Many women here face language barriers in court as well as family pressure.

Through Free legal aid you can send documents to volunteer advocates for advice. Having no FIR does not stop you from asking. Advocates look at custody matters and near dates before other files, though nobody can promise that one of them will take your case to court. The High Court of Balochistan website lists cause lists and court information, and the Quetta bar associations and the district legal empowerment committee can also assist poor litigants.

Public services in Quetta

• Sandeman Provincial Hospital (Civil Hospital) and Bolan Medical Complex Hospital, the main government teaching hospitals.
• 15 for police; in some rural areas outside police limits, the Levies have handled law and order.
• BISP tehsil offices, where women register for Kafaalat; the 8171 SMS service tells you if you qualify, and more is on the BISP website.
• The PDMA Balochistan for floods, snowfall and earthquakes; Quetta lies in an active earthquake zone and the city was largely destroyed by the 1935 earthquake.
• The Balochistan Zakat and Ushr Department’s district zakat committee.
• Edhi ambulances on 115.

Giving from Quetta and volunteering with an NGO in Quetta searches point to

Quetta’s traders, doctors and transporters have a long tradition of helping their neighbours, and many families have relatives in the Gulf or the UK. Donate accepts cash or goods from inside the country and from overseas, and Zakat or Sadaqah sent this way is given, undivided, to the needy. Through Sponsor a case, a donor can back one verified Quetta family.

Lawyers at the Quetta courts are the volunteers PHWO needs most, followed by fundraisers. Students who speak Pashto, Balochi, Brahui or Hazaragi can help by translating requests. Register on the Volunteer page; volunteers are given a certificate, a letter of appreciation and an experience letter.

Public services in Quetta you can also use

• High Court of Balochistan (principal seat, Quetta)Appeals and writs; cause lists online
• District and Sessions Courts Quetta (family courts)Khula, maintenance and custody
• Quetta bar associationsReferral to advocates
• District Legal Empowerment Committee QuettaLegal aid for poor litigants
• Sandeman Provincial Hospital (Civil Hospital Quetta)Government teaching hospital
• Bolan Medical Complex HospitalGovernment teaching hospital
• PoliceDial 15
• BISP tehsil office QuettaSMS CNIC to 8171
• PDMA BalochistanDisaster management
• Edhi ambulanceDial 115

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

Frequently asked questions