Five Ws and One H

Young Voice of Pakistan

Bilal Masood has been one of the outstanding students of Department of Public Administration, University of Karachi. He has recently completed Masters in Public Administration with flying colors. An exceptionally bright & motivated student during his academic career, he has represented his academic institutions at various public speaking competitions and has been awarded as the best debater many times. He has been among the top few English language speakers of University of Karachi.

Bilal’s excellence in public speaking was more prominently reflected at an international arena when he was awarded as the best delegate speaker from Asian and European Continent in Political Pillar at the Model Asia-Europe Meeting, 2008 in Beijing, China. The same year, Bilal brought honor to the University of Karachi by securing first position at the All Pakistan Elocution Competition organized by The Pakistan Women Foundation for Peace. The year earlier, he had secured 3rd Position at the Inter University Declamation Competition held at Mohammad Ali Jinnah University, in 2009, it was a dream come true for Bilal to get the unprecedented opportunity to represent his university at the All Pakistan Bilingual Declamation competition held at the Pakistan Air Force (P.A.F) Academy Risalpur. It was one of the thrilling experiences of his life to get a touch of P.A.F.

Bilal’s leadership qualities were proved from his election as the Chief of Prefects at his school when he was only 14 years old. But the year 2004 was a turning point which made Bilal a star product of TCS Hyde Park Juniors, one of the prestigious public speaking competitions. In 2006, with assistance from TCS Pakistan he attended the 11th International Youth Leadership Conference at Czech Republic. “It was an unparalleled learning experience and cross-culture adventure” says Bilal.

In 2007, his passion to experience life application to real world took him to the International Youth Festival in Germany and with a few days gap to the Inter-Civilizational Youth Engagement Program in Malaysia. He was the only one to represent his country there, and the later year at the International Youth Forum in Indonesia.

Education without Borders Conference, 2009 in Dubai was another event that he will cherish for a long time. Moreover in the list of his latest achievements, he has recently been selected to attend the prestigious 5th World Youth Congress in Istanbul, Turkey which will gather 1000 youth from around the world in August this year.

In Bilal’s opinion such cultural experiences are pivotal for the youth of 21st century as it not only inculcates the spirit to appreciate other cultures, but it also teaches you how to be independent, how to deal with people from different countries, how to manage your conflict, the importance of setting a goal for your life, and how to get involved in the civil life. He firmly believes that traveling is the best learning experience; it enhances what we learn in the class room. But he also thinks that cultural exchanges could also be fostered through local youth events. It creates a feeling of harmony and unites the youngsters of the country. Courtesy, the Youth Parliament of Pakistan, he recently attended the second annual Youth Congress which was organized by the Drug Free Pakistan Foundation. He is also an alumnus of the British Council’s Active Citizens Programme which empowers tomorrow’s young leaders.

Bilal recently participated in the Global Pulse 2010, a 3-day, online collaboration event, that brought together individual socially-engaged participants and organizations from around the world.

Bilal has learned something very important which is that you should put your own fingerprint in this life in terms of developing this world starting from yourself, your country, your region and then the world.

Currently, as the National Focal Point Pakistan for UNICEF Rural Voices of Youth, he is indeed applying well to what he has learned. His passion for empowering the youth does not end here as he is also working actively as the Media Coordinator & volunteer for the Pakistani Youth Organization and also a member of the Youth Parliament of Pakistan. He has also worked for Rotary Karachi.

Bilal has not only been the young voice of Pakistan at international forums, but he is also projecting Pakistan’s true image as the Foreign Correspondent for Kurier Dyplomatyczny, a Polish Magazine. He has also written number of letters for this Newspaper on social, political, and international issues.

Surely, Bilal has a vision to make a positive difference in the country and is a true young voice of Pakistan.