Education
Sports
KPK
Caucus Calls for Accountability in Girls’ Education Spending
PROVINCE REPORT
PESHAWAR: A Call was made for the efficient spending, transparent utilisation, and effective monitoring of financial resources allocated for education in the FY 2026–27 budget during the School We Want Symposium, jointly organised by Blue Veins and Rise & Shine Girls Education Leadership Network with the support of Malala Fund.
The symposium was one of its kind, bringing together young girl leaders, education officials, Members of the Provincial Assembly (MPAs), teachers, and parents on one platform. Girl champions engaged in a collaborative exercise to envision ideal schools through creative drawings, visuals, and art work. Participants illustrated schools equipped with functional libraries, science laboratories, and toilets, dignified menstruation support, playgrounds, clean drinking water, adequate classroom furniture, AI-integrated learning, and mechanisms to prevent and respond to cases of harassment within educational institutions.
They later engaged in an interactive dialogue with the stakeholders to present their model schools and suggested priority actions for strengthening the education system, particularly for girls.
Members of the Provincial Assembly, Shazia Jadoon, Farzana Shireen and Shazia Waheed, present at the event, commended the girls leadership in bringing attention towards the challenges affecting girls access to quality education. They committed to raising the issues on the Assembly floor through parliamentary tools and legislative oversight mechanisms.
Shazia Jadoon, MPA and member of Standing Committee on Education, stated, “Education is a constitutional right, and every girl deserves equal opportunity to learn, thrive, and reach her full potential”.
Speaking on the occasion, Sidra Nazir, Assistant Director Planning & Development, Elementary and Secondary Education, noted, “Education Department remains committed to ensuring equitable and quality education to all the children, especially girls through various initiatives”. The priorities identified during this dialogue will be relayed to the relevant education officials to ensure that the allocated education resources translate into tangible improvements in girls schools.”
Yumna Aftab, girls education activist and Program Officer at Blue Veins, emphasized the importance of institutionalising regular engagement between girl students, parents, communities, and policymakers. “Sustainable education reforms can only be achieved when the voices of those directly affected are heard and reflected in planning, budgeting, implementation, and monitoring processes. Participatory decision-making leads to more responsive and effective education policies,” she added.
Maham Nafees, member of the Rise and Shine Girls Education Leadership Network said, “A conducive learning environment is essential to prevent girls from dropping out of school and improve their educational outcomes. When schools are responsive to girls’ needs, they enable girls to complete their education and secure a brighter future for themselves”.
The symposium reinforced the importance of collaboration in building an equitable and inclusive education system. By creating a platform where young girls could directly share their experiences and aspirations with decision-makers, it demonstrated that meaningful education reforms are only possible through inclusive dialogue, shared accountability, and collective action across all stakeholders.
National
Fortinet Security Day Pakistan 2026 Highlights Cybersecurity Challenges
PROVINCE REPORT
KARACHI: Fortinet, the global cybersecurity leader driving the convergence of networking and security, hosted Fortinet Security Day Pakistan 2026 on July 1 at the Pearl-Continental Hotel in Karachi. The event brought together CISOs, CIOs, government cybersecurity authorities, end-customers, partners, and senior technology leaders from across Pakistan’s public and private sectors for discussions focused on the realities shaping cybersecurity priorities in the country.
As organizations continue to expand digital operations and modernize core systems, security considerations are increasingly being embedded into business and policy decisions from the outset. Against this backdrop, Security Day Pakistan 2026 created a forum for stakeholders to exchange perspectives on emerging risks, operational challenges, and the evolving role of cybersecurity in supporting national digital growth.
The agenda included keynote presentations and expert-led sessions covering AI-driven security approaches, threat intelligence insights, and next-generation security operations. Discussions focused on how organizations can strengthen visibility, improve response readiness, and adapt security strategies to environments where threats are faster, more automated, and more targeted than in the past. Participants also shared practical experiences from real-world deployments, highlighting both the challenges and lessons learned in securing complex digital infrastructures.
During the event, Fortinet’s leadership met with Dr. Haider Abbas, Director General of the National Cyber Emergency Response Team (PKCERT), reflecting ongoing collaboration with national cybersecurity stakeholders and reinforcing Fortinet’s role as a long-term technology vendor in Pakistan’s cybersecurity ecosystem.
Commenting on the discussions taking place across Pakistan’s cybersecurity community, Saqib Ishfaq, Country Director for Pakistan at Fortinet, said, “Cybersecurity decisions today are being made in environments where the pace of change is constant. Security teams are balancing operational demands with an evolving threat landscape, often while managing limited time and resources. Security Day Pakistan creates space for those conversations to happen directly between practitioners, policymakers, and partners. The focus is on understanding what is working in practice and where the real gaps remain. Pakistan’s cybersecurity community has grown steadily, and we remain committed to supporting that momentum over the long term.”
Security Day Pakistan 2026 reflected Fortinet’s continued presence in the market and its focus on working with end-customers, partners, and government stakeholders to strengthen cybersecurity readiness across the country. The event emphasized practical exchange over theory, bringing attention to how organizations are approaching security architecture, operational maturity, and risk management in a rapidly evolving threat environment.
About Fortinet
Fortinet is a driving force in the evolution of cybersecurity and the convergence of networking and security. Our mission is to secure people, devices, and data everywhere, and today we deliver cybersecurity everywhere you need it with the largest integrated portfolio of over 50 enterprise-grade products. Well over half a million customers trust Fortinet’s solutions, which are among the most deployed, most patented, and most validated in the industry. The Fortinet Training Institute, one of the largest and broadest training programs in the industry, is dedicated to making cybersecurity training and new career opportunities available to everyone. Collaboration with esteemed organizations from both the public and private sectors, including CERTs, government entities, and academia, is a fundamental aspect of Fortinet’s commitment to enhance cyber resilience globally. FortiGuard Labs, Fortinet’s elite threat intelligence and research organization, develops and utilizes leading-edge machine learning and AI technologies to provide customers with timely and consistently top-rated protection and actionable threat intelligence.
