For the younger generation of Pakistan, the underprivileged among them especially. The 2030 Sustainable Development Goals were the starting point, and poverty alleviation came first.
Connecting universities, alumni and communities for social impact.
A Noble Cause. This is a work of community building service, the fourth duty of a university teacher, offered for the sake of Allah and, InshaAllah, a source of Sadaqah Jariyah.
Across Pakistan's public schools, colleges and universities there are talented, hardworking young people from low-income families who cannot see a path ahead. They meet few role models, gain few recognised skills, and have no mentor or career guide. Many lack the basics, such as a laptop, a phone, a uniform or shoes, and no one connects them to a scholarship, an internship or a first job. The people who could help, alumni, teachers, professionals and employers, are not connected to them. Talent is lost to the young person, the family and the economy.
Context: about 64 per cent of Pakistanis are under thirty (UNDP, National Human Development Report 2017), and 26.2 million children are out of school (Federal Ministry of Education, Girls' Education Statistics and Trends Report 2023-24, February 2026).
Every underprivileged young person in Pakistan sees what is possible, gains the skills to reach it, and finds the support for the first step.
To connect young people in Pakistan's public educational institutions with real stories, the latest skills, career guidance and practical support, online and on site together, guided by truth, honesty, respect and hard work.
One objective for each wing, and a fourth that joins them. Each carries where we are now and how we will measure it.
Share, in Urdu and English, the real stories of unsung heroes who rose through truth, honesty, respect and hard work, across South Asia (the SAARC region) and especially Pakistan, so a young person sees what is possible and what it takes.
Teach online through e-certification, passing on the latest skills and technology, free to watch, to learners across South Asia (the SAARC region) and especially Pakistan.
On site in the public schools and colleges of Pakistan, Punjab first, from February 2027:
Opportunity and essentials come through partners and donors, as resources allow. Every visit is made with the head's permission and written consent.
Run the online and on-site work together so each strengthens the other, and research the workforce gaps in an economy shared by people and intelligent machines, across Pakistan and South Asia.
CSIC works in the open: it publishes what it does, takes ethics approval for its research, and records every story with consent. SDG 16
Goal colours from the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals; the drawings are our own. CSIC is not affiliated with the United Nations.
As machines take on more of the work people once did, how do we prepare young people for the jobs, skills and dignity that remain theirs?
CSIC is the field site of a five-year research project that studies the workforce gaps opening in an emerging human-machine society, and tests community-built ways of closing them.
Phase 1 (2024 to 2026): Building the Foundations. The work began in 2024 and was built in the evenings and on weekends. Two wings went live: Unsung Achievers, which records real stories, and CourseMera, which offers courses and certification. The third, Noor-e-Ilm, was designed.
Phase 2 (from 2026): The Three Wings Together. This year the work found its home as CSIC. Unsung Achievers and CourseMera continue, and from February 2027 Noor-e-Ilm joins them, bringing career and psychological counselling to public schools and colleges. From then on, the three wings move side by side, and we measure what changes for the young people we reach.
CSIC joins three of a university teacher's duties: research, teaching and service to the community. Its findings will be measured and published.
The research is carried out by the Unsung Achievers Research Lab, a social sciences lab founded by Dr. Rana Nadir Idrees and run with a few dedicated team members. It studies work, learning and change through surveys, in-depth interviews and life stories.
Goal colours from the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals; the drawings are our own. CSIC is not affiliated with the United Nations.
Pakistan already has good mentoring, career counselling desks and free skills courses. Each stands alone. CSIC puts them together in one journey for one young person.
A real story shows what is possible. A free, certified course makes it a skill. A mentor on site helps choose the road. Each feeds the next.
Real, consented life journeys of teachers, farmers, doctors, bankers and everyday citizens, in Urdu and English, told as learning material.
What we learn in the classroom shapes the next story and the next course, and what the videos teach prepares the visit.
Research tracks whether it works, and the findings are published in plain language through the Research Bulletin.
Volunteer-built and self-funded since 2024, with 648 videos, 94K+ YouTube views across both channels and three courses already running.
The young person is at the centre of all of them. Each group gives something specific, and gets something specific back.
Want to join one of these groups? Send Your CV, or become a Mission Partner.
چراغ سے چراغ جلتا ہے
One lamp lights another.
