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Saqib Riaz is an outreach specialist with expertise in designing communication strategies and implemeting public advocacy campaigns meant for changes in policy, legal and regulatory frameworks. He has successfully designed and implemented effective advocacy campaigns of the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) for reforms in election system and governance. Also, he has successfully piloted and pioneered the use of social media for public advocacy and general awareness among users of Twitter and Facebook making FAFEN a popular name on both forums.

His entire career is about reaching out to public. Writing and editing copies and articulating crispy public messages are his core skills. Besides outreach, he is well-versed in other communications including designing new advocacy initiatives and reporting to donor agencies. At FAFEN, he has contributed to designing two successful new projects – extension of Supporting Transparency, Accountability and Electoral Processes (STAEP) and Long-Term Election Observation and Oversight Project – managing the organization’s communication with multiple donors incluidng The Asia Foundation (TAF), Department of International Development (DFID), United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and British Council etc.

With over eight years of hands-on experience of working on social issues in media and development sectors, he takes great pride in his work for effective and sustainable communication which is a crucial pillar for the commendable work being done for the development and capacity building of Pakistan.

Manager, Communications and Public Outreach, TDEA-FAFEN (April 2012 to Present)

Saqib Riaz leads FAFEN’s Communications and Public Outreach Unit that is responsible for designing and running FAFEN’s advocacy campaigns seeking reforms in parliamentary, electoral and governance processes through engaging mainstream and social media, networking and lobbying. The unit is also responsible for maintaining FAFEN’s presence on web, creating and disseminating IEC material and organizing public advocacy events. Of late, FAFEN has implemented massive campaigns to seek public output in electoral and parliamentary reforms besides running nationwide pressure-building campaigns for local government elections and public sharing of copies of polling station-wise election results from General Elections 2013. Following are his current additional responsibilities:

Reporting on parliamentary performance including reports on individual sessions, factsheets after each sitting, MP scorecards and annual reports Producing reports on themes including gender, minorities and legislative performance Acting as Editor of Parliament Files (a unique initiative of FAFEN that publishes research-based stories on the performance of federal and provincial legislators) Maintaining FAFEN’s websites i.e. wwww.fafen.org, www.parliamentfiles.com Arranging media campaigns and events, writing press releases and coordinate with media for coverage Managing social media accounts of FAFEN on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+

Before being elevated to this position in January 2014, Saqib had been successfully reporting to donors on FAFEN activities under various projects with a cumulative portfolio of $30 million earning acclaims and good ratings. He has also been contributing to writing concept notes and proposals for new projects and is familiar with the documentational requirements of DFID, USAID and British Council etc.

Before and during the General Elections 2013, he had contributed to the production of 42 research-based reports on pre-election environment. He supervised a team of six report writers that worked in a USAID-funded Election Information Management System (EIMS) for prompt election reporting on the basis of direct observation by more than 400 pre-election observers in which the receipt and dissemination of the reports were managed through elaborate hi-tech technological solutions. This project provided me a great opportunity to understand the USAID templates and frameworks of reporting.

Saqib developed advocacy agenda on governance issues for 32 partner organizations of FAFEN and helped them design and execute advocacy campaigns at the district level. He was responsible for monitoring the advocacy component on process issues related to governance and regularly give feedback to project implementing organizations. Senior Associate Producer, Express News (January 2009 - April 2012)

He worked in the Broadcast Transmission Department of Express News where I was responsible for executing and controlling live broadcast. He used to liaise between the news desk, news anchors and technical support operators for the smooth flow of transmission. Before being shifted to Express News in December 2011, he was part of the Express 24/7’s Launch Team that worked to launch the Pakistan’s first English News Channel in February 2009. Initially, he worked in all departments of the news channel as part of the on-job training policy and later was elevated to the position of Rundown Producer where he served for two years. He was responsible for preparing and executing hourly bulletins along with supervising a team of Associate Producers and Copy Writers.

Media Consultant, South Asia Forum for Human Rights-Pakistan (SAFHR) (October 2008-June 2010) I worked with SAFHR-Pakistan as a part time consultant and contributed to the Voter Education and Sensitization of Journalists Projects. I was responsible for media relationing and sensitizing journalists about human rights issues. During my stay at SAFHR, I moderated trainings of district correspondents in 10 districts of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and also maintained good relations with media.

Sub-editor, The Post (August 2006-January 2009)

Saqib joined The Post, an English daily of the Khabrain Group of Newspaper, as subeditor in August 2006. In the first year of his employment, he was mainly responsible for news selection and news editing. Later, he was given the task of managing a team of six sub-editors for the release of Islamabad Edition of the daily. Coordination with reporters, bureaus and news desks, editing, setting of and finalization of layout of the newspaper were my major responsibilities.