Interfaith League Against Poverty (I-LAP) is the Development Wing of National Baptist Church of Pakistan (NBCP). I-LAP is a non-profit, relief and development organisation which was established in 2004 and registered under the Voluntary Social Welfare Agencies Ordinance 1961. I-LAP has its presence Nationwide. The primary objective of the organisation is to promote interfaith harmony & peace, reduce religious extremism, encourage equality on the basis of humanity and ensure respect for all religions, at all levels.
I-LAP’s Vision is to “Create a new generation of peace workers, peace defenders, and peace negotiators towards catalyzing positive change in the community for prevention of conflicts and promotion and sustenance of peace in the multi-ethnic, multi-cultural Pakistan”.
I-LAP’s Mission is to play a vital role in creating awareness among citizens about the importance of interfaith harmony, peace, tolerance and respect for all on the basis of humanity and develop a sense of belonging among the people.
The main thematic areas of I-LAP are:
- Peacebuilding
I-LAP ventures to promote positive change at all levels in the society. I-LAP feels that peace at national level is possible only when there is peace within communities and among people of different faiths and beliefs.
I-LAP has formed community based peace groups that work at grass root level, engaging local clerics, community leaders, law enforcement agencies, activists and youth for maintaining peace in their areas.
I-LAP regularly celebrates national and international days and religious festivals of all faiths for promoting inter and intra faith harmony. I-LAP initiates interfaith dialogues with community leaders of minority and majority communities by involving women, youth, religious scholars and academia for the promotion of a peaceful co-existence.
- Disaster Response
Since its inception, I-LAP has been committed to serve the stranded and disaster-stricken communities, irrespective of their cultural, religious and provincial differences in collaboration with local government and other national and international partners. I-LAP has been providing Humanitarian Assistance to victims of natural calamities such as earthquakes, flash floods, and drought; Internally Displaced Persons from conflict-stricken areas and persecuted people who fall prey to religious violence or religious extremist behaviors.
- Health and Medical Response
I-LAP and Friends of I-LAP, a group of volunteers has gathered under the name of “Community Sustainable Development Programme” (CSDP), which comprises internationally qualified senior doctors and experienced people from all walks of life. The aim of this programme is to minimise health risks and optimize health and productivity while lowering health-related cost of people residing in low-income areas of Islamabad. CSDP reaches out to families residing in low-income neighborhoods and provides them with basic necessities of life in accordance with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set out by the Government of Pakistan.
- Education
TiEL is dedicatedly playing the much-required role of strengthening academic education and emphasizes professional growth and personality development of students; instilling visionary leadership qualities for addressing the challenges being faced by the Christians in the country.
TiEL‘s Vision is to regain the lost dignity of the Christian Community through professional education for obtaining their due share in all high ranking positions in the Government and Private sectors.
TiEL‘s Mission is to inculcate the significance of professional education and grooming self-motivated visionary Christian leaders, for competing in all walks of life, on the basis of merit, to surmount future challenges.