Dost Welfare Foundation - DOST

Dost Welfare Foundation (DOST) is a charitable, not-for-profit organization established in July 1992, for providing services to the most marginalized and vulnerable groups in society, including drug users, persons at-risk of or infected by HIV/AIDS, prison inmates, juvenile offenders, minor children in detention with female prisoners, street children, women and children in crisis, refugees, victims of war and disasters. All these groups are mostly poor and lack the resources to live normal lives. Poverty reduces them to a state of marginalization and deprivation in all those conditions which contribute to the quality of human life e.g. health, education, justice, safety, security, housing, employment and credit.

DOST reaches out to these unfortunate, miserable and stigmatized individuals living in difficult and inhuman conditions, through a process of awareness, primary prevention, rehabilitation and social development and ensures their wellbeing and recovery. DOST services are Rights based and Needs based and include a comprehensive range of activities which cater for the physical, psychological, social, spiritual and financial needs of clients and their families. DOST provides quality services through its large service delivery network and comprehensive awareness programmes extending all over Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and the FATA/ PATA regions. DOST's programmes are intended to stimulate and facilitate positive change, with a significant impact and long-lasting effects. DOST strategies are aimed at individuals, families and communities in a spirit of self-help, community support and participation.

At the time of DOST’s establishment, drug abuse problems were increasing progressively in Pakistan and more specifically in KP and the FATA/PATA regions due to the easy availability of cheap drugs smuggled across the border from neighbouring Afghanistan. A combination of geo-political, social and economic factors in the region contributed to the escalation of drug related issues, crime, social disorder, injustice, poverty and human rights abuses. A shift in the traditional modes of drug use by inhaling and smoking to injecting has added to the risk of HIV/AIDS, STIS, Hep. B/C among drug users and other vulnerable groups. Since there were hardly any treatment facilities in existence to cater to the affected population, the founding members were motivated to set up DOST drug addiction treatment programmes. The pioneering role of DOST is now recognized nationally as well as internationally.

The scope of our services comprise of primary prevention, early intervention, treatment, rehabilitation, reintegration, aftercare and follow-up. These services are provided in different locations and settings such as streets, prisons, homes, refugee camps, mobile camps, drop-in centres, out-patient and residential facilities.