Pakistani actor Ayesha Omar has spoken out about Karachi’s poor living conditions, saying the city’s residents deserve recognition just for surviving there.
Ayesha shared a post about the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Global Liveability Index 2026, which placed Karachi at the 170th position out of 173 cities evaluated. The index rated the city poorly on stability, healthcare, environment, and infrastructure, with only Dhaka, Tripoli, and Damascus ranking lower. Reacting to the ranking, Ayesha wrote that she was not surprised by the results.
She went on to describe daily struggles faced by people in Karachi, including broken and polluted roads, long traffic jams, limited gas and electricity supply, and constant fear of street crime, all while people work hard and pay their taxes. She said the citizens of Karachi “deserve medals” for managing to live under such circumstances.
This is not the first time Ayesha has raised her voice on issues affecting Pakistan. She was recently featured in a BBC Global Women report, where she urged tech companies and AI developers to take image-based abuse more seriously, having spoken before about how it affected her own career and mental health.
Beyond acting, Ayesha works as a Goodwill Ambassador for The Citizens Foundation, a non-profit group working to provide education to underprivileged children across Pakistan.
On the work front, she recently appeared in the drama Mera Lyari, which touched on crime, youth struggles, and poverty in the city, while carrying a message of hope for a better future.
