Aurat Foundation welcomed renowned Napalese feminist and AF’s dear friend, Ms. Chandani Joshi to the AF’s Lahore offices.

Ms. Joshi recollected her memories of working with Ms. Nigar Ahmad and Aurat Foundation in the early 90s.

She recalled Nigar’s passion to help peasant women acquire knowledge of their rights  and take charge of the their financial and economic conditions. Ms. Joshi recalled Nigar’s passion being turned into real action with the First National Haryali Peasant Women Conference in November 3-4, 1991 and Second National Haryali Peasant Women Conference in February 17-20, 1993, the first of their kind in Pakistan. The conference allowed a chance and space for these women to discuss their discussed their social, political, economic and environment issues and suggested solutions at the community and government level.  Chandani Joshi also recalled the memories of   the Peasant Women National Summit on Environment and Development 1991, Katmandu, Nepal and the Regional Conference on Women and Environment in February 10-12, 1992.

She talked fondly of Shehla Zia and paid tribute to the commitment of both founding members, Nigar and Shehla for their devotion and struggle towards women’s rights. She also recollected fond personal memories of their personal friendship over these years. Commenting on the status of women in Pakistan today, Ms. Joshi she said that she believed that the country was heading in the right direction with legislation coming into effect and the overall silence over these issues gradually ending.

Ms. Chandani Joshi played a great role for the women of Pakistan as well.  Women in Pakistan. She setup the first South Asian Regional United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) in Pakistan and India.

Besides a large number of Aurat Foundation’s Women Leaders present at the event, Nigar Ahmad, herself was present at the occasion. Others included members of the provincial assembly, members of civil society organisations and individual activists and members of the media. 

Convener Women Parliamentary Caucus of Punjab Assembly, Ms. Kawal Nauaman said that to ensure gender equality, protection of fundamental rights for women and the eliminatation social injustice on sustainable grounds, it would be mandatory to enhance women’s meaningful participation in the democratic process and decision-making. She said this while addressing an experience sharing workshop at a local hotel, Lahore, organized by Westminster Foundation for Democracy UK and Aurat Foundation.

Chairperson Standing Committee on Gender Mainstreaming, Ms. Raheela Khadim Hussain appreciated civil society’s efforts to build the capacity of women parliamentary caucuses to raise women’s concerns and mainstream gender in the Assembly business. She stressed that women caucuses should play their role to oversee the implementation of laws and should also highlight the gender gaps related to violence and socio-economic empowerment of citizens.

Ms. Shaza Fatima Khawaja, Member National Assembly, said that creation of women and youth caucuses at the federal level has helped in developing pro-women legislative frameworks. She highlighted the importance of caucuses in strengthening democracy and democratic institutions. She said that the women caucus at the federal level is focusing on women entrepreneurship, skill development and job creation for women in the economic CPEC project.

Ms. Nusrat Sahar Abbasi, MPA from Sindh Assembly highlighted the achievements by the Sindh Assembly and said that women had worked hard to recognize their space in the political arena. She also said that it is very important to create inter-provincial linkages between women parliamentarians to enable learning best practices.

Ms. Shameela Aslam, General Secretary Caucuses, said that there are a number of legislations have been passed so the major focus shall now be to ensure implementation of pro-women legislation.

Ms. Rai Mumtaz Hussain Babar, Senior Secretary Punjab Assembly, said that the assembly secretariat is providing research and legislative services to its members and vows to provide his support for women caucuses. He appreciated the role of women members during assembly business and highlighted that out of 36 private member bills, women MPs moved 16. Moreover, out of 149 resolutions, 46 has been moved by women MPs.

Dr. Farzana Nazeer, Ex. Convener Women Parliamentary Caucus, congratulated to the new caucus and said she has high hopes to push the women legislative agenda for the implementation of the Women Protection Act 2016, amendments in the Punjab Child Marriage Restraint Act 2015 (increase the age of girl marriage), efforts to increase women’s participation in sports, efforts for the establishment of health clubs through specific budgetary allocations, trainings through communication skills, IT training and inter provincial women parliamentarian exposure visits .

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Ali Imran, Country Representative, Westminster Foundation for Democracy said that the Foundation is committed to strengthening the parliamentary performances through awareness on post-devolution roles and responsibilities of parliamentarians. He also highlighted the need and importance of provincial-federal parliamentary relationships and understanding of parliamentary procedures.   

Ms. Mumtaz Mughal, Resident Director, Aurat Foundation said that the Foundation shall provide technical assistance and support for strategic visioning of women caucuses and provide legal backup to the caucuses. She stressed the role of women caucuses in social development, women’s empowerment, protection and economic justice.

The session was attended by over 100 parliamentarians, CSOs activists, government institutions and media personnel including MPAs Dr. Nausheen Hamid, Ms. Sadia Sohail, Ms. Nabeela Hakim, Ms. Tehseen Fawad, Ms. Gulnaz Shahzadi, Ms. Nighat Sheikh, Ms. Zebunisa, Ms. Farzan Butt, Ms. Lubna Faisal, Ms. Shah Jahan, Ms. Salma Butt, Ms Shahzadi Shamim, Ms. Rukhsana Kaukab and others. Speaking on the occasion, participants highlighted the importance of the role of assembly in the implementation of laws, strengthening the coordination among departments and enhancing the monitoring mechanisms. 

Aurat Foundation, as secretariat of Mumkin EVAW Alliance hosted a discussion on the situation of violence against women in Punjab and the role of the alliance members. Ms. Sangeeta Thapa, Deputy Country Representative of UN Women, Ms. Ayshia Mukhtar Programme, Manager UN WOMEN on VAW and Ms. Hoorya Syed, provincial representative of UN Women were present at the meeting.

Ms Mumtaz Mughal, Resident Director gave a detailed presentation on the history of the Mumkin alliance, its objectives, strategic plan and the role of alliance members. She also shared the achievements of the Mumkin alliance in Punjab. After her presentation, members also shared their experiences as members of the alliance especially highlighting their efforts around advocacy and lobbying of the Punjab protection of women against violence bill.

Ms. Aaisha Mukhtar spoke about UNWomen’s role and its key focus on ending violence against women. She said UNWomen supports research on various aspects of violence against women in order to increase the available evidence. She also added that UNWomen support studies to determine the levels of violence experienced by women and girls (prevalence studies) and supports the collection of data on the causes and consequences of violence. She said UN Women can joint hand in helping to end VAW in Punjab. 

Ms. Sangeeta Thapa, Deputy Country Representative, UN Women said that women who have been physically or sexually abused by their partners are more than twice as likely to have an abortion; almost twice as likely to experience depression. She added that the structural barriers within Pakistan limit women’s economic potential and there is a need to advocate their rights through this Mumkin Alliance to bring a positive change in women’s lives. She said that the alliance needs to play the role of a watchdog and also make efforts for the formulation of human rights policies at all provincial levels. She stressed that the alliance should join global networks for support and feedback of violence survivors.

Members voice their support for UNWomen to help set up a system for rehabilitation and job placement of survivors of violence. 

2 November 2016: Lahore University of Management Sciences, Shaikh Ahmad Hassan School of Law (LUMS, SAHSOL) signed an MoU with Aurat Foundation on November 2, 2016 at the LUMS Founders’ Room. Prof. Dr. S. Sohail H. Naqvi, Vice Chancellor, Prof. Dr. Martin Lau, Dean of SAHSOL, attended the event on behalf of LUMS, while Aurat Foundation was represented by Ms. Mumtaz Mughal, Resident Director Aurat Foundation, Ms. Hasna Cheema, Deputy Programe Manager GEP, Provincial Manager AAWAZ Voice and Accountibilty Programe, Mr. Anjum Rafiq, Regional Coordinator LISTEN and ICSWDD Programme.

The MOU attempts to create training for of SAHSOL students and other research work, which includes:

1.      To provide students with internship/externship opportunities (that are full supervised and certified) in order to develop a specialist knowledge transfer across AF and SAHSOL;

2.      To collaborate on awareness raising sessions together; and

3.      To collaborate on originating, designing and submitting research and policy   grant applications, especially on the topics of human rights, law and gender.

Aurat Foundation and LUMS are assured that this important step will add towards gender mainstreaming and add to the debate of women’s empowerment. 

Aurat Foundation organized a sensitization session with District Bar Association, Rawalpindi on Oct 18, 2016 at Grace Crown Hotel, Rawalpindi under the project ‘Institutional Support to Govt. of Pakistan for Promoting Human and Women’s Rights’. In this session, a number of lawyers and members of Women Leaders Group, Rawalpindi participated. The main objective of the session was to acquaint them about practicing law and Gender perspectives.

Barrister Benazir Jatoi, Manager Law and Governance, Aurat Foundation was the resource person of the day. She conducted first session on Gender and brain stormed the session on myths and realities regarding “sex & gender”. She used cards to apprehend level of understanding of participants on those terms. She articulated responses to the topic and led them towards the topic. At the end of the exercise, she explained the definitions of “Sex and Gender” according to WHO ‘sex’ refers to the biological and physiological characteristics that define men and women,” and ‘Gender’ refers to the socially constructed roles, behaviors, activities, and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for men and women”.

Second session was started with discussion on “why does the law exist?” This was also open discussion among all participants. Ms. Benazir unfolded the discussion as there are two basic reasons man made law comes into existence. Turning discussion over role of lawyers she opened the forum for mutual discussion on role of lawyers in a society. The discussion turned in debate on role of lawyers. It was brought on to the points that they have very important roles to access justice.

The third session on “Gender Discrimination in the Law” started with exercise named” spot the difference”. For this exercise two copies of the same law after and before the amendment were shared with participants and they were asked to spot the difference. This activity opened up the mindset to accept women as respectable and responsible citizens of the society.

At the end of the discussion, a group work was done regarding two different case stories. This group work was aimed to test the understanding of participants on application of laws on given scenario. Participants were divided into two groups and were assigned to describe the sections of Pakistan Penal Code according to the scenario described in the case stories. After discussion, one participant from each group presented their findings of discussion to the rest of the participants. This resulted that participants have good enough knowledge regarding laws.

Launching ceremony of the ‘Institutional support to Government of Pakistan for promoting human and women’s rights project’ was organized in district Muzaffargarh, on 5  October 2016, attended by women, men, youth, district administration representatives, provincial assembly members, police department, academia, HRCP, and civil society organizations.

The launching ceremony was part of dynamic partnership of Aurat Foundation and Oxfam who are working together for eliminating Gender Based Violence in Pakistan. It was aimed raising awareness of social capital of district Muzaffargarh on Gender Based Violence and mobilizing women, men, youth, CSOs, district administration and bar association to jointly work for eliminating Gender Based Violence in the district. 

Ms. Komal Zahra, Secretory Resource Center, in her welcome address shared that Aurat Foundation and OXFAM has initiated this project for raising awareness among men, women and youth to work together for eliminating Gender Based Violence in district Muzaffargarh. Mr. Anjum Rafique, Regional Program Coordinator, gave an orientation of the project. He said that the project has also been started in districts Rawalpindi and Kasur. 

Ms. Mumtaz Mughal, Resident Director Aurat Foundation, was invited to share the list of laws that provincial assembly Punjab has passed in recent years. Everybody has the right to get education, basic health facilities and justice, she  said. 

Mr. Hammad Nawaz Khan, MPA – PKMLN, said that it is a good initiative and need of the area. Domestic violence has become a custom in our society and women are treated in-humanly. While no civil society allows this kind of criminal behavior, he said. He assured his full cooperation for the cause. Issues of women were manifested through women songs, theatre, poetry, and speeches. In the end Ms. Huma Nawab, Secretary Women Leaders Group, thanked all the participants for attending this ceremony.

 

Gender Equity Program (GEP) of Aurat Foundation and First Women Bank Limited (FWBL) celebrated Independence Day in a ceremony held at FWBL on 12 August, 2016. Chief of Party, GEP, Ms. Simi Kamal and Ms. Mahpara Shakil Ghori, Director CB&EU, FWBL, attended the Ceremony.

Gender Equity Program (GEP) of Aurat Foundation and First Women Bank Limited (FWBL) celebrated Independence Day in a ceremony held at FWBL on 12 August, 2016. Chief of Party, GEP, Ms. Simi Kamal and Ms. Mahpara Shakil Ghori, Director CB&EU, FWBL, attended the Ceremony.

Gender Equity Program (GEP) of Aurat Foundation and First Women Bank Limited (FWBL) celebrated Independence Day in a ceremony held at FWBL on 12 August, 2016. Chief of Party, GEP, Ms. Simi Kamal and Ms. Mahpara Shakil Ghori, Director CB&EU, FWBL, attended the Ceremony.

Gender Equity Program (GEP) of Aurat Foundation and First Women Bank Limited (FWBL) celebrated Independence Day in a ceremony held at FWBL on 12 August, 2016. Chief of Party, GEP, Ms. Simi Kamal and Ms. Mahpara Shakil Ghori, Director CB&EU, FWBL, attended the Ceremony.