Aurat   Foundation’s Karachi office organized a demonstration to condemn acid attack on 19  years  old  Rahila  Rahim.  The demonstration was held on Friday, August 7, 2015, near Sindh Assembly building.  Several civil society organization and human rights activists also joined in the demonstration to express solidarity with  the families of victims.  While speaking on the occasion, Ms Mahnaz Rahman, Resident Director, said it is a very painful situation that during last two month 4 acid burn cases are reported in Karachi. She lamented on the non-implementation of the Acid Control and Crime Prevention Bill, 2010, that was passed by the National Assembly in May 2011.

Six-month-old Mohammad Hadi with deep scars left by acid burns on the left side of his face was in Rahila Rahim’s lap when acid was thrown on her face. Rahila was severely injured and deformed in the attack. The assailant was her ex-fiancé, angry at her for refusing to marry him.

Rahila’s family along with infant nephew were present at the demonstration. Her sister Nausheen Aftab, the baby’s mother, said that he was scarred for life. Meanwhile, Rahila, the real target of the heinous attack, has lost one eye and her face is unrecognizable. “She can barely see from her good eye, too. She was a very pretty girl. We can’t bear to see her now,” her sister said.

Another victim Sidra’s mother, Kaniz Bano, said her daughter was just going somewhere with her sister when they were approached by a boy in their Baldia Town neighbourhood. “He asked Sidra to marry him and when she refused he threw acid on her. My daughter’s entire face is destroyed with her losing sight in one eye,” the mother said.

Farzana, mother of 15-year-old Zakia, another acid attack victim, said that her daughter was doing laundry at home and she herself was out for grocery shopping while her husband was at his job when four men and three women sneaked inside their home from the door left open by their younger children playing in the street.

A fourth case highlighted by the protesters was that of air hostess Zainab. There, too, she had refused a marriage proposal.

The protesters raised slogans about acid being cheaper than flour here. “It’s so easily accessible. The shops selling it don’t even think twice. We want it sold under licence only with the buyers also submitting a copy of their national identity card to the sellers,” said Malka khan of the Aurat Foundation.

“These four acid attack cases happened over a period of two months only. The victims are facing a fate worse than death,” she added. “We want the toughest punishments for the attackers.”

Women Parliamentary Caucus (WPC) on Wednesday stressed for the enhanced role of Parliamentarians in the implementation and oversight of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).    

The demand came forward in a study circle for women parliamentarians organized by WPC in collaboration with Aurat Foundation (AF), Trocaire, DFAT, Trocaire and Australian Aid. The purpose of the study circle was to acquaint the women parliamentarians on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the transition to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The study circle started with the introductory remarks by Secretary WPC MNA Shaista Parvez and AF Director Advocacy Rabeea Hadi which was followed by in-depth presentation by Chairperson Parliamentary Taskforce on MDGs MNA Maryam Aurangzeb.

Maryam highlighted government’s efforts and action plan to implement MDGs and SDGs. She highlighted some of the technical issues with the MDGs. She said that global development agenda can only succeed when it is streamlined with the national agendas and Parliamentarians can play an important role in this regard.

She talked extensively about the reasons for Pakistan’s failure to achieve most of the MDGs goals. She termed lack of attention by the governments, dearth of resources for the set targets, major shift of responsibilities as a result of devolution and lack of ownership and oversight by Parliamentarians as basic reasons behind this below par performance.

Highlighting challenges to implement global development agendas, she said that after devolution, implementation of major development goals has been shifted to provinces whereas federal government is responsible to report for the international treaties. Maryam said that collection of data from provinces is a huge challenge. “Out of 41 indicators of MDGs, data for 33 indicators was not available,” she said adding that there is still no forum where federal and provincial ministers can discuss and coordinate their efforts.  

Besides lack of data, she said that the government departments lack capacity to analyze the available data. She said that the government is working to improve curriculum for civil servants and judiciary to equip and aware the government machinery for emerging challenges. Maryam urged for better coordination among civil society, media and Parliamentarians for effective implementation of global development agenda.

Shehryar Ghazi from Rutgers WPF and Rabea Hadi from AF highlighted the role of civil society organizations (CSOs) in achievement of these goals. They also discussed the need for increased interaction among parliamentarians and CSOs to enhance their knowledge and learn from each other.

They acknowledged the essential role of Parliaments in sustainable development through enactment of legislation and adoption of budgets and ensuring accountability for the effective implementation of international commitments.

They said that for Pakistan to enjoy the demographic dividend, holistic investments must be made to improve lives of adolescents and youth especially their health. They said that Pakistan has achieved key milestones in achieving gender equality including progressive laws pertaining to rights for women and policies to increase political and civic participation of women. The legislative efforts (new legislation and effective implementation) must be sustained.

They pointed out that indicators of maternal health in Pakistan have experienced slow progress which has resulted in MDG5 being off-track in all provinces. “In order to improve the health status of women and young girls it is necessary to integrate maternal and reproductive health in national and provincial plans,” suggested Shehryar Ghazi.

The women parliamentarians appreciated the study circle and expressed their desire to hold more study circles on women centric issues. Furthermore they agreed on raising SDGs specific issues through calling attention and questions.

 

Aurat Foundation’s project ‘Pakistan Religious Freedom Initiatives: Leaders of Influence (PRFI)’ organized a three 1-day training sessions with police officials from South, East and West police zones  of  Karachi,  from 27th to 29th July 29, 2015, at Hotel Movenpick, Karachi. The main objective of these training sessions was to sensitize employees of law enforcement agencies, especially police officers on the rights of minorities and to increase awareness amongst them about laws that have been passed recently.

In order to conduct these sessions various trainers from all over the city were contacted including Mr Niaz Siddiki, former IG Sindh, Ms Fouzia Tariq, HR defender, Mr Faizullah Korejo, SSP Investigation, and Mr Naeem Zeeshan, Police Trainer. Moreover, since the aim of the training sessions was to target police officers from all over Karachi, police officers from South were invited to attend the first day, officers from West were the participants on the second day and on the third day officers from East attended the sessions.

On each day, the meeting started with the recitation of Holy Quran. Ms Mahnaz Rahman briefed the police officers and the rest of the participants about Aurat Foundation’s work.   

Ms Erum spoke to the participants about PRFI which is being run by Aurat Foundation and she shared the objectives of the workshop.

Ms Fouzia Tariq gave the presentation on Human Rights Constitution of Pakistan, UDHR, Mr Niaz Siddiki covered the Child Marriages Restrained Act 2013, Domestic Violence Act 2013, Acid burn Act 2011,and its impact on minorities, Mr Faizullah Korejo discussed with police officials the minorities cases and Mr Naeem Zeeshan took the session on gender.

Pakistan Religious Freedom Initiatives: Leaders of Influence (PRFI) held a meeting with government officials and other stakeholders on July 24, 2015, at Marriott Hotel, Karachi. Meeting was  attended by Ms Saira Shahliani, MPA PPP; Mr Aijaz Ahmed Mangi, Secretary Labor; Mr Muhammad Sadiq, Director Minorities Affairs; Mr Anwar Ali Babar, Official Minorities Affairs; Ms Musarat Jabeen, Deputy Director, Women Development Department; Ms Anis Fatima, Assistant Director, Planning and Development Department; Mr Ghulam Haider Memon and Mr Abdullah Shah Ombudsman Sindh; Ms Farhat Moosa, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics;  Mr Abdul Rahim Moosvi, Sabiha Shah from Women Development Foundation, Pakistan; Mr Syed Moazzam Ali, Consultant TAF Project; and from AF Ms Mahnaz Rahman Resident Director, Karachi office, Ms Erum Javed Project Manager and Ms Fareeda Tahir Associate Programme Manager.

Ms Mahnaz Rahmanspoke about the various projects that AF is currently working on, with a special focus on Gender Equity Program, which is funded by USAID. While  introducing the project,  Ms Fareeda  Tahir said that PRFI is a project of Aurat Foundation in Sindh supported by The Asia Foundation.  She said that the purpose of the project was to deal with the issues that non- Muslims in Pakistan face.  It is for this purpose that she also mentioned some of the issues such as forced conversion, forced migration, hate speech in curriculum which have been identified through a  KAP survey including focus group discussions which was conducted at the grassroots level in districts such as Tando Allahyar Karachi etc by their consultant Mr Moazzam. She said that for many months now they’ve been working with their legal consultant Ms Maliha Zia Lari, parliamentarians, the relevant government departments, parliamentarian, civil society and other organizations in order to come up with a comprehensive law that deals with the issue of forced conversion in Sindh.

At this point the Secretary Labour said that all government departments had received a notice about the five percent quota for Minorities, therefore all the relevant departments are working hard to implement this quota. After this, Mr Moazzam, who was the consultant responsible for conducting the KAP survey to identify the issues of Minorities, spoke about the KAP survey and the focus group discussions that were conducted across various districts of Sindh.

Ms Sabiha Shah addressed the participants and said that the mindset of people needs to be changed through awareness.

Pakistan Religious Freedom Initiatives: Leaders of Influence (PRFI) organized a meeting with officials of Social Welfare Department, Government of Sindh on July 24, 2015. The meeting was attended by Ms Riaz Fatima, Deputy Director, Mr Anwer Alam, PCRDP, Mr Nasir Hussain Qazilbash, PRCDP and from AF Ms Mahnaz Rahman, Resident Director AF and Ms Fareeda Tahir, Associate Programm Manager were there.

Ms Mahnaz Rahman briefed the members of the Social Welfare Department about Aurat Foundation’s work. While giving the project introduction, she said that Pakistan’s Religious Freedom Initiative is aimed at dealing with the problems that non Muslim Pakistanis face, such as forced conversion, hate speech in curriculum etc. Ms. Fareeda Tahir, Associate Program Manager shared that the Religious Freedom Caucus (RFC) is the same as Women Caucus in the Sindh Assembly, and that it will be established at the parliamentary level and across party lines. This will include members of the Provincial Assembly from the mainstream parties and religious minorities. This caucus will serve as an advocacy platform for the religious freedom in Sindh and will lobby with other parliamentarians for tabling important legislation and draft bills, undertake advocacy toward desired changes in party manifestos and also setting up minority wings in their respective parties.  

Ms Riaz Fatima briefed the Aurat Foundation staff about the work being done by the Social Welfare Department. She said that 78 women welfare centers are being run all over Sindh. Ms Riaz Fatima informed that the public sector is constantly failing to implement the 2% quota that has been set to provide employment to the disabled Pakistanis. At this point, Ms Riaz Fatima gave some recommendations to help improve employment opportunities for minorities in Pakistan such as applying affirmative action in the case of minorities as well. She said that there should be a separate interview and a separate test for minorities. She also mentioned that in interior Sindh, religious minorities are the majority in terms of population. She then spoke of the medical assessment project which is being run by the Social Welfare Department. Under this project, tests are administered which certify if people are disabled according to the rules set by the Pakistani government so that they may be eligible for jobs under the 2% quota set by the government. Moreover, now there is a monogram which is engraved on their CNIC as well to make the process of getting a job easier. However, she mentioned that the Certificate can only be made once the CNIC has been made therefore the applicant needs to be 18 years or older. Lastly, she mentioned that the Social Welfare Department also provides career counseling so as to facilitate disabled people when they are applying for jobs.   

On June 22, 2015, Aurat Foundation’s Karachi office organized a consultation on  youth policy in Sindh.  The consultation was centered on the Youth Policy in Sindh, what has been achieved with regards to empowerment of youth by various stakeholders and how the empowerment of youth is important in the larger scheme where development on a national level is concerned. During the meeting, youth policy in the status quo was discussed and so were plans for the future of the policy and subsequently the youth of Pakistan.

The participants were welcomed by Ms Malka Khan, Regional Coordinator LISTEN, Sindh and Baluchistan.  Ms Mahnaz Rahman, Resident Director AF, spoke on the LISTEN project and Youth Policy.  She said that there was an immediate need for a policy in Sindh that addresses the problem of the youth and that with the support of 2012 Legislators’ Policy and the advice of civil society any such policy could be implemented easily. When discussing the details and the significance of such a policy, she said that a policy for the youth shall empower them economically, socially and politically and make them aware of their rights and responsibilities.  The youth policy should include short term and long term goals and should provide central aid. In Sindh, the Department of Youth Affairs is taking basic steps for youth empowerment. However, it is essential that other departments and organizations also work hand-in-hand for this cause. This collaboration will ensure that an effective link for communication for all youth related activities is established, and that public funds are utilized in a better way.

Mr Noor Bajeer, Executive Director CSSP, said that the struggle for youth policy is ongoing. Then, Bargael NGO shared a draft with the participants and the youth affairs department. It was said that this draft has been pending since 2012 and that it was drafted after a discussion with MPAs and youth representatives.

Dr Sikander Mandrio promised that he is going to work on the youth draft which will deal with education and social welfare. He said that rural youth should be uplifted, and the Student Unions should be restored. Moreover, at least 5% of minority social protection should be present, agricultural and health issues should be focused in the policy and it should reflect the need of student unions for educational institutions.

Mr.Rizwan Jaffer, Founder of Youth Parliament, said that they have been working on youth policy for quite a few years now and that they formulated the Youth Parliament through which many young people are involved. He said that youth of Sindh should be made a part of policy-making which is why the Youth Parliament project was conceived and is being implemented by the Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development And Transparency (PILDAT). 

In a historic move, taking notice of barring women to cast their vote, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) today declared the May 7, 2015, by-polls in PK-95, Lower Dir-II, as null and void and directed re-polling there.

This was a judicial and political victory for women after 49 years, when in1966 women were barred to cast their vote in Karachi and a petition was filed in Sindh High Court against this political discrimination.  Women’s right to vote has been denied of right to vote in many areas of Pakistan.

“This is a historic decision towards women’s political empowerment and would have far reaching impact on women’s struggle for political rights”, said Shabina Ayaz, the resident director of the Aurat Foundation in Peshawar.  She also  valued the  timing of  the  decision in the context of  complaints from women  against  denial from  voting  during  recent local  government elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, that the  decision would encourage the  women  voters and candidates to file their complaints where  they were  denied of casting vote.  “Aurat  Foundation has been monitoring  general and local government  elections, raising women’s disfranchisement  issue and giving  recommendations continuously since 1991”,  she further  said.  A petition was also filed in Peshawar High Court in  2001 against barring women from casting  vote during local government  elections.     

The ECP took sui-motto   after various women’s rights activists sent requests demanding that the election be declared null and void in by-polls of  PK-95 where women were barred to cast their vote. The  case was heared by ECP under the Chief Election Commissioner, retired Justice Sardar Raza Khan.  Seven  women’s  rights activists appeared as petitioners, namely Ms Shabina Ayaz from Aurat Foundation,  Ms Bushra  Goher, MNA ANP, Ms Tahira  Abdullah, Ms Khawar Mumtaz, Chairperson NCSW, Ms Irshad Begum, from ABKT, Ms Farbana  Bari  and  Mr Sikandar from SAP-PK.   

Lower Dir’s powerful men have a history of excluding women from the election process. In the 2013 general election they signed a deal not to allow women to vote. All political parties — religious and those that call themselves secular were part of it. The deal was signed on May 10, 2013 and bore the signatures of Dr Nazir of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, Aizaz-ul-Mulk Afkari of the Jamaat-i-Islami, Haji Abdul Rahman Khan of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam, Malik Rehman of Pakistan People’s Party, Abdul Wahid of Awami National Party and Dr Deedar Mohammad of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz. According to the agreement, any party violating it would be fined Rs.5 million. 

The representatives from Aurat Foundation met with government officials and politicians, specifically MPAs, to discuss the issue of religious freedom for religious minorities. Notable personalities that attended the meeting included MPAs such asMs. Mahtab Akber Rashidi PML-F, Ms. ShamimMumtaz PPP, Ms. Iram Khalid PPP along with individuals likeMr. Mohammad Umar who represented PPP at the event.  Apart from these dignitaries, Ms Mahnaz Rahman, Residential Director AF, Ms Erum Javed, Project Manager PRFI/TAF, Mr Imran Sangrasi and Ms Fareeda Tahir, Associate Program Manager AF also attended the event. 

The meeting started off with an introduction of the participants and the project itself. One of the representatives of the Aurat Foundation, MsFareeda Tahir stated that the project that they were currently working on, called Pakistan Religious Freedom Initiative, is being funded by The Asia Foundation She mentioned that historically Aurat Foundation was seen as just working for the rights of women. However, it is due to this project that Aurat Foundation is also being recognized as a champion of the rights of minorities. Under this project, AF is currently working on issues that include but are not limited to hate speech, forced conversion, forced marriages, quota problem, the behavior of the police and the response of the various political parties in light of this issue.

Ms Tahir said that another way in which they were working on tackling the problemwas the introduction of new legislation that would improve the conditions for religious minorities. It was for this purpose, that they had hired Ms. Maliha Zia Lari as a consultant, so that new bills could be drafted. She further mentioned that at the moment, non- Muslims were being hired for jobs in the government through a 5% quota. To ensure that this quota was set, they had met with the Secretary for Education, Secretary for Social Welfare, Secretary for Women Development, and government officials like Ombudsman Sindh,etc.

She then talked about their plans for the future which included making a Religious Freedom Caucus in the Sindh Assembly which is similar to the Women’s Caucus, present within the Assembly already. Moreover, she stated that this Caucus would include members of the provincial assembly from the mainstream parties and it would also include representatives from religious minorities. While talking about its significance, she mentioned that the caucus would serve as a platform for not just advocating religious freedom in Sindh but would also help in lobbying with other parliamentarians when it is time to draft bills, table important legislation and the establishment of minority wings in various political parties.

Ms ShamimMumtaz MPA-PPP said that there was a Minorities and Religious Affairs Committee in the Assembly at the moment and that Mr Ramesh is the Chairman of the Committee. MsMahtabRashdi then addressed the audience, and expressed solidarity with the cause. She also said that the staff of Aurat Foundation could be allowed to participate with permission from the concerned authorities. Finally, the meeting concluded on a positive note with a vote of thanks by Ms Mahnaz Rahman.

Aurat Foundation organized a meeting with officials of the Police Department, Sindh, on May 4, 2015 at Marriott hotel, Karachi. The meeting was organized under the ‘Religious Freedom Initiatives: Leaders of Influence’ project  and was participated by Mr Nusrat Mangan, IG Prison, Ms Sheeba Shah, Senior Superintendent,  and other police officials namely Ms Masooma Changazi ,  Ms Azra Memon, and Ms Habiba Hasan.  Aurat  Foundations was  represented by  Ms Mahnaz Rahman Resident Director, Ms Erum Javed, Manger, Ms Fareeda Tahir, Associate Program Manager and Ms Anis Fatima.

Mr Nusrat Magan, during the discussion, said that there were many casts in Hindu community  like Kohli, Bheel, Magwar, Brahman and Bhagri , and they have difference practices, and hence, identifying their issues  needs a grass root research.

Mr Nusrat Magan said that teaching all religions in the schools is also not a good practice as it separates students with each other. We should not teach any religion in schools.