Aurat Foundtion’s  Karachi  office, under its Pakistan Religious  Freedom Initiative: Leaders of  Influence project,  organized a meeting with the Secretary, Education Department, Government of Sindh There was a meeting held in Secretary Education, Mr Fazlullah Pechuhu, at Tughluq House, Sindh Secretariat,  Karachi, on April, 6, 2015.

Ms Mahnaz Rahman, Residential Director, Aurat Foundation, briefed  the participants about the  basic objectives  of  the  project. Ms Fareeda Tahir, Associate Progrm Manager, AF, while  giving details of  the  project, said that  a round of Focus Group Discussions were  organized in four districts of Sindh, namely Karachi, Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas and Tando Allayar, so  that to identify the issues faced by non-Muslims. A Technical Working Group, chaired by Justice (R) Majida Rizvi, was  also  established with  members from different stakeholders like lawyers, media personnel, NGO’s, Government institutions etc.  The  Group, under the guidance of  the Chairperson, is working on the bill on the  issue  to   be  submitted  in the Sindh Assembly.  She said that  the  group demands  an effective implementation of the 5% quota for Non-Muslims in Educatioon Department.

Mr. Fazlullah Pechuhu, responded that a 10% quota for Non-Muslims is already in place in the  National Testing Service, and that they were trying to get the same in other sections of the  department. Dr Fauzia Khan from Curriculum Wing, ELD, said that the Wing  welcomes  Aurat Foundation to work on curriculum. 

AAWAZ voice and accountability programme held a ‘National Consultation on Critical Issues of Concern for Women and Need for Legislation, on April 3, 2015, at Bhurban, Murree. Political parties as gatekeepers are the key actors that can support women’s political participation within parties as well in the electoral processes which is one of the main focuses of AAWAZ Programme. Hence, AAWAZ Programme continuously engages national and provincial assembly members at various times.  

In continuation of such initiatives such as knowledge sharing with parliamentarians on legislative initiative and develop networking and alliance among national and provincial women caucuses, AF with collaboration of AAWAZ consortium partners keenly observes the pending legislation challenges and emphasis need for new legislation for women’s concern and this consultation was among one of the steps AAWAZ is taking.

 The national consultation was held under following agenda:

• Status of current and pending legislation (National and Provincial)
• Identification of issues for proposed amendments and new legislation
• Challenges and opportunities for legislations process
• Open discussion 

Participants from leading political parties like PML N, PPPP, PTI, MQM,JI, JUI-F, PML F, representatives of provincial women caucus, DAI, SPO and AF attended this consultation. Ms Shaista Pervaiz, PML N, & Secretary Women Parliamentary Caucus, chaired the consultation.

Participants from leading political parties included Mr Shehryar Afridi, MNA, PTI, Mr Tariq Ahmed Khan, Secretary Information QWP, Ms Nabila Hakima Khanm MPA, PTI, Mr Shaukat Basra, Secretary Information PPPP, Mr M Ali Rashid, MNA, MQM, Ms Nusrat Abbasi, MPA, PML F, Ms Munaza Hassan, MNA, PTI, Ms Aisha Syed, MNA, JI, Ms Tehseen Fawad, MPA, PML N, Dr Farid Piracha, Deputy Secretary General, JI, Ms Sadia Sohai, MPA, PTI, Ms Nafeesa Khattak, MNA, PTI, Ms Mussarat Ahmadzeb, MNA, Independent, Ms Naeema Kishwar, MNA, JUI, Ms Shaista Pervaiz, MNA, PML N, and Secretary Women Parliamentary Caucus, Ms Sorat Thabo, MPA, PML N, Ms Fariah Emad, MNA, PML N, Ms Shazia Ashfaq Mattu, MNA, PML N, and Ms Shaheen Shafiq, MNA, PML N.

After spending two parliamentary years in their respective assemblies, most of women parliamentarians still lack information and capacity to introduce legislation and actively participate in the assemblies’ business.  This was realized during a two-day sensitization workshop when women parliamentarians complained lack of information and support and demanded capacity building sessions on legislative business.   Looking into parliamentary experience of the sitting women parliamentarians reveals that among a total of 211 women parliamentarians who joined the National and provincial assemblies after the General Election 2013, majority i.e. 144 joined in for the first time, and hence needed information and skills on legislative business.

On Monday, March 30, 2015, friends of Muhammad Zahid Elahi organized a condolence reference in his memory at Islamabad Hotel.  Muhammad Zahid Elahi, who died on February 4, 2015, in unfortunate road accident, was development professional, institutional development expert, and humanitarian philanthropist who served in organizations like CIDA, UN, TAF, DAI etc.  After graduating from London, he started his carrier as a journalist for The Frontier Post. 

Mr Daniyal Aziz, former MNA, Mr Kanwar Muhammd Dilshad, former Secretary Election Commission,  Mr Harris Khalique, Ms  Farah Azeem Khan, Mr  Niaz Ahmed Kathia, Mr Mumtaz Tanoli, Mr  Qaisar  Butt, Qazi Azmat Esa, Mr Irfan Mufti, Mr Nazir Ahmed Ujjan, Mr Naeem Mirza were among the friends who paid tributes  to  M Zahid Elahi.  Mr Younas Khalid coordinated the event. As a person, friend and colleague he was kind and cooperative, they said.  Throughout his life, he remained committed to improving the lives of other around him.

Two ‘Trainings of Trainers’ (ToTs), 5 days each, were organized by Aurat Foundation, under AAWAZ programme, in two batches i.e. 17-21 March, 2015, and 21-30 March, 2015, at Hill View Hotel Islamabad.  The trainings addressed the Capacity Building Plan’s theme ‘Democracy: Home to Parliament’. The participants, 110 in number, were invited from 45 districts of AAWAZ programme.

Background

AAWAZ voice and accountability programme is a substantial initiative aiming to nurture and strengthen the communities to achieve three prestigious outputs of the programme. AAWAZ has till date mobilized different structures from village level to national level to help citizens in amplifying and organizing their roles and voices for effective and responsive service delivery from specific state institutions as well as enhanced women’s political participation by creating safe public spheres and community conflict prevention through non-violent ways.

The outcome of the programme is that democratic processes in Pakistan are more open, inclusive and accountable to citizens.

Trainings were divided into two batches. First Batch comprised 53 participants from 17th March 2015 to 21st March 2015, and 2nd Batch comprised 57 from 26th March to 30th March 2015. The main components were.

• Session1: Delivery of Awareness –Raising Workshop
• Session2: Our land our Lives
• Session3: Human Democratic State , Active Citizens
• Session4: Star Citizens
• Session5: Action planning ( Circle of Concern and influence)
• Session6: Reflection
• Theory of Change (Micro Training)
• Islam and religious diversity (Micro Training)

Sessions were accompanied by well composed sets of energisers, games and activities that are easily implementable at village level. 

A 2-day session on pro-women laws was held on 13th and 14th March 2015 at Mehran Hotel, Karachi. The purpose was to build capacity and strengthen networking of medical and legal institutions.  A certificate distribution ceremony was also held at the end of the training.

Ms Mahnaz Rehman started the event by conducting a session on Gender perspective. She highlighted the importance of understanding gender and discussed the misconceptions and misperceptions people hold about gender. She defined the difference between gender and sex i.e. sex is biological but gender is a socially constructed role as defined by society. Gender role is influenced by various social and environmental factors and therefore also influenced by class. Gender roles, especially in our culture, also vary within classes (lower to upper class).

The rest of the event was focused on pro-women laws and the relevant issues that exist. This part of the event was conducted by M. Sarah Zaman and Ms Maliha Zia. Both gave a detailed understanding about the forms of violence against women, relevant laws and discussed the hurdles that relate to law implementation. The training ended with distribution of certificates to all participants. 

Aurat Foundation’s Karachi office organized a study circle on March 12, 2015, at Sheraton Hotel to discuss the implementation of the pro-women laws as well as those laws that have been passed but for which Rules of Business (ROBs) have not been formulated. There were a number of participants that included members of various organizations such as Bint-e-Fatima Old Home Trust, Women Development Foundation, HANDS, etc. The participants also included Ms Erum Khalid, MPA, and Secretary Sindh Women Parliamentary Caucus, and Mr Shoaib Ashraf, Advocate Supreme Court.

 

Parliamentarians should lobby and recommend to the government to present ‘Gender Budget Statement’ as part of the Budget Books, which shall highlight the amounts allocated for women development.  This was realized during a a study circle on ‘Women`s Development Agenda in Next Federal Budget 2015-16 in line with UN MDGs/SDGs’, with parliamentarians and civil society representatives.  The event was organized by Aurat Foundation on March 10, 2015, at Islamabad Hotel.

Mr Nohman Ishtiaq, Expert / Consultant-Public Financial Management, delivered a detailed presentation on ‘Women’s Development Agenda in upcoming Budget 2015 – 2016’.  Ms Uzma Zarin, Director Programmes, Aurat Foundation, coordinated the study circle and the question hour session.

Measuring women’s development in Pakistan, the Annual Gender Gap Index 2014 report, published by World Economic Forum, shows that Pakistan ranked at 141 out of 142 surveyed countries.  The rank measures four key areas: in economic participation and opportunity Pakistan ranks at 141; in education Pakistan ranks at 132; in health and survival Pakistan ranks at 119; in political empowerment – Pakistan ranks at 85.  The figures show that women’s economic empowerment, children’s schooling and health are the most under-budgeted sectors.

Analyzing the budget making process reference women’s development, Mr Ishtiaq said that the government does not have any figures that how much budget would be spent on women’s welfare and rights in any coming budget, hence we had to dig down such information from many diverse sources.

Whereas the rules do allow parliamentarians to conduct oversight at the budget execution stage.  Rule 166(4) of the rules of procedures and conduct of business in the Senate which state: “A Committee may examine suo moto the expenditures, administration, delegated legislation, public petitions and policies of the Ministry concerned and its attached corporations and public bodies and may call for views of the Ministry. After examining the views of the Ministry, the Committee shall make a report to the Senate, which may make such recommendations thereon as it may deem fit.”

Mr Ishtiaq also linked the budget allocations for women’s development with Pakistan’s commitments which it made to UN through conventions and treaties signed e.g. Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), The Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT), International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (ICRPD), BPfA is an international declaration of women’s rights set up at the UN’s World Conference on Women, held in Beijing in 1995, BPfA covers 12 key critical matters of concern and areas for action including women and poverty, violence against women and access to power and decision-making.

Ms Nafeesa Khattak, from PTI, putting the examples of foreign countries where local governments generate their own revenue from e.g. car parking etc., questioned that if our local governments have their own revenue generation base or depends on federal and provincial governments?

Ms Naseema from Pakhtunkhwa Mili Awami Party (PKMAP), while appreciating the study circle, said that legislators from Balochistan need such information and training that how to get involve in the budget making process at provincial as well as federal level.

The government and women’s rights organizations need to analyze the situation of women and girls in a given sector e.g. health, education, and assess whether budget allocations are adequate, in order to implement gender-responsive policies.  This must be followed by an assessment of the outputs of these allocations in order to evaluate how resources are actually spent, and policies and programmes implemented, Mr Ishtiaq said. 

Pakistan’s project planning, budgeting and monitoring processes are mostly gender blind – i.e. it is not possible to assess whether projects, schemes have gender element, how much budget is being allocated for women and girls, how much budget was actually spent and whether it has improved lives of women and girls.  

Mr Naeem Mirza, COO Aurat Foundation, in his closing remarks, emphasized that concerned government institutions and civil society organizations shall focus more on resource allocations rather than direct but isolated service delivery at village level like road construction etc.  Pointing to women’s centuries old deprivation from, and men’s control over, basic resources like land, forests etc., he emphasized that equal access of men and women to natural resources is essential for national development and progress.

Aurat Foundation’s Peshawar office organized a provincial consultation, on March 9, 2015, at Pearl Continental Hotel, Peshawar, to discuss how to strengthen the laws and policies related to Gender Based Violence (GBV).  Ms Shabina Ayaz, Resident Director, shared the situation of violence against women (VAW) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. She said that in 2014, 736 women faced different forms of violence (the data is from Aurat Foundation’s annual report on VAW. Among various categories of violence against women, murder top the list followed by suicide and ‘honour’ killing, she further said. She also said that laws are there but lack implementation.

Mr Asad Qaisar, Speaker Provincial Assembly, while speaking on the occasion, gave commitment that he will support all initiatives regarding women and disables. He also shared that a women university will soon be open in Swabi besides girls’ degree college.  Regarding legislation on domestic violence he said that the government will discuss the issues in tabling the bill and develop a strategy to resolve these issues.

Ms Zarin Zai, MPA, said that she always supported women’s cause, and hence will arrange meetings with speaker and MPAs to discuss the issues domestic violence bill.  Ms Shirin Javed, Regional Coordinator, Aurat Foundation, conducted a session on Laws of the Land.  Mr Ejaz, Deputy Director Child Commission, also joined the consultation.

The 59th session of the Commission on the Status of Women took place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from 9th to 20th March 2015. Representatives of member states, UN entities and ECOSOC accredited Non-Governmental Organizations from all regions of the world attended the session. The CSW focused on the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action including challenges that affected its implementation, the achievements of gender equality and the empowerment of women. It undertook review of progress in the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, twenty years after its adoption at 4th world conference on women in 1995.

The Beijing +20 Review included the outcomes of the 23rd special session of the UN General Assembly, the first five year assessment conducted after the adoption of the platform for action. The session also addressed opportunities for achieving gender equality and empowerment of women in the post 2015 development agenda. The 59th Session of the CSW marked the 20th anniversary of Beijing+20 Platform for Action and individuals, groups, organizations and delegations from all over the world participated in the event, setting a new record this year with morethan 1,100 NGOs and a total of 8,600 representatives securing registration.

The 59th Session of the Commission consisted of two kinds of events/sub-sessions; one where permanent missions and UN entities discussed their respective countries and the situation of women rights and the second where NGOs from different countries arranged side/parallel events. The government sessions were restricted to general entries and only government officials and UN officials were allowed to participate in those events. As opposed to the sessions arranged by governments, the parallel events of NGOs were open to all participants. However, owing to the huge number of participants only those with prior registration were allowed to participate in the side/parallel events.

Pakistan was represented by both a government delegation and a delegation consisting of representatives from civil society organizations. The government delegation participated in the 59th session of UN/CSW consisted of the following members, Advisor to Prime Minister Barrister Zafar Ullah Khan, Chairperson National Commission on the Status of Women, Khawar Mumtaz, Chairperson Provincial Commission on the Status of Women, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Neelum Toru and Deputy Secretary, Ministry of Law Justice and Human Rights, Shehzad Ahmed.

The NGO delegation included four representatives from Aurat Foundation, Prof Farkhanda Aurangzeb, Asim Malik, Rabeea Hadi and Mumtaz Mughal; Nabeela Malick (UNFPA), Saliha Ramay (Rozan), Tabinda Sarosh (Shirkat Gah), Nighat Saeed Khan (ASR) and Ayesha Imtiaz (Ahaan). The team from Aurat Foundation organized a parallel event in joint collaboration with Collective for Research and Training on Development- Action (CRTD.A) and Women’s Learning Partnership (for further detail see box below).

The objectives of the 59th CSW Session were:

• To undertake a review and appraise the implementation status of Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action as well as the outcomes document of the 20th special session of the General Assembly held in March 2000.
• To analyze current challenges that affect the implementation of the platform of the action and realization of women and girls full and equal rights and fundamental freedoms.
• To access the achievements of gender equality and empowerment of women and girls throughout their life cycle.
• To ensure the acceleration of implementation of Platform for Action and Beijing Declaration.
• To use opportunities in the post 2015 development agenda for the integration of gender perspective into economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development.
• Re-affirm the commitment to ensure the mainstreaming of a gender perspective into the preparations and coordinated implementation.
• Follow up to all the major UN conferences and summits in the development, economic, social, environmental, humanitarian and related fields, so that they collectively contribute to realization of gender equality and empowerment of women and girls.

Wide range of examples with varying shades of gender equality in South African Region, South American Region, South East Asia Region and Asia Pacific were thoroughly discussed by the participants of the session, which enabled experience-sharing around violence against women, social exclusion of women and their absence in decision-making positions. Equal opportunities to women without discrimination also remained a critical focus of discussions. Pro-women legislation around the world especially in Asia Region was appreciated as a positive move towards formal gender equality yet need for implementation of these laws was stressed as a challenge by UN member States and NGO representatives. Trafficking of women and children, forced migration and rising poverty index also emerged as common features of the discourse.

As a major document, the CSW adopted a ‘Political Declaration’ at the opening session. The political declaration penned 13 points to lay out the future strategy for better compliance to the Beijing Declaration. It also encompassed the progress and advancement made in the field of women’s empowerment and development. As per the information available on the official website of UNCSW the draft of the political declaration was submitted on March 05, 2015, well before the start of the 59th Session. The website further states that it was based on informal consultations; however, the declaration was not shared with the participants in a formal setting for their feedback.

The political declaration aroused critique and concerns by the global civil society which was reflected in the Civil Society Statement (see above).

Another important document to come out of the session will be the Post 2015 Development Agenda. The United Nations is in the process of defining the post 2015 development agenda including the finalization of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which will set the agenda for the next 15 years. The process of finalizing the agenda is at a crucial stage with the two final inter-governmental negotiations to be held in July 2015. It is extremely important for Pakistan to participate actively in the process to ensure national priorities are reflected in the agenda.

SIDE MEETINGS:

11.3.2015
New York

Meeting with Ambassador / Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations

An NGO delegation from Pakistan held a meeting with Her Excellency Dr Maleeha Lodhi, Ambassador / Permanent Representative of Pakistan, United Nations, on March 11, 2015, at New York. Aurat Foundation was represented by Ms Rabeea Hadi, Mr Asim Malik, Ms Farkhanda Aurangzeb and Mumtaz Mughul. The ambassador was briefed on the scope of work by the NGOs representatives as well as Government engagements and facilitations at different levels. The ambassador offered her services to lobby for the Pakistani women at international forums.

10.3.2014

New York

Meeting with Ms Carol Ballantine- Policy Officer HIV & Gender (Trocaire)

Aurat Foundation’s team had a meeting with Ms Carol Ballantine, Policy Officer HIV & Gender, Trocaire, and shared following key points:

• Each year Aurat Foundation publishes VAW data reports which are shared different government and civil society organizations and stakeholders. The procedures to collect the data, its funding history and its implications in the legislative business (quoted in the recent two bills passed by Senate) were also shared.
• The research studies conducted by Aurat Foundation on AWPA, which has identified loopholes in the law as well as its implementation, were also shared with her.
• She was also briefed about our alliances with different government organizations like National Police Bureau, Federal Judicial Academy and provincial judicial academies, Women Parliamentary Caucus etc. and our engagements with these departments.
• Our efforts to link regional issues with national and then with international events were discussed with her. We shared that Aurat Foundation has been putting its energy behind the struggle to establish point of connection among the issues at the three levels (regional, national and international). Aurat Foundation`s team prior to its arrival had shared a document with Pakistan`s permanent representative to the UN which elaborated our stance on the content of the political declaration and contained key points to recommended for inclusion in the political declaration.

This was a productive meeting in many ways one of which was that she took firsthand information which led to many mutually agreed points of suggestions and recommendations.

16.3.2015

New York

Governance and compliance for Pakistan and Lebanon reviewed

During the 59th Session of the CSW, Aurat Foundation organized and jointly collaborated a parallel session with Lebanon’s Collective for Research and Training on Development- Action (CRTD.A) and Women’s Learning Partnership. The theme of the session was titled ‘Country Reflections on the Beijing Platform for Action: Government Compliance and Way Forward, Case Studies from Pakistan and Lebanon’. The event gave a detailed account of the women rights` status in Lebanon and Pakistan and the pro-women legislations specifically in Pakistan.

Aurat Foundation’s Ms Rabeea Hadi, Director Advocacy and EVAW, presented “Issues of State Machineries for Women, Politics and Laws in Pakistan”, which began with a thorough background and contextual outlook of women in Pakistan. Ms. Rabeea discussed the issues faced by women in politics, women parliamentarians and women in the workplace. Gaps and loopholes in legislation and implementation of laws were also pointed out.

The speaker went on to highlight the positive contributions of Pakistani women such as the only girl Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai, for voicing the right of girl’s education, Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy for her Oscar on the documentary which shone light on the sensitive topic of acid crimes against women in Pakistan and the numerous other women in public space and public service for their commitment and dedication towards emancipation and equality for women in Pakistan, despite challenges and adversity. Ms Lina Abou Habib analyzed the situation of Lebanon in perspective of the Beijing+20 declarations and the country response to international commitments. Ms Saliha Ramay, Co-chair for the EVAW Alliance in Pakistan briefed the participants about management of survivors of violence in Pakistan, situation of shelter homes and challenges faced by women and children during redress and access to justice. Ms Wafaa El from Morocco moderated the event.

The session concluded with both countries bringing forward recommendations to take steps and compliance measures to come closer to their commitments to Beijing and other international commitments. The broader objective of the event was to link regional advocacy campaigns and groups on women’s rights issues with their international counterparts.

16.3.2015

New York

Partnership meeting with SIDA held

Aurat Foundation delegation had a meeting with Ms Nasrin from SIDA on March 17, 2015. The major focus of the discussion was on the partnership between WLP and Aurat Foundation. Information regarding the scope of work of Aurat Foundation, its regional and national engagements and the demographics of the areas where Aurat Foundation is working were shared with her. She asked a question that Aurat Foundation is comparatively bigger organization than WLP than why does it need partnership with WLP? To this we highlighted the dire need of this partnership because:

• The information shared through publications by WLP and Aurat Foundation requires regional integration. There is a significant amount of similarities between Afghanistan and Pakistan in terms of socio-political, cultural and economic conditions, thus the purpose of partnership is productive in the context.
• Aurat Foundation is working on policy, advocacy and awareness and as the situation of GBV or women rights issues are identical in almost all Muslim majority countries of the world, the idea of holding an international conference on the said issues was also shared.
• This also gives a platform to connect regional and national issues with international and then advocate for them nationally and internationally through this partnership between Aurat Foundation and WLP.
• Because of the region based similarities our interaction with participants during the ToT in Turkey was effective despite the presence of language barriers. Results were achieved quite efficiently through non-verbal communication including postures, body language, gestures and facial expressions.

Aurat Foundation has developed concept note on regional hub for advocacy on international commitments and gender based national legislation. This report was shared with her and she assured that she will discuss this further with SIDA.