Aurat Foundation launched a project in Lahore to “promote the social and economic rights of women garment workers in Pakistan.

Mr. Naeem Ahmed Mirza, Executive Director AF spoke on "historical background of 16 Days of Activism & importance of Unite! invest to prevent VAWG". He said that the 16 Days of Activism Against VAWG is an annual international campaign. The campaign runs from November 25th, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, to December 10th, Human Rights Day. The dates were chosen to symbolically link violence against women and human rights and to emphasize that gender-based violence is a violation of human rights. Over the years, it has evolved into a powerful platform for organizations, governments, and individuals to come together, share information, and engage in activism to combat VAWG.



Naeem Mirza said that VAWG is a violation of their fundamental human rights and denies them the right to live free from fear and harm. For the sustainable change comes from addressing the root causes of violence and investing in initiatives that promote gender equality, education, and social justice. There is a need to focus on prevention lays the foundation for long-term, transformative change in attitudes and behaviors. Prevention measures can include educational programs, community awareness campaigns, and policy initiatives aimed at changing societal norms and attitudes.



Prof Dr. Rubina Hanif, Director at National Institute of Psychology gave a presentation on "Impact of Violence on human psyche", she emphasized that violence has far-reaching social and economic consequences, affecting the well-being of individuals, families, and communities. The "No Excuse" approach promotes awareness, education, and activism to challenge and change the attitudes and behaviors that perpetuate violence. It underscores the idea that, irrespective of circumstances, there is no justification for abusive actions. We should encourage men and boys to be allies in the fight against gender-based violence by challenging traditional notions of masculinity and promoting healthy relationships.



Ms Alyia Mirza, Artist, Poetess, Human Rights Activists read her poetry on "women's empowerment". Ms. Alyia Mirza's poetry reflects the complexities of empowerment, recognizing that it extends beyond individual achievements to encompass systemic change. Ms. Alyia Mirza's poetry is a call to action, inviting all to contribute to a world where women's empowerment is not just an ideal but a lived reality. She inspires and ignites the flame of change through her powerful verses, leaving an indelible mark on the hearts and minds of those fortunate enough to witness the transformative power of her art.



Maqsooda Solangi, Coordinator, Women's Empowerment Unit gave presentation on 112 years of women's achievements in the world. She shared that through the struggle of women's movement, increased the representation of women in parliaments, as a head of state. 33 women got Nobel prize in different walk of life. Today, women are far more visible in sports than ever before. he Tokyo 2020 Olympics is projected to have close to equal representation of women and men competing for the first time in its history. The huge change can observe about women's representation and participation in traditional and no traditional institutions. They break the glasses. Struggle is going on.



Ms. Shumaila Tanvir, National Manager AF hold an assessment session with student on "Gender and human psyche" for exploring various aspects related to the intersection of gender and psychological well-being. She emphases that collective actions play a pivotal role in advocating for and promoting gender equality. In this regard, education serves as a catalyst for behavioral change, promoting a culture that rejects violence and embraces equality and respect. In the end, she offered vote of thanks to all.



Mumtaz Mughal, Director AF, she said that VAWG is a multifaceted issue deeply rooted in societal norms, power dynamics, and cultural attitudes. Addressing it requires a comprehensive and coordinated approach involving various stakeholders. The "Unite! Invest to Prevent VAWG" message encourages stakeholders to allocate resources strategically, advocate for policy changes, and work collectively to create a world free from gender-based violence.



The Seminar was moderated by Ms. Areas Jabeen Awan, Programme Officer AF. Ms. Nelofar Kiran Rauf, Assistant Professor, National Institute of Psychology, Mr. Asim Malik, Director Outreach and Network AF, Zoya Mufti, Programme Officer, Huma Naqvi, Shahzad Ashraf, Mr. Irfan Ul Haq, (AF team), faculty members of department, students and media were there.

Aurat Foundation with collaboration of District Women Protection Center Rawalpindi commemorated World Aids Day on 1st December, 2023 under sixteen days of activism. The was being attended by social welfare departments, Darul Aaman, kashana, lawyers, victims of GBV and others at District Women Protection Center- Rawalpindi. The program was started with the recitation of holy Quran.   

 16 Days of Activism was kick started with its launching ceremony at Islamabad Office with the students of QAU on 28th November, 2023. 

AF organized consultation on Building Bridges for Women in Peace on 22nd Nov. 2023, at Shelton Rezidor Hotel, Peshawar. The speakers were Dr. Faiz Ullah Jan, Chairman, Journalism and Mass Communication Department, University of Peshawar, Ms. Zohra Aslam, Director General, Benazir Income Support Programme, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Ms. Amna Durrani, Director Programmes, KP Commission on the Status of Women, Ms. Saeeda Shaheen, Gender Desk Officer, Police Department, Peshawar, Ms. Shabeena Ayaz, Resident Director Aurat Foundation, KP, Ms. Ishrat Batool, Educationist, Women Peace Architects, D.I. Khan and Ms. Samreen Hakeem Advocate, Women Peace Architects, Swat. A total of 81 participants, including 21 males and 60 females, attended the CWG in Islamabad. The event also attended by former local government members, political party representatives, law enforcement agencies, BISP, health and education authorities, human and women’s rights commissions, prominent lawyers, academia, students, media, NGOs, CSOs, experts, and think tanks.

Dr. Faiz Ullah Jan, Chairman, Journalism and Mass Communication Department, University of Peshawar, said that understanding the context of extremism is indeed crucial for addressing issues related to peace and stability in Pakistan, as well as in any other region facing similar challenges. We should need to identify the common factors and drivers of extremism. Without understanding the historical and political context of extremism and terrorism, peace is not possible. He further said that education is a powerful tool to build learners’ resilience to violent extremism. It helps strengthen their commitment to non-violence and peace, in particular by addressing hateful and violent narratives.

Ms. Zohra Aslam, Director General, Benazir Income Support Programme, KP shared that women who are economically empowered and have an active role in decision-making processes are less likely to be vulnerable to extremist ideologies. Women are well-connected within their communities. They can act as effective early warning systems, identifying signs of radicalization or potential threats and intervening before individuals become fully involved in extremist activities. She also emphasized that youth can play a significant role in countering extremist content on digital platforms. They can use social media and other online spaces to promote positive narratives and challenge extremist ideologies. There is need to sanitize and train young women and youth in conflict resolution, mediation, and community leadership and common ground approach.

Ms. Amna Durrani, Director Programmes, KP Commission on the Status of Women, said that Commission is playing active role in law and policy making. A number of pro women laws has been passed. She briefly shared about laws and initiatives taken by KP government to protect women and marginalized groups. She said that preventing violent extremism, is a comprehensive approach that aims to address the root causes of violent extremism and prevent individuals from radicalizing toward violence.

Ms. Saeeda Shaheen, Gender Desk Officer, Police Department, Peshawar, said that law enforcement, including the police, plays a critical role in CVE and PVE. She said that to reduce GBV, violence against women and girls and to stop the radicalization process before it leads to violence, there is needed to strengthen the interagency and community coordination mechanisms. She said that collaboration and coordination among various government agencies, departments, civil society, religious leaders, community activists, women leaders, educational institutions and stakeholders involved in PVE efforts can build trust and contribute to early detection and prevention.

Ms. Shabeena Ayaz, Resident Director Aurat Foundation, KP talking about opportunities and spaces for women’s inclusion in the implementation of CVE/PVE laws and policies, she said that women should be included in decision-making bodies, task forces, and committees responsible for shaping and implementing CVE/PVE policies. The active engagement of women in the formulation of policies can ensure that the diverse needs and concerns of women are considered.

Speakers urged the stakeholders to give more voice to women and highlight their role in different sectors of society at a consultation session organized by Aurat Foundation at a local hotel. Encouraging women's participation in all sectors of society is essential for achieving gender equality. This includes equal opportunities for education, employment, and leadership roles.

Dr. Qibla Ayaz, Chairman, of the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) addressed the gathering and said that our understanding of religion has issues. He said that the government has taken the reins off public schooling and education and has handed this over to the private sector in order to make money and profit. He said that CII has given a recommendation that the national policy of education needs to be reviewed.

Dr. Qibla said that we also have problems as individuals. He said that there is a mental construct among men in this country that women are weak and they cannot work. He urged organizations such as the Aurat Foundation to raise this issue. He added that men also have to raise their voices for women's issues and stand with them.

Ms. Naela Chohan, Special Federal Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that males and females both have separate responsibilities given by God Almighty. All young men and women should be taught how to respect and behave towards each other and we need an empowering environment as well. To ensure the peaceful society, there is a need more inclusive and equitable society where women's voices are heard, and their contributions are acknowledged and valued.

Dr. Zia-ul-Haq, Director General of the Islamic Research Institute, International Islamic University, Islamabad spoke next and said that Aurat Foundation's data on women is considered the most authentic and original throughout the country. He said that a few people began the countering violent extremism (CVE) project of Paigham-e-Pakistan and now thousands of people are part of this movement. He said that primarily the Paigham-e-Pakistan project is about behavioral change. Dr. Zia further added that women in Pakistan these days are not safe from their protectors. He said that although we claim to be a very religious society in actuality we are not the best followers of Islam.

Dr. Shabana Fayyaz, Head of the Department of Defence and Strategic Studies, at Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad said that she was the only woman from her family to start working. She said that the general perception in society is that men cannot eat from a woman's income; however, these perceptions are changing. Additionally, she said that we have not invested in training the women of our country. As an educationist, we have to reduce the violence in our society.

Ms. Beenish Fatima, Deputy Director Cyber Crime Wing, Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) said that first, we need to understand what is extremism. She said that extremism is prevalent in our society, in our educational institutions, etc. in different forms. Furthermore, she said that men in homes are in positions of authority but in their offices, they are not. She said that since the male has been given a dominant status in society we feel the need of males to accompany a woman everywhere. She said that the economy will never be able to grow if half of the society remains in their homes and does not engage in productive work.

Mr. Kashif Irshad, Advisor to the Ministry of National Heritage and Culture of Pakistan said that women's involvement in peacebuilding is vital for creating lasting peace, as they bring unique perspectives and contribute to more inclusive and sustainable solutions. Recognizing and supporting their roles is a key element of advancing peace and security worldwide.

Mr. Shahid Rahim spoke about the need and purpose of the SHE-The Peacebuilder project and introduced it to the gathered audience. He said that a house is created by a builder or an engineer but the beauty of the house is brought out by an architect. He further added that we will organize several other consultations in different provincial capitals in the coming months and will glean recommendations regarding peacebuilding and the role of women in peacebuilding.

Ms. Mumtaz Mughal, Director Programme said that it is vital to ensure adequate representation of women in decision-making processes, both in the public and private sectors. This can include mainstream policies that support women's participation in leadership positions.

Aurat Foundation organized a three-day training workshop on ‘Professional Leadership Skills for WPAs of ICT, Punjab and KP’ from 6th- 8th August 2023 at O’Spring Estate, Murree. The three-day workshop was facilitated by senior communications expert Mr. Farnood Alam. The main objectives of the three-day training workshop was to strengthen the capacities of WPAs in peacebuilding and conflict prevention, to reflect on conflict in their own lives,  discussing and exploring the different approaches to managing the conflicts and to enhance their skills and knowledge regarding countering violent extremism in Pakistan’s context. The topics were covered during the training; Women’s Journey through Time, Leadership, Communication and Public Speaking, Lobbying and Advocacy, Women’s Leadership historical perspective and Negotiation and BATNA.  

A total of twenty-nine (24) people participated in the training workshop. 19 Women Peace Architects (4 from ICT, 9 from Punjab, 5 from KPK and 1 from Sindh) while the staff of Aurat Foundation and a Master Trainer also participated. The participants belonged to different walks of life and there was representation from different political parties, social activists, lawyers, media, students, teachers, etc. WPAs were from different ethnic groups and religious minorities including transgender people. 

In closing ceremony of three day workshop, Mr Naeem Mirza shared his thoughts that how are WPAs can apply best practices for Lobbying and Advocacy and become the future Leaders. All these women present here are great leaders and speakers but after this workshop you all will be able to professionally learn the skills and able to Communicate. Over the course of one year, the WPAs of ICT, Punjab and KP have grown and learned a tremendous amount of things and will continue to work for peacebuilding initiatives in their respective fields.

Mr. Shahid Raheem said that we made a new proposal in order to continue this project and that proposal got accepted. We have selected 100 youth members who are experts in different fields of life like sports, media, literature and social activist etc. All our existing 50 WPAs will work with them in future on their current action plans that they are already working on.

Mr. Naeem Mirza and Mumtaz Mughal thanked the organizing team and the gathered participants and said that we will continue to make efforts to empower the women of this country. In the end, the guests of the workshop awarded the certificates to WPAs. AF team presented the souvenirs to the guests. 

Objectives

There were three main objectives for this session.

1. The first objective was to strengthen police official’s capabilities, to enhance their knowledge and sensitize them on the concepts to effectively play their role in Peacebuilding and understand the process.

2. The second objective was to equip them with relative knowledge and make them understand and realize the unbiased and unprejudiced aspects of their personalities.

3. The third objective was to make them understand the broader perspective of Conflict management and how to react in a situation of conflict and their part being in a law enforcement department.

Facilitators

Ms Imrana Komal and Aeras Jabeen Awan facilitated the session. They are one of the Women Peace Architects (WPAs) of KP and Punjab.
This session was a part of their action plan that they made during the Common Ground Approach training workshop and successfully implemented the learning of CGA training during this session.

Feedback of Participants

Police official that fall under the rank of SHO in near future participated in this session. We received a great feedback and participation from them. They got so emotional and expressed their feelings that “such type of efforts to create Peace, understand each other’s pain and relate it is a great act and a great initiative by Aurat Foundation”.

They said that “at the start of session when we saw people from an NGO sector we were very disappointed as we had a completely different perspective about NGOs and their agendas in our minds but after the session we realized that what great efforts these organizations are putting forward and especially Aurat foundation is working for such a great cause and their method of disseminating the message of Peace is perfect and is according to international standards.” 

The Police officials also added that “while performing these activities we felt like a small child and realized the unbiased and unprejudiced aspect of our personalities.”

The most amazing outcome of these activities was that they were able to have a self-reflection and were able to look at the fact that we are human first and other identities come later. This essence of humanity is important for peace building and conflict resolution.

Closing Remarks by Mr Malik Amir

At the end Mr Malik Amir, Course Commander Police Training School, extended special thanks to Aurat Foundation team and the Women Peace Architects for conducting a successful session for police officials.

He also appreciated AF for providing this learning opportunity to the police officials and thanked all the participants for benefitting from this training session and participating effectively. He also asked all the participants for commitment of serving humanity at their best without any discrimination or creating their own perspective. He took pledge from all the participants that whoever visits you at your duty station Greet him or her with warmth as to be in uniform our responsibility increases more towards our country and play our role as a Peacebuilder.

 

After a thorough consultative process, an introductory meeting was held on 16th June, 2023 at PACP office where representatives of PACP i.e., Mr. Azhar and Dr. Atif, while Ms. Sidra from UNDP participated. Ms. Shamaila Tanvir, project Manager along with regional head of Punjab Ms. Sarah Sheraz and Legal Aid Desk Officers from all over Punjab, including Lahore, Rawalpindi, Multan, and Faisalabad, from Aurat Foundation participated.

The purpose of the meeting was to orient the PACP team about the objectives of the project as well as services offered by Legal Aid Desk Officers. Detailed discussion on stigma and discrimination linked with HIV, legal services to PLHIV or at risk of HIV, issues of PLHIV and sensitivity and confidentiality while dealing the cases of HIV or at risk of HIV was held.

Ms. Shamila Tanvir provided a detailed overview of the project. She also shared the roles and responsibilities of Legal Aid Desk Officers with them. She shared that the purpose of visiting ART centers was only to provide information about the legal assistance to be offered to PLHIV is free of cost. Such practices such as visiting ART centers and having interaction with PLHIV in order to sharing of information about their human and legal rights and legal assistance will pave ways to encounter stigma and discrimination against them.

Mr. Azhar shared that Punjab Aids Control Program (PACP) operates ART centers throughout Punjab, providing medical care to HIV-positive people while also working to prevent HIV transmission among key population and people living at risk of HIV. Legal Aid Desk officers offered visits to these centers. In order to make these visits more productive in a scheduled way, PACP requested to have introductory meeting with all legal Aid Desk Officers of Punjab.

Ms. Shamaila thanked the PACP for their precious time and availability and committing their assistance for the cause. It was a great meeting to provide clarity about the project interventions and role of partners.

Major Decisions:

• AF will share the first final plan of visits to ART centers of Punjab with Ms. Sidra. She will further share it with PACP for approval
• WhattsApp group has to be created for sharing of visit plan to ART centers after 1st round of visits.
• WhatttsApp group will be acted as sharing forum in order to share any relevant information

Output:

• Coordination mechanism has developed among AF, PACP and UNDP Lahore office.
• Legal Aid Desk Officers of Punjab are conducted meetings at ART centers after getting approval from PACP.
• A good working relation has developed with staff of ART centers
• IEC material i.e. Project Introductory Flyer has also been shared with Doctors at ART centers and displayed as well for further sharing with PLHIV who are visiting ART centers.
• WhattsApp group comprising representatives of PACP, UNDP, AF’s regional and national staff and Legal Aid Desk Officers has been formed.

Aurat Foundation organized the meeting with the women peace architects and community women leaders on 10th June 2023 at office of provincial National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR)at Quetta. The session was conducted by Professor Farkhanda Aurangzaib, Provincial NCHR. The circle provided a trusting atmosphere where the participants can feel comfortable to speak about challenges faced by women in advocating for gender and Women Peace Architects (WPS) issues in politics or in target districts, reflect on feedback, and navigate problem-solving towards the women’s inclusion in the TVE agenda in Pakistan.

The community women peace architects gave a valuable recommendation to ensure women’s inclusion in decision making. They said that there is need to increase the citizen trust, sense of ownership to control their resources by ensuring the local community participation and as well as in the decision-making process. There is a need to take affirmative actions to engage women in leadership and decision-making positions. Women also emphasized that there is required a pro-people governance reform in Balochistan. There is a need to revisit all planning and developments of Performa’s i.e. PC 1, through a gender lens. Need to set up and empower local government system (politically, administratively and financially) with maximum participation of all segments of society.

Professor Farkhanda Aurangzaib, Provincial NCHR said that women can play an important role in changing perceptions, breaking stereotypes and contribute towards nation-building. Ensure the women’s engagement in peacebuilding process and dialogues. The training curriculum should be updated and added all provincial laws passed in the provincial assembly and also needs to promote civic education.