Wednesday, September 2, 2009

A.WOMEN'S RIGHTS & DEVELOPMENT ACHIEVEMENTS 1993-1996/ B. WOMEN'S RIGHTS & DEVELOPMENT AGENDA 1997-2002

1. Strengthening of Institutional Framework.
Strengthened the Ministry of Women Development and Youth Affairs;
Set up of Women Development Department in the Provinces;
Made women issues a focal point in all Federal Ministries and provincial departments.
2. Shifting of emphasis from welfare oriented development to skill development.
During the last two years (98 in the Public Sector & 185 in the Private Sector);
The Ministry of Women Development funded 283 women development projects establishment of 40 computer training centres under the umbrella project;
Expended the operation and branches of First Women Bank established in 1989 (33 branches by the Peoples Government all over Pakistan);
Regional Development Training Institute established in March, 1995. Courses in banking, computers, entrepreneurship started;
3. First of Its kind in South Asia:

National Training & Resource Centre for Women in Development Islamabad, Rs. 420.83 million approved.
4. Law, Security & Health
For the first time induced of women officers in the police service of Pakistan;
Strengthened the women police force;
Acquired land in four provinces for modern prisons for women;
Established a network of women police stations in Karachi, Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Abbottabad and Saidu Sharif;
Established Commission of Inquiry for Women (October 1994) to review all the existing laws which are discriminatory to women or effect their rights as equal citizens;
Signed the United Nation Convention on Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women in August, 1995;
Appointed women judges in three of four of the country's High Courts;
Introduced Rural Health Programme. 100,000 females will be trained as Primary Health Workers to provide maternal Health Care, Child nutrition and population planning services;
Established burns wards in major hospitals in each Province to especially deal with cases of home accidents and domestic violence. Supported Global Commission on Women's Health Pakistan (WHO) (Pakistan Chapter);
Co-ordinated Population Planning Programme "From state and Seminar to Home & Hearth";
Started Medical Technical Assistants Training Programme for Girls (MTA) in selected Divisional/District Hospitals;
Established anti T.B. drug bank for women;
Started housing scheme for destitute women with a Rs. 20 million revolving Fund.
5. Planning & Development Division

Incorporated the Beijing Plan of Action and the National Report for women into SAP-II and 9th Five Year Plan

B. WOMEN'S RIGHTS & DEVELOPMENT AGENDA 1997-2002

1. POLITICAL PARTICIPATION & REPRESENTATION

To ensure women's political participation and representation, measures will be taken to:
Restore the reserved seats for women in the National Assembly, Senate and Provincial Assemblies and in the local bodies;
Establish a Permanent Commission on the Status of Women as an autonomous statutory body comprising government representatives, NGOs, human rights organizations, and experts in different fields to review, recommend, oversee and monitor the implementation of laws, policies and programmes in development, rights and political participation;
Ensure minimum 20% women's representation and participation in local government institutions and advisory committees established for developmental programmes e.g. the Social Action Programme and the Rural Support Programmes;
Enhance the minimum quota for women in the civil services to 10% in all sectors and grades including all government, semi-government and autonomous bodies;
Formulate a well-defined policy for women's development by the Government;
Include the MoWD as a permanent member of important policy-making fora, like the National Economic Council (NEC), Executive Committee of the NEC (ECNEC), Central Development Working Party (CDWP), Agricultural Credit Advisory Committee (ACAC);
Ensure equal representation of women in all committees instituted at the local level for maintenance and monitoring of public programmes such as school management committees, rural water supply and sanitation groups;
2. EMPLOYMENT

A national employment policy for women will be enunciated immediately for the women workers in the formal and informal sector. Ensuring that laws are implemented regarding 8 hour working days for women workers in the formal sector, measures will be taken to:
Extend the legal cover of an adequate minimum wage, acceptable working hours, and health and maternity benefits to casual, temporary and piece-rate workers;
Encourage women's participation in public sector employment through flexibility in regulations pertaining to age;
Introduce incentives of a reasonable maternity package and day care facilities at larger workplaces;
Enforce corrective measures for minimising occupational health hazards for women in the industrial sectors;
Facilitate hostel accommodation for working women in all cities and towns;
Encourage rural-based industries and enterprises, especially those that absorb women;
Review the existing employment laws and practice to ensure equality of opportunity and non-discrimination against women, and set up special units in Industrial Relations Boards to redress cases of discrimination, harassment and victimization of women workers;
Provide training and credit and facilitate marketing procedures for women micro-entrepreneurs through specially designed schemes;
Create a national data-base on women employment;
Increase the recruitment of women in Labour Inspectorate to monitor the working conditions of women workers.
3. VIOLENCE
To combat all forms of violence against women (including domestic violence, custodial violence, sexual harassment, public humiliations and prostitution and trafficking of women):
Undertake stronger legislative action to create a safe social and physical environment for women;
Establish support structures (e.g. legal aid and counseling centres) and shelters all over the country for female victims of violence and forced prostitution.
Set up citizen-police liaison committees at the mohalla and village level to provide protection for women and register cases of domestic violence as criminal offense.
Expand and upgrade the women's police force and improve the conditions in women's prisons. Provide state counseling for women prisoners;
Enact legislation to ensure that doctors in hospitals immediately report female burn cases and alleged/suspected domestic violence cases to the police. Establish special units in hospitals, clinics and dispensaries for medico-legal support to victims of such violence;
Establish committees at sub-divisional and district levels with women's adequate representation, to perform the following functions:
- to liaise with patient care societies to arrange for legal, psychiatric and financial help to victims of violence. - visit women confined to police lock-ups and prisons. - maintain records on the conditions of the victims/prisoners, and collect data on cases of rape.
Organise training programmes on violence against women for members of law-enforcement agencies, the judiciary and legislatures;
Strictly monitor and severely deal with violence against women by state agencies.
4. LEGAL RIGHTS

To ensure the human rights of women and to eradicate all forms of discrimination against them, affirmative action will be taken by:
Repealing/amending blatantly discriminatory and derogatory laws e.g. the Huddod Ordinances, the Citizenship Act, etc.;
Reforming the personal laws to meet the demand of current socio-economic realities, and expediting the process of justice in the family courts;
Legislating to make sexual harassment specifically a crime;
Amending laws on prostitution and trafficking of women to provide harsher punishments to the offender;
5. WATER
Recognizing that the lack of clean water is a denial of the citizen's basic right to life, and is the most important demand of the rural women of Pakistan, high priority will be given to the most important demand of the rural women of Pakistan, high priority will be given to this issue and local communities, especially rural women, will be involved in the planning, management and maintenance of more accessible, safe and reliable water systems.

6. CONTROL AND OWNERSHIP OF RESOURCES

Recognizing that legal ownership of assets and control over incomes is a vital factor in women's economic independence at all levels, steps will be taken to ensure that:
Female-headed poor households, will be given priority in allotment of all land-sites and housing schemes.
The property inherited by women, particularly in the rural areas will be registered in their names.
Increasing women's access to ownership and control of assets, particularly government-distributed land and property through the registration of title-deeds of all state-lands allotted for lease or home sites, jointly in the names of husband and wife, and in case of female-headed households, to the primary earner.
7. AGRICULTURE

Recognizing that peasant women make a major contribution to all agricultural work, steps will be taken to ensure that:
Their contribution is recognized in national statistics (by-developing separate) gender based surveys;
They are provided extension and training about improved methods of work and new technologies that will increase the output of their work;
Radio programmes for rural women, especially peasant women, will be broadcast daily to provide them information relevant to their work, health, nutrition and government programmes and services for their benefit.
8. NGOs AND EXPERTS IN WOMEN'S DEVELOPMENT

Recognizing the importance of the contribution and expertise of NGOs and other experts in women's development, efforts will be initiated to:
Involve them in all advisory and programme committees in women's development issues e.g. the Social Action Programme;
Build up the NGOs financial and operational capacity to enable them to more effectively support Government efforts;
9. SPORTS FOR WOMEN

The Government accepted the Iranian government's proposal in 1993 to stage the Second Islamic Countries Women Sports Solidarity Games in Pakistan in October 1997. Prior to the main event, mini games were held in October 1996 as a dress rehearsal. Invitation to all the Muslim countries have been extended and 25 countries have confirmed their participation. The purpose of hosting the Islamic Women Games in Pakistan was to generate healthy sports activity among women of the country and to promote opportunities for women athletes to participate in inter country competitions.
10. CONTRIBUTION FROM THE GOVERNMENT OF PAKISTAN TO THE ORGANIZATION OF WOMEN PARLIAMENTARIANS FROM MUSLIM COUNTRIES (OWPMC)

Under the direct guidance of Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan convened the First Conference of Women Parliamentarians from Muslim Countries (OWPMC) in August 1995 and offered to host the Organization's Secretariat in Islamabad which has since been established.

11. INTEGRATION

As the over all policy, guideline, gender concerning will be fully integrated into all social, economic and political activities of the nation, with the special emphasis of removing all disparities based on sex.

source: www.ppp.org.pk

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