Technical Review and Planning Meeting Held for LSBE in Madaris
A technical review meeting was held at WPF office in Islamabad on January 28, 2010, participated by members of Rehber Committee from NWFP & Baluchistan and partner organizations including new potential partners from Sindh and Punjab i.e. SARSABZ foundation, HANDS and AWAZ CDS.
The meeting addressed four important aspects of LSBE in Madaris project i.e. experience sharing (lessons learned from one year pilot project), third party evaluation of the project, devising future strategy(ies) and input from new potential partners to finalize the Logical Framework for the future project.
During the last session the new potential partners from Sindh and Punjab also joined the meeting to give their input. Their participation was also important as to know the Madaris affiliations, as contrary to NWFP and Baluchistan, where the Madaris mostly follow Deobandi school of thought. Based on its learning from the successful pilot phase of the project in Baluchistan and NWFP, WPF has proposed to scale up LSBE in Madaris in Punjab and Sindh.
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District Launch Forums of SRHR Research Held in Matiari and Karachi
District launch of the SRHR research was held Matiari and Karachi on 25 and 26 January respectively in collaboration with Health and Nutrition Development Society (HANDS) and Aahung. Local SRHR experts, members of District Project Steering Committees (DPSC), teachers, community leaders and local media participated in these district level forums. Local leaders who participated in the Forums pledged to support the efforts of WPF for the realization of young people’s SRHR. Provincial Minister for Youth Affairs, Mr. Faisal Sabzwari was the Chief Guest in the Karachi launch. Talking on the occasion, he said that the research was a welcome development and his ministry fully supported and acknowledged the importance of Life Skills education for young people. The national launch of the SRHR report is expected to be held in the first leg of March 2010.
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Partners Trained to Use Web-based M&E System
WPF has pioneered a web-based monitoring mechanism using internet as a major tool for information gathering and analyzing. The current web-based M&E system involves all partners and stakeholders for entering and processing data which can be viewed by WPF and Implementing Partners at the same time and produce timely and accurate results. In this regard, WPF organized a two-day training (January, 13-14, 2010) of its partner NGOs on ‘Web-based Planning and Monitoring System’ facilitated by Ms. Joanne Leerlooijer, Programme Officer M&E, WPF-the Netherlands and Manager M&E, WPF, Pakistan.
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National Gender Based Violence and Reproductive Health Forum Held
The women-folk need to be nurtured in an enabling environment that enables them to exercise their basic Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights. This need was addressed on the occasion of the “National Learning Forum on Gender Based Violence (GBV) and Reproductive Health (RH)” organized by World Population Foundation, Pakistan on 10 December, 2009 in Islamabad. This Forum was part of WPF, Pakistan’s GBV-RH initiative implemented in 6 most-exposed-to-violence districts of the country with support from The World Bank.
Reflecting on the urgency to address the issue of Gender Based Violence, Member National Assembly, Ms. Sherry Rehman, Chief Guest on the occasion, said that there was a dire need for a three-pronged approach where Government, civil society and media would closely work together to uproot this social evil.
A glance at the socio political scenario of Pakistan reveals that Gender Based Violence is deep-rooted across all regions of the country. Overall, four percent of girls in Pakistan have already become mothers between the ages of 15-19 years while two percent are pregnant with their first child. Thus, six percent of teenaged girls in Pakistan begin childbearing, robbing them of the opportunity to slowly transit from childhood to adulthood. These young mothers are less likely to be educated, to suffer great physical pain and poor health from multiple births because their bodies are not fully developed and are at greater risk to become victims of domestic violence. It is then a little wonder that during 2008, a total of 4360 cases of Gender Based Violence were reported in Punjab, 1385 in Sindh, 1013 in NWFP and 763 in Balochistan.
Talking on the occasion Muhammad Anwar, Programme Manager WPF, Pakistan shared the learnings and challenges faced during the implementation of the project. He emphasized the importance of engaging and sensitizing people at the community level to achieve widespread positive change in behaviour and attitudes. Country Representative, WPF, Pakistan, Mr. Qadeer Baig emphasized the importance of active male involvement. “For effective change to make its presence felt, it is imperative that boys and men are sensitized on the subject”, he further added. Renowned social activist, Ms. Fouzia Saeed and Chairperson of National Commission on the Status of Women, Ms. Anis Haroon also participated in the Forum.
“Changing the Lens”, a documentary produced by WPF to highlight the missing link of Reproductive Health in the Gender Based Violence debate was also screened on the occasion.
Recommendations presented at the end of the Forum demanded efforts to create an enabling environment for the women to exercise their Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights and for Reproductive Health and Gender to be part of the school/college level curriculum. Media agencies were also called upon to play a more active role in educating the masses on this subject and for Government, civil society and media to work in close collaboration for its eradication. The need to involve local communities, especially men, was also emphasized to inspire sustainable change in attitudes and behaviors. Finally, it was recommended to ensure proper implementation of relevant laws and bills to prevent the incidence of Gender Based Violence and to improve systems and procedures in the health, judicial and law enforcement sectors to minimize the occurrence of ‘institutional violence’ such as custodial rape. It is imperative that the Government and international donor agencies encourage and support civil society and communities in their endeavours related to reduction of Gender Based Violence. |
