Editorial

In addition to the increased locomotion that comes with the arrival of a New Year, WPF, Pakistan team found itself extra busy all through the first month of 2010.

The Life Skills Based Education project after being introduced in Sialkot, saw the first half of January being dedicated to the training of Master Trainers in the new district while initial findings of the baseline study for our project, Empowering Girls – Transforming Communities arrived for scrutiny. Moreover, the SRHR research report, which had previously been launched in Multan was also launched in Karachi and Matiari districts. Ms. Joana Leerlooijer, Programme Officer M&E, WPF-the Netherlands also visited WPF Pakistan last month to train our implementing partners in using the ‘Web-based Planning and Monitoring System’.

January was also a jubilant month for women’s rights in Pakistan, as President Zardari signed the 'Protection against Harassment of Women at Workplace Bill 2009' which the parliament had adopted on January 21. The bill now a law, will provide increased punishment over harassment of women at workplaces.

You’ll find details on all this and more as you scroll down! Happy reading!
Editorial Team
Editorial Team:
Areebah Shahid

Technical Contributors:
Qadeer Baig

Design & Layout:
Kashif Muneer
Aasia Niazi
Important Links

 
 

District Launch Forum of SRHR Research Held

District launch of the SRHR research was held Matiari and Karachi on 25 and 26 January respectively. 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.


 

Empowering Girls – Transforming Communities

An orientation meeting and initial meetings in the project districts were held between partners, DO and DCO during January. Follow up meetings, or a partnerships strengthening meeting between the main project staff and the EDO, partners and school visits to meet with the principals were held to get a general sense of the recognition of the project in the month of January. Since the commencement of the project in December 2009 no field visit had been made, hence field visits were made last month where the DCO, EDO-E and school staff seemed very encouraging and accepting towards the project. They offered their full support in the project as they feel there is a need for such an effort to be made towards educating young people especially girls at the right age as in their opinion correct information and prevention is better than cure. All stakeholders and students, after meeting with them expressed their eagerness to be a part of the initiative.


LSBE - Non-Formal Education System

Concluding visit to PIDS Quetta under LSBE in Madaris Project

WPF’s SRHR team carried out a concluding visit to one of the partner organizations in Quetta i.e. PIDS aiming to debrief on progress of one year project, define the concluding activities, plan and strategize the ways forward 2010-12 with stakeholder/target groups including Nigraan committee, implementing partners, Madaris’ boys and girls etc.

WPF’s team held review meetings and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) with aforementioned target groups and beneficiaries and the recommendations and lessons learned will be incorporated in the next phase of LSBE programme with Madaris youth.

LSBE - Formal Education System

Training of Teachers in Multan and Nowshehra

WPF has recently started its SRHR education programme in Sialkot in collaboration with Shade and in Nowshehra in partnership with Peace, Education and Development Foundation (PEAD). For this purpose 20 Schools (10 male and 10 female) were selected from each district in consultation with the Executive District Officer Education (EDOE) Nowshera and Sialkot. During last month for implementation of the programme 59 teachers were trained in Nowshehra and 63 teachers were trained in Sialkot.

 

Partners Trained to Use Web-based M&E System

Since , WPF’s outreach is nation-wide, it becomes difficult to coordinate with partners on regular basis, get timely information about the programmes and monitor field activities. Accordingly, 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.


 
During January, two new staff members, Mr. Atif Naveed and Mr. Zafar Iqbal joined the WPF team as Finance and Front Desk Assistants respectively. We welcome them onboard and wish them best of luck!
 

UN Conference on Climate Change does Little for Women

The United Nations Conference on Climate Change was held in Copenhagen in December 2009. There were high hopes that the Conference would make substantial strides towards slowing and ultimately stopping climate change caused by human beings, eventually alleviating its effects. While its conclusion was disappointing for most groups, women rights groups remained the dejected.

Women bear the heaviest burden of climate change, whether it is because they have to walk longer distances to find water, because they are most severely affected by disease outbreaks brought about by natural disasters, or for a number of other reasons. In the absence of a comprehensive enforceable agreement that curbs climate change, more Asian and African girls could be kept out of school by their families so that they can fetch water that has become more difficult to find. In Fiji, women fish in the coastal mangroves which are in danger of disappearing. They are also the ones with the added burden to replace food stocks and come up with alternative housing and land initiatives, yet they never occupy the top seats at the table. Climate change is going to further impoverish the poor, and the poorest of the poor are women.

The statement issued by the Women and Gender Constituency recognized that gender-sensitive language had been retained in the negotiating documents, but since the final Accord is not legally binding, this may be cold comfort.

Cate Owren of the Women's Environment and Development Organization (WEDO), which is part of the Women and Gender Constituency, says that climate change is the most urgent issue of our time and is also the most comprehensive one, as it reaches every aspect of our societies, economies and governments. “The comprehensiveness is of course one of the reasons it is so difficult to design policies,” she says, “But we can't let the difficulty delay us further.”

The Constituency urges an increased number of women chairs in the UNFCC, and more meaningful participation of women and men from all sectors in national and global climate change. It also calls for a strengthened commitment to prioritise the most vulnerable, and a strengthening of gender-sensitive approaches in the draft agreement for the next UN climate change conference which will be held in Mexico towards the end of this year.

Courtesy: AWID

Raped Filipino Worker Faces Lashing after Miscarriage in Saudi Arabia

An alarming development in the case of a Filipino worker who was raped in Saudi-Arabia this August and jailed for it. After miscarrying the fetus, the woman now faces lashing before being released.

The woman who worked as a janitor was raped by a Bangladeshi co-worker last August. In September, as part of the reparation process, the woman had to undergo a physical examination during which it was discovered that she’s pregnant. Since September 11 the woman has been jailed at the Hafer Al Baten Central Jail for having an “illicit affair”. Due to the bad conditions in the prison, in December she suffered a miscarriage. After spending time in the hospital she was transferred back to prison.

The form of Sharia law applied in Saudi Arabia sentences woman who have had sex out of wedlock – even in cases of unproven rape – to prison and lashing. If the woman is pregnant, the lashing is carried out after the end of the pregnancy. The number of lashes is determined in a hearing before the woman is freed. The Filipino woman told her mother over the phone that the usual number of lashings her fellow prisoners received after giving birth was a hundred lashes. The court date for this case is unknown, but according to the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs, it is set to happen this month.

Courtesy: Migrant Rights
 

"Women Rights Movement in Pakistan Reaches a Historic Milestone"

By Areebah Shahid,
Programme Officer, Communications and Research

January proved to be a historic month in the struggle of women’s rights movement in Pakistan. At long last the government took a courageous stand on women’s rights and pushed the Protection against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Bill and the Criminal Law Amendment Bill towards becoming laws. The spirits of human rights activist had previously dampened when Domestic Violence Bill, which was passed by the National Assembly was allowed to lapse when it was not adopted by the Senate within the stipulated 90 days.

However, after the Criminal Law Amendment Bill, which is related to sexual harassment was adopted by the Senate with the support of all major parties, (except members of the religious parties who staged a walkout) and Protection against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Bill being endorsed by the upper house and being signed by the President, women and those who support women finally have something to celebrate!

The Protection against Harassment of Women at Workplace Bill 2009" Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2009 amends both the Pakistan Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure, "increasing the punishment for the crime up to three years in prison and a fine of up to Rs 500,000. The objective of the bill is to create a safe working environment for women, free of harassment, abuse and intimidation. The bill was part of a comprehensive bill originally moved by former information minister Sherry Rehman when she held the additional portfolio of Women’s Development. According to the bill whoever makes any sound or gesture, utters any word, exhibits any object or demands sexual favour from a woman at workplace would face the punishment. It also proposes penalties including reduction to lower post, compulsory retirement, and removal from service and dismissal from service.

But as is the case with all laws, especially those envisaging change, they have to be translated into action. For this to happen, it is imperative that strict enforcement measures are adopted on one hand while efforts are made to positively influence the mindsets of the masses that are tailored typical to the norms of a patriarchal society. For this purpose, concerted efforts need to be put in place whereby the civil society and government would join forces to eradicate the coercion that women face in public places. This is essential to facilitating women’s mobility outside their homes to enable them to obtain education, healthcare and employment.

One of the most profound implications of the bill deal with the realization that if progressive forces that stand for women’s rights and social change show a political commitment to their cause they can achieve a lot by successfully challenging and overcoming any hurdles that may come in their way. It also presses home the fact that the majority of Pakistanis are ready to welcome positive change and can longer be held hostage by those who use religion as a ploy to maintain their strangle hold on societal progress.

The successful adoption of the Bill and its consequent approval by the President has also paved the way for revival of the lapsed legislation on domestic violence and ensure its successful passage in both houses.

While the adoption of these bills and the amendment in the 150 years old law marks the beginning of a new era for women in Pakistan, it needs to be borne in mind that action is needed on the ground to make change possible. Womenfolk also need to break free from the shackles that have sadly become their comfort zone and allow no one but themselves to fend for them!

For more information please logon to: www.wpfpak.org
 

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