Editorial

The New Year has commenced and with it we feel the familiar resolve to seize the moment and make possible in the New Year what could not be achieved in the past. It is once again time for us to set milestones, make resolutions and work with renewed fervor towards our goals!

World Population Foundation (WPF), Pakistan has entered 2010 with its hands full with increased responsibility to take the cause of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) forward. While two new projects, i.e. Empowering Girls, Transforming Communities and Capacity Development of WPF and Partners Working in Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in Pakistan that were initiated in the last leg of 2009 are being geared up for fast progress, SRHR research will now be heading towards a national launch in the coming months. Moreover, our Life Skills Based Education (LSBE) initiative, both in the formal and non-formal education systems will be up-scaled with inclusion of new partners; We Act will head towards more active policy advocacy and our Knowledge Management team will be broadening its horizons in the coming months. And to ensure that all this is done smoothly, WPF, Pakistan will undergo slight restructuring to make the systems even more responsive and efficient.

You will learn about all this and more in this current issue of our newsletter! Read on! And a very Happy New Year to you all!
Editorial Team
Editorial Team:
Areebah Shahid

Technical Contributors:
Qadeer Baig

Design & Layout:
Kashif Muneer
Aasia Niazi
Important Links

 
 
The entire team of Pakistan office went for the Annual Retreat to the hill station of Murree on 16 December, 2009 to undertake the task of critically analyzing the achievements and challenges faced during 2009 as well as to strategize for the year ahead. Amid the serene environment of the hill-station, ideas were shared and strategies devised in a candid atmosphere. The Retreat ended on 17 December, 2009 with tracking and a sumptuous lunch. WPF staff set back home with renewed enthusiasm to work as one team and promote the spirit of cohesion!


 

LSBE - Non-Formal Education System

Visit to Peshawar and Quetta Madaris Project

WPF’s SRHR team carried out a visit to one of the partner organizations in Peshawar i.e. PVDP in order to debrief on progress of the one year project, define the concluding activities, plan and to strategize the ways forward- 2010-2012 with stakeholders/target groups including Nigran Committee, IPs, teachers, Madaris’ boys and girls etc.

WPF’s team held review meetings and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) with stakeholders/target groups to learn and document the recommendations and lessons which will be incorporated in next phase of LSBE program with Madaris youth. The partner organization in Quetta is planned to be visited in the last week to finalize the concluding activities and strategize the good practices.

Empowering Girls – Transforming Communities

Partner Grantees Meeting Held 18th November 2009, Packard

Partnerships: The project implementation phase has commenced as of 1st December 2009. Partnerships have been formed through Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) which have been agreed upon and signed by the Implementing Partners (IP) and WPF and between the IP and the Local District Government Office.

Baseline Study: As per requirement of the project proposal, a Baseline Study is in progress in the 2 districts, Gujrwanwala and Sanghar. After a spirited competition of proposals received, The Development Pool (DP) has been finalized to conduct the Baseline study. The proposed strategy used by the team is to conduct FGDs, Interviews, Survey and analysis of the field findings. At present DP have its field teams available in both districts collecting data.

Promotion: The project brochure is also being designed this month, project information has been uploaded onto the WPF webpage. The Packard Foundation held its bi-monthly meeting with PWD- Sindh this month which was attended by high profile Government Officials, Packard Foundation and their partners. WPF was given a platform to introduce itself and its project at this forum which was well appreciated by the PWD representatives.


 

National Learning Forum on Gender Based Violence and Reproductive Health 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 WPF 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. Renowned social worker Ms. Fouzia Saeed and Chairperson, National Commission on Status of Women, Ms. Anis Haroon also participated in the Forum.

Programme Manager WPF, Pakistan shared the learnings and challenges and emphasized on the importance of engaging and sensitizing people at the community level to achieve widespread positive change in attitudes and behaviors. Country Representative, WPF emphasized the importance of active male involvement for effective change to make its presence felt.

“Changing the Lens”, a documentary produced by WPF to highlight the missing link of Reproductive Health in the GBV debate was also screened.

Reflecting on the project, implementing partners shared the success stories from their districts and expressed the need to upscale this initiative. In response, WPF pledged to continue supporting GBV-RH related initiatives in the target areas for ensuring sustainable change.

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 called upon to play a more active role in educating the masses. 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.

WPF Initiates “Capacity Development of WPF and Partners Working in Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in Pakistan”

World Population Foundation, with support from PSO, has initiated Capacity Development of WPF and Partners Working in Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in Pakistan. This project intends to enhance the capacity of partner organizations to safeguard Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights. The overall objective of this capacity development initiative is thus to, ensure that WPF and her network of intermediary partner organisations/field offices show increased capacity to effectively and sustainably deliver evidence-based SRHR interventions.

This programme will focus on partners CSOs/NGOs and relevant government agencies in Indonesia, Vietnam, Pakistan , Kenya and Uganda. It is at this specific programme objective level, where WPF expects that measurable outcomes can be observed at the end of the programme period that can be attributed to specific interventions and actions in this capacity development programme.
 

National Dialogue on National Adolescent Development Policy Framework Held

WPF and Plan Pakistan held a “National Dialogue on National Adolescent Development Policy Framework” on 15 December, 2009. The objective of this Forum was to share the framework with Government representatives, civil society organizations and media for the proposed framework’s inclusion in relevant policies and programmes at the national level. The policy framework primarily focuses on the themes of Adolescents and Child rights; Adolescents and Health; Adolescents and Education; their livelihood prospects; Adolescents in Crisis as well as strategies for implementation and drafting appropriate legislation. These broader themes have further been analyzed from the perspective of their current status, the issues involved and existing policies and programmes.

The National Education and Youth policies of Pakistan have references to adolescent development. National Adolescent Development Policy Framework highlights the missing links in these policies while recommending their solutions, focusing on the needs of this invisible population through adolescent centric development programmes.

A documentary and song, focusing on adolescents in Pakistan developed by Plan Pakistan were also launched.
 

Rights-driven Institutionalization of Sexual and Reproductive Health in Pakistan – Hamara Kal

District Launch Held in Multan

District launch of the SRHR study as well as the formal inaugural of the project was held in Multan on 24 December, 2009. Local SRHR experts, members of District Project Steering Committee (DPSC), teachers, community leaders and local media participated at the district level. The launch in Karachi and Matiari has been postponed to January 2010 due to security constraints in the Province.

Orientation of Partners for the Online M&E Mechanism Completed

Orientation meetings regarding the online Monitoring and Evaluation tool had been previously held with our partners under the EU funded project in Karachi and Matiari. The final visit to our partner in Multan, i.e. Awaz Foundation-CDS was made on 23rd December, 2009. The Awaz team offered its feedback, which has been noted and is now being incorporated in the online M&E tool by our Knowledge Management team. Once the system is final, the partners will be required to add the relevant details using their organisational password to operationalised the system.

 
Mr. Naeem Gul joined our SRHR Education programme in December 2009
as Project Coordinator, Non Formal Education System. We welcome him
in the fold and wish him all the very best!
 
Ever since the unprecedented interest invested by the Supreme Court of Pakistan in the plight of transgender people in Pakistan last year, there has been a ray of hope for the alleviation of their social and economic status.

A welcome development in this regard came forth in December when Pakistan Supreme Court’s advised Government to use the services of eunuchs to recover outstanding loan amounts. This new development has inspired widespread excitement in the transgender community, which has expressed its willingness to offer help - but only if they are given the same commission as their Indian counterparts. In India, transvestites are recovering loans and even taxes and they get four percent of the total recovered loans as well as taxes.

It may be noted that recently the State Bank of Pakistan had submitted that a huge amount of 193 billion rupees were written off during the period 1997 to 2008, after which Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry had suggested taking the help of transvestites for the recovery of loans.

As reported by a number of newspapers, while one faction of transgender people have welcomed this ruling, there is another faction that is skeptical. They have audibly questiond the wisdom of the ruling, contesting that money that could not be recovered by the Government and military cannot be recovered by the most marginalized community of the society. Moreover, there is also resentment on whether the current ruling by the apex court will be taken seriously by the Government. This is especially important in view of the fact that the orders given by the apex court for the registration of transgender have so far not been fulfilled by the government. Accordingly, the current state of distrust exhibited the transgender community is not ill found.

Nevertheless, it is equally important to understand here that while the road to realization of the rights of transgender people might well be long and tedious, however the very fact that their rights have become a matter of discussion and debate in the power corridors is in itself a development that cannot be ignored! It is important to appreciate the significance of this historical development and build systematic pressure to ensure that when the debate does reach its conclusion, it is meaningful!
 

A landmark U.N. treaty on women’s rights, which will be 30 years old next week, is in danger of being politically undermined by a slew of reservations by 22 countries seeking exemptions from some of the convention’s legal obligations. "A reservation must not defeat the object and purpose of a treaty," Ambassador Palitha Kohona, a former chief of the U.N. Treaty Section, told IPS. If a state has intrinsic difficulties with a treaty, it has the right not to become a party, he said. "To become a party and then defeat the object and purpose of the treaty is unacceptable," said Kohona, currently Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), which commemorated its 30th anniversary on Dec. 18, has been described as "an international bill of rights for women" and has been ratified by 186 member states. But 22 member states, ranging from Algeria and Australia to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the United Kingdom, have exercised their right not to implement certain provisions of the treaty, even though they have signed and ratified CEDAW. Yasmeen Hassan, director of programmes at the New York-based Equality Now told IPS that lack of implementation of CEDAW is exacerbated by countries’ reservations to the treaty. Consisting of a preamble and 30 articles, CEDAW defines what constitutes discrimination against women and sets up an agenda for national action to eliminate such discrimination. According to the United Nations, the CEDAW treaty has triggered wide- ranging action in favour of women’s rights worldwide. These include: new constitutional guarantees for women in Thailand; land- owning rights for women in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan; changes to the law of evidence benefiting women in the Solomon Islands; reproductive health rights in Colombia; and a new "Magna Carta" for women’s equality enacted in the Philippines. But the United Nations complains that the Convention’s implementation is uneven, with seven countries still holding back ratifications: Iran, Nauru, Palau, Somalia, Sudan, Tonga and the United States. However, 186 other states have ratified CEDAW - making it one of the most widely subscribed-to international treaties in existence.

Source: IPS News

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