Support for Establishing Data Base of Human Rights Situation and Human Rights Defenders in Pakistan

  • Home
  • Support for Establishing Data Base of Human Rights Situation and Human Rights Defenders in Pakistan

Status: Completed
Start Date: Sep 2014
End Date: Mar 2015
Geographic Coverage: Federal and Provincial Level
Focus Area: Human Rights
SDG Goal: 16 To promote just, peaceful and inclusive societies
Implementing Partner: SPO & Ministry of Law Justice Human Rights (MoLJ)
Funding Partner: Care International In Pakistan

The Constitution of Pakistan ensures that citizens have fundamental rights, which include freedom of speech, freedom of thought, right to access information, freedom to practice religion, freedom of association, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, etc. However, effective implementation of these rights is hindered by various structural and functional bottlenecks.

Although there are laws and policies to ensure people have access to their rights, there are several factors that limit citizens to access and exercise their freedom.

In this connection, SPO in collaboration with Ministry of Law, Justice and Human Rights (MoLJ & HR) and with financial support of Care International in Pakistan established a database on Human Rights violation in Pakistan. The main objective of this six-­month intervention was to create a Database and software having information related to Human Rights violation at Federal and provincial level, then training at Federal and provincial directorates were held to successfully to transfer knowledge and responsibilities to maintain, review, and utilize the data resource pool and then a detailed Management Information System (MIS) on Human Rights was handed over to MoLJ & HR.

As a result of this intervention;

• A data base of human rights violations was prepared and owned by the state and its representatives.

• The civil society organizations working on Human Rights advocacy now had a negotiating point mutually agreed with the state.

• The ministry was further strengthened to take up fact based human rights issues both at provincial and national levels.

• The reporting on international covenants and treaties on human rights by the ministry enhanced.

SPO had played key role and collaborated at various fronts with the Ministry of Law, Justice and Human Rights on human Rights promotion and developing human rights defender mechanisms. This small scale project proved to be a huge contribution in systematically recording the human rights violation data, which also helped the ministry to take informed actions and timely respond to the needs and challenges faced by citizenry of Pakistan.