One day Provincial Advocacy Seminar Right to Education
It’s My Right, Make it Right “It’s my Right; Make it Right” is a national campaign of civil society organizations on Education in Pakistan. One day provincial level seminar was organized in Karachi as a part of the national campaign in partnership with Oxfam GB, and Dubai Care. The main purpose of the event was to sensitize officials of provincial education department and civil society members about Right to Education –particularly importance of girl’s education in the province. Article 25-A (state shall provide free and compulsory Education to all children of the age of five to sixteen years in such manner as may be determined by law) of Constitution of Pakistan clearly holds state responsible for the provision of free and quality education to all in the country.
Malevolent Floods of Pakistan by Naseer Memon launched
The destruction wreaked by floods in Pakistan between 2010 and 2012 was indicative of governance and political problems in the country, according to Naseer Memon . “It is my considered view that these floods were a governance disaster,” said Naseer Memon, a writer and CE Strengthening Participatory Organization. “More than a natural or administrative issue, they are a political issue and must be viewed through the political lens.” He was speaking at the launching ceremony of his new book “Malevolent Floods of Pakistan,” in which he has discusses the context and impact of recent floods and makes suggestions for flood management. The ceremony was organised by the Sindh Graduates Association in Islamabad.
MoU for the promotion of good governance and pro people legislation in Sindh
Strengthening Participatory Organization (SPO) and the Ministry of Law & Parliamentary Affairs, Government of Sindh have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the promotion of good governance and pro people legislation in the province. The MoU was signed by Dr. Sikandar Mandhro, the Minister for Law & Parliamentary Affairs, Sindh and Naseer Memon, Chief Executive of SPO. The MoU is based on broader understanding to jointly carry out consultation and feedback on good governance and pro people legislation issues and to achieve common aims, like providing inputs/comments on draft laws, etc. Speaking on the occasion CE SPO Naseer Memon said that good governance and pro people legislation is signature identity of democratic societies. State of Governance merits greater cooperation among various stakeholders for improvement. Dr.Sikandar Mandhro, speaking on this occasion said that the provincial government is committed to provide good governance and pro people legislation and to enhance state-civil society interaction on policy matters. Eminent civil society representatives and senior officials of the Ministry attend the ceremony. Ms. Sadiqa Sallahuddin, Member BoD of SPO also attended the event.
Consultation on Domestic Violence Bill and National Policy for Home-based-workers
SPO organized a consultation on January 9th 2014 to finalize the draft Domestic Violence (DV) Bill and National Policy for Home Based Workers (NPHBW) in collaboration with MOLJ&HR by inviting relevant stakeholders who have background and knowledge about the areas covered under Bill and Policy. The purpose of the consultation was to highlight the gaps in the bill on domestic violence and the process of its approval and to recommend changes in favor of women in the two documents (DV Bill and NPHBW). Consultation was attended by more than 80 participants from Government and Civil Society Organizations. Director General Human Rights Wing opened the consultation with welcome note. Ms. Riffat Butt, Legal Expert, and Ms. Um-e-Laila Azhar, Executive Director, Home Net, National Commission on the Status of Women, presented the draft Bill on Domestic Violence highlighting its main features and National Policy on Home-based Workers (NPHBWs) respectively.
DIALOGUE ON ROLE OF POLITICAL PARTIES IN GOOD GOVERNANCE – 31 DECEMBER 2013
Political leaders and civil society activists linked the hope that the New Year 2014 will turn prosperous and peaceful for the whole Sindh and the people belonging to different sects and religious entities will play their role for promoting religious harmony. They were speaking at a ‘Dialogue on Role of Political Parties in Good Governance’ organized by Political Parties Steering Committee in collaboration with Strengthening Participatory Organisation (SPO) Hyderabad.
SPO Peace and Social Harmony work acknowledged
Daman Civil Society Network (DCSN) and Aawaz District Forum (ADF) with the technical assistance of SPO D.I.Khan has provided support to reconciliation Committees formed at Police Stations in the district. On December 31,2013 a ceremony was organized in Police Rest House presided by Deputy Commissioner (DC) and District Police Officer (DPO) D.I.Khan. During the Program DPO announced that SPO’s developed TORs boards will be installed in all 14 Police Stations, District Police Officer and Deputy Inspector General rooms. Deputy Commissioner (DC) D.I.Khan and DPO have advised all Police stations and reconciliation Committees to use SPO developed reporting format for onward reconciliation Committees monthly reports submission to DPO office with a copy to RH SPO D.I.Khan. DPO agreed to notify women representation in reconciliation Committees and formation of Separate Committee for minorities of D.I.Khan on the request of DCSN and ADF D.I.Khan members. He requested Regional head SPO D.I.Khan to share the names of women and minority Committee members for Committees for onward notification.
Civil society roundtable on new Enviromental Law in Sindh
Strengthening Participatory Organization (SPO), organized a roundtable to get input from civil society on the proposed environmental law in Sindh. Sindh Minister Dr Sikandar Mandhro, SPO country head Naseer Memon, DG EPA Naeem Mughul, Chairperson Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF) Mohammad Ali Shah, Prof Ismail Kumbhar of Agriculture University Tando Jam, Javed Akhtar of IUCN, Nasir Panhwar of Friends of Indus, Sikandar Brohi of Participatory Development Initiative (PDI) and other representatives of WWF-Pakistan, IUCN, Shirkatgah, journalists and academics. They advised the Sindh government to continue reviewing the Provincial Environmental Bill by involving all stakeholders so as to improve it further and make it acceptable to all.They said in case the bill was put before the assembly in haste; it may cause problems for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) itself. CE SPO Naseer Memon shared the objectives of the dialogue. Focusing on the issues related to environment in urban and rural areas, he gave the list of environmental pollution issues such as air pollution, contamination of food stuff and others related to human life. Dr.SikandarMandhro, Provincial minster for parliamentary affairs and environment, Govt. of Sindh appreciated SPO for organizing such a productive civil society roundtable and also appreciated audience for giving valuable inputs on the new bill.
SPO and Ministry of Law, Justice and Human Rights signed a MoU
Protection of human rights is signature identity of democratic societies. All stakeholders need to strive for improving the image of Pakistan on human rights front. State of human rights in Pakistan merits greater cooperation among various stakeholders for improvement. Strengthening Participatory Organization (SPO) and the Ministry of Law, Justice and Human Rights (MoLJ&HR) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The MoU is based on broader understanding to jointly carry out human rights consultations, policy reviews, participatory stakeholder feedbacks, etc. Secretary Ministry of Law, Justice and Human Rights Barrister Zafarullah Khan and Naseer Memon, CE SPO signed the MoU. SPO has been actively working with Ministry on a number of issues, such as National Human Rights Policy Framework (NHRPF), National Human Rights Defender Mechanism (NHRDM), legislation on UN Convention Against Torture (UNCAT), etc. The Secretary, appreciating SPO’s support said that Government is committed to support civil society initiatives to protect human rights of Pakistani citizens. He said keeping in view the role of Ministry and civil society, this MoU will be helpful for implementation of human rights laws in the country and devise workable mechanism to achieve the desired objectives. Eminent civil society representatives were also present in the ceremony. http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-6-220011-MoU-signed-to-broader-HR-consultations http://pakedu.net/pakistani-education-news/mou-signed-to-broader-hr-consultations-ministry-of-law-justice-and-human-rights-moljhr/
Legislation on Domestic Violence is a need of the hour
A public advocacy event on “Effective Legislation to Protect Women’s Rights” on conclusion of 16 days worldwide campaign against violence against women by Mumkin Alliance. Naseer Memon Chief Executive, Strengthening Participatory Organization (SPO) in his address said that the women rights cannot be attained without getting room in political agenda of the society; He said that political mind set should be changed for women empowerment.