The Sindh Human Rights Commission has conducted a two-day workshop to review and update its strategic plan for 2016-2021.
The SHRC is a statutory body established under The Sindh Protection of Human Rights Act, 2011, with a mandate to make interventions on issues related to individual and public interests. Furthermore, the commission has also been mandated as a watchdog to oversee the human rights situation in the Sindh province holistically.
The commission in its previous strategic plan 2016-2021 had identified numerous thematic areas for intervention, which included crimes against women, child rights, child protection, child marriage, state of education, drinking water issues, public services’ issues, law & order and access to justice, labour rights, tribal clashes, environment degradation, and general development issues.
Based on the conclusions, the commission formulated an action plan aimed at the promotion of a human rights discourse by training the law officers, prosecutors, officials of the police department and other relevant stakeholders; introduction of human rights into the curriculum, review of existing curriculum, educational workshops with media and NGOs, creating awareness about the commission, complaint and investigation handling, developing liaison with the government and non-government agencies, law reforms and review, research, documentation, and institutional development.
In this regard, a substantial amount of work has been done by the commission; however, there are certain gaps that need immediate attention and subsequent action.
The core intent behind organising the ‘Review of Strategic Planning Workshop’ in collaboration and partnership with the Trust for Democratic Education and Accountability (TDEA) is to share the pace of the commission’s compliance with its previous strategic plan and update the plan in order to enhance the efficacy of the institution in the future.