Women rights defenders are actual agents of change

Islamabad

Women human rights defenders are actual agents of change and can uplift human rights standards in Pakistan. They need to network and share resources among each other more than any other group to increase their force and impact.

These views were shared by National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW) Chairperson Khawar Mumtaz at a one-day Human Rights Defenders Congress, organised by Potohar Organisation for Development Advocacy (PODA) in collaboration with European Union Delegation to Pakistan and UN-Women on Tuesday.

Other speakers at the congress included Ambassador of Sweden Ingrid Johansson, Acting High Commissioner of Canada Andrew Turner, Chargé d’ Affairs, Ambassador of Kingdom of the Netherlands Paul Menkveld, Representative of EU Delegation to Pakistan Johan Sorensen, Chairperson of Punjab Commission on the Status of Women Fauzia Viqar, Director Democratic Commission for Human Development (NCHD) Tanveer Jahan and Senior Superintendent Police Maria.

All speakers were of the view that women neglect their security while working in the field. “First they need to put their security at the top of agenda of their organizations so that policies and strategies are devised to address their issues and concerns on priority,” they said.

They said that all over the world, women human rights defenders face additional threats as compared to men. “However, In Pakistan the situation is more alarming because of the cultural and social taboos.  Therefore, communication channels among them should be improved and efforts should be made to uplift women education and economic empowerment in Pakistan,” the speakers said.

Tanveer Jahan, who facilitated the congress, shared the findings of a baseline survey conducted by her organization to gauge the situation of women human rights defenders in Pakistan. According to the findings 48 percent organizations working on women human rights have received some threats at some point in their work. The survey further revealed that Pakistan has always been a dangerous country for women human rights defenders, however, the situation has worsen  in recent years and 51 percent of women human rights  defenders reported receiving a threat in last six months

Working groups on four thematic areas: Physical and Personal Security, Digital Security, Networking and Advocacy were also formed during the congress and findings stressed on improving the situation of women's rights defenders, further discussions and an action plan that develops strategies on how to tackle the challenges most effectively.

Around 30 women's rights defenders from all the four provinces, federal capital territory, government officials, representatives of civil society and media also participated in the congress.