Call to speed up NAP implementation

LAHORE
A two-day consultation and joint strategy meeting of more than 80 NGOs, university students and youth groups, unanimously urged the government and security forces to speed up the National Action Plan (NAP) to curb terrorism in the country.
Around 200 representatives of more than 80 civil society groups gathered at a local hotel Friday to chalk out a joint future plan and strategy to work for peace and counter extremism in the society.
Punjab Minister for Youth and Education Rana Mashhood Ahmed Khan, prominent persons from civil society attended the consultation to connect and build peace in the larger sections of society. Abdul Saboor said that the consultation aimed at planning more for peace building and share experiences of their work on counter extremism. He said the aim of collective efforts for peace was to create awareness and spread message of peace at large scale level in the society. He said the NGOs collectively called the government to ensure implementation of all points of NAP seriously.
Sarwat Jahan said that attack on Army Public School in Peshawar had touched the heart of every peace-loving person in the country. The two-day sitting resolved to broaden its network and expand the areas of work to counter violence and extremism and develop a positive narrative in different walks of society. They aimed at doing more work in Southern Punjab where there was more poverty and lack of education. The consultation also emphasised role of media in supporting war on terror.
The NGOs and civil society groups shared their experiences of activism and counter violence extremism with one another. Students also performed theatre on the theme of peace during the first day showcasing.
A group of students from Islamia University Bahawalpur staged a brief play in the memory of students and children who died in Army Public School, Peshawar on December 16, 2014.
IPO: The Intellectual Property Organisation (IPO) is planning to hold a mega event for celebrating the international IP Day in the end of the April this year.
This was disclosed by Shahid Rashid, Chairman IPO, at a meeting with Alamgir Chaudhry, Chief Executive Officer of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA), at the SMEDA head office on Friday. He said the theme for the celebration of the international IP Day would soon be announced by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).
The chairman IPO told the media that close rapport with the academia and industry was being established to make the creative community aware of their intellectual rights. The IPO has recently approached 35 universities through Higher Education Commission (HEC) and 27 IP awareness centres which would soon be opened at the prominent universities of the country. He said and desired to establish similar collaboration with the SMEDA. He was confident that the SMEDA-IPO collaboration would prove to be highly instrumental to create awareness on intellectual property rights among SMEs, which were considered to be a backbone of the economy. He further said that besides chambers of commerce and industry of the country, the SME hubs in Sialkot, Gujranwala, Gujrat and Wazirabad would also be brought on aboard with the IPO through industry’s specific associations.
Shahid Rahid observed that it was the Intellectual Property which enabled the technology creation and technology transfer by providing the necessary enabling environment in the developed countries. That is why the Intellectual Property was mainstreamed by the government in Pakistan in 2005 by setting up the IPO. The government decision to establish the IPO-Pakistan was particularly aimed at addressing the institutional shortcomings that were impeding the effective management of intellectual property in Pakistan, he added.
Earlier, Alamgir Chaudhry, CEO SMEDA and SMEDA team, extended a warm reception to the chairman IPO and identified a number of areas of joint interests. He assured of the best cooperation for the promotion of the IP rights and services of the IPOs in this regard. He offered the proactive cooperation through SMEDA’s regional business centres as well as the common facility centres set up in various industrial and business cities in the country for raising the awareness on the importance and the kind of assistance available on IPRS.