Working Group on SDG-5 formed

LAHORE: The much-awaited Working Group on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5 was formed Thursday. The first coordination meeting of the Punjab Provincial Multi-Sectoral Working Group held in Punjab Assembly was attended by all the stakeholders, headed by Uzma Kardar, Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Gender Mainstreaming.

It was decided to put all the available information on all the sectors on one dashboard and to develop dashboards in thematic areas. Data collection will be given to different groups according to themes. The Punjab Information Commission suggested each department should have a website and proactively disclose all information. There are nine targets in Goal 5 and the budget being spent on gender is only 0.5 percent. Developing mechanism is not possible without allocating resources. Budget and at places absence of budget came under discussion and the need to ensure that the budget is spent on what it was allocated for.

At a time when the world is observing 16 days of activism against gender-based violence, the police department pointed out that there is no law on domestic violence while the law is there. All gender-related crime is linked with section 164 of CrPC. Procedure of recording of statement has to improve, the AIG Police at the meeting said, and asked the Law department and the Home department to make rules to record gender-based crimes. Unicef called for a central repository where all registered cases are there with details. The UNFPA representative said there was no medico-legal law yet and no separate budget for medico-legal practice. Reporting of cases has improved after Rape Ordinance still 85 percent cases do not reach conviction.

It came up that many laws are there whose rules of business are yet to be made and without forming rules of business the benefit of legislation won’t reach people. Pakistan has ratified international laws but they are not supported by local laws. Pakistan stands at 153 out of 156 countries on the Gender Parity Index according to Global Gender Gap Report 2021. At present, 12.5 million women do not have ID cards. Peace and Justice Network gave a presentation on Goal 5 Action Plan to achieve gender equality and empower all women. The stakeholders who are parliamentarians, Peace & Justice Network (Technical Partner Working Group), Punjab Social Protection Authority (PSPA), Women Development Department (WDD), WHO, PSCA, PITB, Ministry of Human Rights, Punjab RTI Commission, Law Department, Police Investigation Department, Labour Department, Homenet Pakistan, IDEA, WISE, Persons with Special Abilities, WCCI, UNDP, UNFPA, Unicef, UN Women and others identified the gaps and expressed their resolve to achieve the goals. The working group agreed that legislation and its implementation must have a time-line. It was pointed out that the benefits of reforms should reach workers in the informal sector as a large number of women are working from home.