Right to inheritance: Women urged to approach Ombudsperson Secretariat

PESHAWAR: Speakers at a function have urged women to approach the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ombudsperson for Protection against Harassment of Women at Workplace Secretariat to claim a share in inherited property.

They were speaking at a one-day Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) alliance meeting. The participants discussed the role of CSOs in promoting women’s property and inheritance rights in the tribal districts.

The Community Appraisal and Motivation Programme (CAMP) organised the programme in coordination with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ombudsperson for Protection against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Secretariat.

The event was arranged as part of a Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Ombudsperson Secretariat and CAMP for collaboration in the year 2020.

Mariam Khan from CAMP welcomed the CSO members who participated in the meeting from across the tribal or newly merged districts (NMDs)

This was followed by sharing of a video documentary and animated video produced by CAMP on women’s inheritance in the NMDs.

Asad Ali Qureshi from CAMP shared his organisation’s experience of the awareness-raising campaign carried out from the proposal development to the implementation process.

There was also a session on the reporting requirements for the CSOs.

In the second session, representatives from local CSOs shared the achievements and challenges

they faced when implementing awareness-raising activities in their respective districts.

Activities included Jirga meetings with religious elders and tribal leaders, sessions with law-enforcement representatives, community meetings with men and women, radio and print campaigns for awareness and facilitating women to submit cases related to the property with the Ombudsperson Secretariat.

Sabeeha Iqbal shared issues that women faced in trying to get their rightful share in inheritance.

She said the ratio of cases from NMDs was very small but was expected to go up with initiatives such as Da Khor Barkha Project, adding the number of cases had now exceeded 800.

Sabeeha Iqbal said the Ombudsperson Secretariat was facilitating those who wanted to come forward and ask for a share in inheritance. She explained the process for filing applications and said a legal desk at the Ombudsperson Secretariat had been set up to help women.

The Ombudsperson Secretariat representative added that the proceedings of the case are concluded within 60 days.

The CAMP representatives concluded the event by urging the local CSOs to spread awareness about the property rights of women in the NMDs and share cases with the Ombudsperson Secretariat for processing.