LAHORE: Live-screening of Pakistan’s state review by the United Nation’s Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) was hosted by Justice Project Pakistan (JPP) on Wednesday.
The Program held at Kinnaird College for Women University, Lahore (KCU), in collaboration with Women In Law and Kinnaird’s Nadira Hassan Law Department, the screening was attended by law students, activists, and journalists.
“It is not about parents not wanting their daughters to work or study. It’s not that simple,” said Member of Punjab Assembly Ayesha Chaudhry during a panel discussion held before the screening. “It’s the safe environment on the road that the state has failed to protect for years. It’s about cheap transport giving safe access to workplaces and education; it is about creating jobs in Okara and Sahiwal and all the other districts rather than forcing them to move to bigger cities.”
Human Rights Commission of Pakistan’s Director Farah Zia, UN Women’s Senior Advisor on Gender to Government of Sindh Salman Sufi, and Dean of Social Sciences at Kinnaird, Dr Urusa Fahim, were also part of the panel which was moderated by JPP Executive Director Sarah Belal.
Kinnaird College for Women University’s Principal Prof Dr Rukhsana David, head of the law department Ayesha Jawad, and Women In Law founder Nida Chaudhry also spoke on the occasion.
CEDAW reviewed Pakistan’s 5th periodic report submitted to the committee in October 2018 at its 75th session and engaged with the state delegation on the steps reported by the Government of Pakistan. The committee will outline recommendations after the review process is completed.
“Gender equality and women empowerment continue to be our top priority,” said Rabiya Javeri Agha, Secretary Ministry of Human Rights, while giving her introductory remarks on behalf of the Government of Pakistan during the CEDAW review in Geneva. “Key steps have been taken to increase women participation in the political arena. We have added 9.1 million women in the electoral rolls since the election of May 2013.”
Pakistan ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women in 1996 along with 188 other nations. Pakistan is bound to present its report on the compliance with its obligations under the convention every four years. JPP submitted its report as a civil society organisation seeking to highlight priority concerns and country-specific recommendations pertaining to access to justice for women; gender-based violence in the context of female victims of custodial torture, custodial rape and sexual violence; and Pakistani women detained abroad.
Executive Director of JPP Sarah Belal adds, “The purpose of this screening is to inform women of their rights under CEDAW and the obligations of the state. Our hope is that women and human rights activists will engage in the process of highlighting priority concerns and recommendations. There are countless ways in which we can hold the state to its promises made before the Committee. It starts with us, as women and as citizens, knowing what our rights are under CEDAW and what the state has to say about implementing them. That is why we are watching this review.”
With input from INP
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