The Weekly Chronicle November 16 – November 22, 2017

USAID Supports “Month of Activism for Women NIC Registration”: Citizens’ Voice Project’s (CVP) has designated a Month of Activism starting from November 16th to December 15th, 2017 for Women National Identity Cards (NICs) Registration. During the month, the pre-identified unregistered women are being taken to National Database and Registration Authority’s (NADRA) points of service across . Concerted media engagement and advocacy efforts are being undertaken to create an environment for acknowledgement and redressal of women registration issues. This weekly chronicle covers activities carried out during the Month of Activism by Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) which is supported by USAID.

USAID Nationwide Campaign for Identifying Unregistered Women Continues: From November 16th to 22nd, 2017, as reported by CVP partner organizations, a total of 15,638 eligible-age unregistered women from Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, and Sindh were identified for facilitation under Grant Cycle-11. Subsequent to identifying and listing of unregistered women, CVP will facilitate them in acquiring NICs from NADRA which is a prerequisite for voter Narowal, Punjab: A USAID CVP partner registration. Through this intervention, CVP will facilitate up to one organization collects data of un-registered million eligible-age women to reduce the gender-gap on the electoral women during a community meeting. rolls ahead of 2018 General Elections (GE).

USAID Facilitates Women in Acquiring NICs: From November 16th to 22nd, 2017, the facilitation efforts have yielded substantial results. CVP’s partner organizations have reported facilitation of 3,743 eligible- age women from eight districts of Punjab (Bahawalpur, Bahawalnagar, , Gujranwala, , Narowal, Rahim Yar Khan and Toba Tek Singh); five districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Dera Ismail Khan, Lower Dir, Nowshera, and Swat); three districts of Sindh (Jamshoro, South and Qambar Shahdadkot); and one district of Qambar Shahdadkot, Sindh: A USAID CVP Balochistan (Killa Abdullah) in acquiring NICs. Through its nationwide partner facilitates un-registered women in acquiring NIC through NADRA’s MRV. campaign, CVP is intensifying efforts to increase women voters’ registration by facilitating them in acquiring NIC in order to increase female turnout in 2018 GE.

USAID Seeks Support of Local Authorities for Women’s NIC Registration: From November 16th to 22nd, 2017, CVP partner organizations conducted 43 meetings with representatives of NADRA; Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP); Local District Governments; Civil Society; and District Voter Education Committees (DVECs) members. These strategically planned sensitization and coordination meetings were held in six districts of

Punjab (Bahawalnagar, Faisalabad, Lahore, Narowal, Rahim Yar Khan and Toba Tek Singh); three districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Dera Ismail Khan, Lower Dir and Mardan), two district of Sindh (Jamshoro and Karachi South) and one district of Balochistan (Killa Abdullah). Aimed at enhancing coordination between CVP’s partners and state institutions, these meetings were attended by 150 men and 21 women. CVP through its partner organizations continues to engage with NADRA, ECP and other relevant authorities to overcome challenges with an overarching objective of women NIC registration across Pakistan.

USAID Gains Support of Religious and Community Leaders for Registering Women with NADRA: From November 16th to 22nd, 2017, CVP partner organizations carried out five community meetings by engaging religious and community leaders in three districts of Punjab (Faisalabad, Lahore and Rahim Yar Khan) and one district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Mardan) to seek their support for women identification and NIC registration. These meetings were attended by 46 men and 23 women. Partner organizations also sought community support for Mardan, KP: A USAID CVP partner realizing equal rights of women to participate in political and electoral conducts a community meeting to gain processes. For increased women registration, CVP continues to engage support for NIC registration campaign. with religious leaders and community elders at the local level.

USAID CVP Generates Evidence for Advocacy to Address Issues Faced in Women NIC Registration: From November 16th to 22nd, 2017, as reported by CVP partner organizations, a total of 2,796 eligible-age unregistered women from Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, and Sindh were taken to NADRA’s Registration Centers (NRC) and Mobile

Registration Vans (MRV) for acquiring NICs. However, a total of 834 Karachi, Sindh: Women wait in a long women were registered due to various challenges including the stringent queue for NIC registration outside a policies of NADRA for presenting additional documentation. Moreover, at NADRA’s Registration Center. certain locations, it was also highlighted that due to a lack of NRC’s capacity to accommodate more number of people in a day, a significant number of women were not registered. In some cases, priority was given to candidates who were willing to pay the fee for obtaining NICs. These challenges will be reported to ECP, NADRA and media for corrective administrative actions. Besides, evidence-based advocacy will be carried out to solicit government’s support for resourcing NADRA adequately in order to meet the challenging target of registering 12.17 million women across Pakistan.

Parliamentarians Pledge Support to USAID CVP Women NIC Registration Campaign: From November 16th to 22nd, 2017, CVP continued to gain parliamentarians’ support in decreasing the gender deficit on electoral rolls. CVP representatives held two meetings a) Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Leadership; and b) Women Caucus Legislators of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Islamabad: CVP representatives brief MNA Dr. Arif Alvi on the women voter deficit issue.

On November 17th, 2017, CVP representatives met with Member National Assembly (MNA) Dr. Arif Alvi (PTI) to seek support for women voter registration in . He acknowledged that the women voter deficit issue is critical, and should be addressed ahead of 2018 GE. Furthermore, he agreed to submit a motion in the National Assembly calling for a result-oriented parliamentary discussion on the issue. He also committed to take up this issue with his party’s central leadership. Subsequent to the meeting, he also posted a message related to women registration campaign on his social media page.

Similarly, on November 16th, 2017, CVP staff met with the Women Caucus Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly’s legislators including: Chairperson Meraj Humayun Khan; Vice Chairperson Fozia Bibi; General Secretary Uzma Khan; Executive Council Member Maliha Khan; Coordinator Kulsoom Usman; and Legal Advisor Shandana Khan. The leadership of the caucus expressed serious concerns over the missing women voters, and assured to move a joint resolution in the assembly calling the provincial and Peshawar, KP: CVP representatives brief federal governments to take appropriate measures for facilitating women members of KP Women Caucus to gain to get registered with NADRA. Caucus members have submitted to the support for women CNIC registration. resolution to the assembly, which was tabled on the Orders of the Day in the coming session. Moreover, the caucus also assured to raise the issue with Chief Minister for taking immediate action.

Private Motion in Sindh Assembly to Support CVP’s Women NIC Registration Campaign: On November 21st, 2017, Ghazala Sial, Member of the Provincial Assembly of Sindh submitted a private motion seeking a discussion on the gender-gap in the electoral rolls. This motion (#213 as per record) called upon the provincial and federal governments to take appropriate measures to register women across Pakistan. Ghazala Sial submitted this motion as a result of the advocacy meeting held with former and Co- Chairman Pakistan Peoples’ Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) in Islamabad on November 10th, 2017.

Women Registration Campaign Attracts Media’s Attention: From November 16th to 22nd, 2017, the issue of gender gap on the electoral rolls was widely covered in the national Urdu and English newspapers. Different newspapers published editorials, news stories, and letters to the editor on the issue. This coverage is a result of the various meetings held by CVP representatives with media persons.

Urdu newspapers (including Nawa-i-Waqt, Daily Jang, Daily Express, Daily Nai Baat, Roznama 92, Daily Jinnah), and an English newspaper (The News) published these news items. Following are their hyperlinks: https://goo.gl/3j9pgp, https://goo.gl/fdYPA2, https://goo.gl/Hq57Jx, https://goo.gl/FcBzEF, https://goo.gl/Q6QqPG, https://goo.gl/pJJqS9

The women under-registration issue’s coverage has gained appreciation of other media houses as well. These media outlets have also started to report independently on the issue. The News and Dawn published editorials and news stories focusing on the gender gap in the electoral rolls. Following are their hyperlinks: https://goo.gl/tXwdib, https://goo.gl/Q6QqPG, https://goo.gl/Yvy9fj

USAID Sensitizes Media Personnel on Women’s Under Registration Issue: From November 16th to 22nd, 2017, CVP staff members met with representatives of five national media houses in Islamabad. They were briefed regarding the issue of women under registration, and CVP efforts to minimize the gender gap on the electoral rolls. These meetings were held with Daily Jinnah (Urdu newspaper), Daily Jang (Urdu newspaper), Roznama 92 (Urdu newspaper), Daily Azkaar (Urdu newspaper) and NNI (news agency). These media representatives extended their support to highlight the issue, and assured that they will arrange regular coverage.

USAID Supports Social Media Messaging to Augment Month of Activism for Increased Women NIC Registration: From November 16th to 22nd, 2017, FAFEN has started disseminating information and education messages of its social media outlets in order to support the activities carried out during the month of activism. While these messages will primarily support the women NIC registration drive, these will also lay the foundation for the systematic media campaign to be launched on a nationwide basis in tandem with the ECP. The tagline of this campaign is is #ShanakhtSabKaHaq which translates to “Identity is Everyone’s Right”.

FAFEN Twitter messages to support the Month of Activism for Women NIC registration

USAID Works with ECP for Development of Social Media Campaign Messages: On November 22nd 2017, CVP proposed a set of social media messages targeted at increasing women NIC registration. These messages were approved by the ECP for dissemination. These initial messages will be used for the systematic campaign. Moreover, this campaign aims to highlight the gender-gap, sensitize the general populace about right to vote and benefits of registration, motivate them for increased women registration, and engagement with other demand side stakeholders. The initial batch of messages will set the tone for the campaign, and with full launch on social media and radio channels, it will reach out to 10 million Pakistani citizens. Social media messages will be relayed through FAFEN’s accounts at social media.