A handbook for Pakistan's Women Parliamentarians and Political Leaders LEADING THE WAY By Syed Shamoon Hashmi Women's Initiative for Learning & Wi Leadership She has and shel willl ©Search For Common Ground 2014 DEDICATED TO Women parliamentarians of Pakistan — past, present and aspiring - who remain committed in their political struggle and are an inspiration for the whole nation. And to those who support their cause and wish to see Pakistan stand strong as a This guidebook has been produced by Search For Common Ground Pakistan (www.sfcg.org/pakistan), an democratic and prosperous nation. international non-profit organization working to transform the way the world deals with conflict away from adversarial approaches and towards collaborative problem solving. The publication has been made possible through generous support provided by the U.S. Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL), under the project titled “Strengthening Women’s Political Participation and Leadership for Effective Democratic Governance in Pakistan.” The content of this publication is sole responsibility of SFCG Pakistan. All content, including text, illustrations and designs are the copyrighted property of SFCG Pakistan, and may not be copied, transmitted or reproduced, in part or whole, without the prior consent of Search For Common Ground Pakistan. Women's Initiative for Learning & Wi Leadership She has and shel willl ©Search For Common Ground 2014 DEDICATED TO Women parliamentarians of Pakistan — past, present and aspiring - who remain committed in their political struggle and are an inspiration for the whole nation. And to those who support their cause and wish to see Pakistan stand strong as a This guidebook has been produced by Search For Common Ground Pakistan (www.sfcg.org/pakistan), an democratic and prosperous nation. international non-profit organization working to transform the way the world deals with conflict away from adversarial approaches and towards collaborative problem solving. The publication has been made possible through generous support provided by the U.S. Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL), under the project titled “Strengthening Women’s Political Participation and Leadership for Effective Democratic Governance in Pakistan.” The content of this publication is sole responsibility of SFCG Pakistan. All content, including text, illustrations and designs are the copyrighted property of SFCG Pakistan, and may not be copied, transmitted or reproduced, in part or whole, without the prior consent of Search For Common Ground Pakistan. Women's Initiative for Learning & Wi Leadership She has and shel willl ©Search For Common Ground 2014 Women's Initiative for Learning & Wi Leadership She has and shel willl CONTENTS Foreword 02 Preface 04 Acknowledgements 05 Chapter one: Tracing the footsteps: “her-story” 07 Chapter Two: Women’s parliamentary participation in pakistan 21 Chapter Three: International and regional trends 39 Chapter Four: Setting the “women’s agenda” 47 Chapter Five: Long walk to constitutional freedoms 61 Chapter Six: Learning the tricks of the trade: rules of business & ... 79 Chapter Seven: Building networks 95 Chapter Eight: Mastering the magic of media 103 Annexures 115 01 Women's Initiative for Learning & Wi Leadership She has and shel willl CONTENTS Foreword 02 Preface 04 Acknowledgements 05 Chapter one: Tracing the footsteps: “her-story” 07 Chapter Two: Women’s parliamentary participation in pakistan 21 Chapter Three: International and regional trends 39 Chapter Four: Setting the “women’s agenda” 47 Chapter Five: Long walk to constitutional freedoms 61 Chapter Six: Learning the tricks of the trade: rules of business & ... 79 Chapter Seven: Building networks 95 Chapter Eight: Mastering the magic of media 103 Annexures 115 01 Women's Women's Initiative for Initiative for Learning & Learning & Wi Leadership Wi Leadership She has and shel willl She has and shel willl manual is a helpful resource for knowledge FOREWORD enhancement and practical success.In Pakistan, where the leadership of women is not a learnt behavior, this manual serves as a useful tool for women political Despite valiant efforts to have their voices heard, 1. To increase the leadership skills of leaders – whether inside or outside the parliament -- to women in Pakistan continue to face significant barriers women parliamentarians (MPs) for exercise their right in policy- and decision-making and in all spheres of life. This is attributed to the patriarchal effective policymaking and reform; governance. society which positions men for leadership roles 2. To facilitate the creation of policy undermining the potential that women hold primarily SFCG puts a premium on Pakistan’s growing youth mechanisms that enable women MPs because of mitigating social, economic and religious bulge, women leaders, elected representatives, to collaborate across party lines with situations plaguing the country. One of the dynamic media, community leaders and private sector their male counterpar ts and fundamental impediments that Pakistani women face entrepreneurs to become the change agents and government officials; and today is their lack of development and opportunity as proactive community interlocutors that Pakistan authority and leadership figures, due to their limited 3. To build positive public perception needs. Our core belief is that if key stakeholders -- and engagement in advocacy and decision-making affairs. around the role of women MPs as women in particular -- are able to articulate their ideas effective leaders and decision-makers and aspirations through a Common Ground Approach, While the past one decade has seen positive changes in through media sensitization. they will be empowered to act as dynamic agents of Pakistan regarding representation of women in politics reform and lead the way to sustainable peace in the with more aspiring women stepping into the public This WILL Manual and Guidebook has been country. domain, yet their leadership and decision-making role carefully developed and authored for remains overshadowed, marginalized or side-lined. women politicians as a compilation of I sincerely thank this manual’s author, Syed Shamoon Despite an increase in their numerical strength, women essential political knowledge and Hashmi, the SFCG Pakistan Team and all those who parliamentarians still face practical and technical information that can help them become worked diligently to conceive, prepare and produce it hurdles in their way to achieving prominence in active powerful leaders who are better equipped as a guiding friend for women politicians of Pakistan. In legislation and policymaking at the provincial and with essential skills to interact and days to come, we welcome feedback from users to national levels. Lack of leadership skills, little or no collaborate confidently with their male make this document more effec tive and knowledge of parliamentary system, ineffective media counterparts, government officials, media, encompassing. engagement, scarcity of resources, lack of technical electoral constituencies and other training, absence of formalized structures and stakeholders to work for effective platforms for women to collaborate across party lines democratic governance in Pakistan. and with their male counterparts as well on shared Ammara Durrani policy agendas are some of the key limitations routinely The guidebook draws on SFCG’s global and Executive Director, faced by women parliamentarians and political leaders, regional expertise in strengthening SFCG Pakistan especially at provincial and district levels. women’s political leadership skills by Islamabad supporting participants to develop and 9 June 2014 Since 2011, SFCG Pakistan has been implementing its utilize skills in legislative and constitutional national “Women's Initiative for Learning and procedures, development frameworks, Leadership (WILL): Strengthening Women’s Political women’s political reforms agenda, best Participation and Leadership for Effective Democratic practices on building alliances and Governance in Pakistan” program in all four provinces networks, parliamentary caucus, and as well as the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) building positive public perception through of Pakistan. The aim of this project has been to increase effective media management. Covering key the capacity of female parliamentarians and aspiring subjec ts – such asthe histor ical women politicians by magnifying their voices and emancipation of women, political struggles bolstering their engagement in decision-making. In its in Pakistan, fear of public speaking, second two-year phase now, the strategic objectives of collaborating with women parliamentarians our WIILL initiative are: across party lines, engaging media, as well aspersonal leadership attributes -- this 02 03 Women's Women's Initiative for Initiative for Learning & Learning & Wi Leadership Wi Leadership She has and shel willl She has and shel willl manual is a helpful resource for knowledge FOREWORD enhancement and practical success.In Pakistan, where the leadership of women is not a learnt behavior, this manual serves as a useful tool for women political Despite valiant efforts to have their voices heard, 1. To increase the leadership skills of leaders – whether inside or outside the parliament -- to women in Pakistan continue to face significant barriers women parliamentarians (MPs) for exercise their right in policy- and decision-making and in all spheres of life. This is attributed to the patriarchal