Proceeding Women Implementation
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www.pildat.org Strengthening National and Provincial Legislative Governance Legislative Provincial and National Strengthening BRIEFING SESSION FOR PARLIAMENTARIANS PROCEEDINGS THE STATUS OF IMPLEMENTATION OF INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS ON WOMEN IN PAKISTAN March 29, 2004 Serena Hotel, Islamabad Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development And Transparency www.pildat.org Strengthening National and Provincial Legislative Governance Legislative Provincial and National Strengthening BRIEFING SESSION FOR PARLIAMENTARIANS PROCEEDINGS THE STATUS OF IMPLEMENTATION OF INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS ON WOMEN IN PAKISTAN March 29, 2004 Serena Hotel, Islamabad Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development And Transparency Prepared By Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development And Transparency - PILDAT Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development And Transparency As a Part of Pakistan Legislative Strengthening Consortium - PLSC PLSC Pakistan Legislative Strengthening Consortium For the project “Strengthening National and Provincial Legislative Governance - SNPLG” This publication was made possible through support provided by the U.S. Agency for International Development, under the terms of Award No.391-A-00-03-01012-00. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Agency for International Development. Published by Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development And Transparency - PILDAT 5 - A, Zafar Ali Road, Gulberg V, Lahore, Pakistan. June 2004 PILDAT Briefing Session for Parliamentarians The Status of Implementation of International Agreements on Women in Pakistan CONTENTSCONTENTS Abbreviations and Acronyms Background Executive Summary Profile of the Speakers Session 1 - Inaugural Session Welcome Remarks Mr. Ahmed Bilal Mehboob 11 Comments by Session Chair Ms. Nilofar Bakhtiar 12 Advisor to the Prime Minister on Women Development, Social Welfare and Special Education Status of Women: International, Regional and Local Perspectives Justice (Retd.) Majida Razvi 14 Chairperson, National Commission on the Status of Women Dr. Farzana Bari 16 Director, Department of Women Studies, Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad Senator Professor Khurshid Ahmed 17 Chairman, Institute of Policy Studies, Islamabad International Treaties and Agreements signed by Pakistan Mr. Syrus Qazi 19 Senior Advisor, Ministry of Women Development, Social Welfare & Special Education Q&A /Comments 21 PILDAT Briefing Session for Parliamentarians The Status of Implementation of International Agreements on Women in Pakistan CONTENTSCONTENTS Session 2 - Panel Discussion A critical review of Government of Pakistan's commitment to implementing International agreements on Women Mr. Kunwar Khalid Yunus 25 Member of National Assembly (Karachi-VII, MQM) Ms. Fauzia Wahab 26 Member of National Assembly (Women Sindh-IV, PPPP) Ms. Fareeda Shaheed 28 Coordinator Shirkat Gah Dr. Iftikhar-un-Nissa Hassan 30 Director, Women Resource and Research Centre, Fatima Jinnah University, Rawalpindi Q & A/Comments 32 Concluding Remarks by the Session Chair Senator S.M. Zafar 34 Appendices Appendix A: Programme 35 39 Appendix B: List & Profile of Participants 45 Appendix C: Presentation by Mr. Ahmed Bilal Mehboob 49 Appendix D: Paper by Ms. Nilofar Bakhtiar 53 Appendix E: Paper by Justice (Retd.) Majida Razvi 57 Appendix F: Presentation by Mr. Syrus Qazi Appendix G: Paper by Ms. Fareeda Shaheed 65 Appendix H: Paper by Dr. Iftikhar-un-Nissa Hassan 73 PILDAT Briefing Session for Parliamentarians The Status of Implementation of International Agreements on Women in Pakistan ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS BNP (A) Balochistan National Party (Awami) BNPM Balochistan National Party (Mengal) CAT Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment CCM Convention on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage and Registration of Marriage CDE Convention against Discrimination in Education CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women CNMW Convention on the Nationality of Married Women CRC Convention on the Rights of the Child CRSR Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees/Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees CSTPEP Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others DC Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) ERC Equal Remuneration Convention GOP Government of Pakistan HWC Home Work Convention (Not yet enforced) ICCPR International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ICERD International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination ICESCR International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights MMAP Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal Pakistan MPC Maternity Protection Convention MWD Ministry of Women Development NA National Alliance NCCWD National Commission for Child's Welfare and Development NCSW National Council for Social Welfare NGO Non Governmental Organization NIPS National Institute of Population Studies NPA National Plan of Action for Women OPICCPR Optional Protocol to International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights PML (Q) Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid-e-Azam) PPP(S) Pakistan Peoples Party Sherpao PPPP Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians SAP Social Action Programme SCAS Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery WFRC Workers with Family Responsibilities Convention PILDAT Briefing Session for Parliamentarians The Status of Implementation of International Agreements on Women in Pakistan Acknowledgments Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency -PILDAT wishes to acknowledge the invaluable contribution of all its participants at this briefing session. PILDAT would especially like to thank all the resource persons for the commitment of time and effort they invested to participate in our briefing session. Key speakers include Justice (Retd.) Majida Razvi, Chairperson, National Commission on the Status of Women, Dr. Farzana Bari, Director, Department of Women Studies, Quaid-e-Azam University, Senator Professor Khurshid Ahmed, Chairman, Institute of Policy Studies, Mr. Syrus Qazi, Senior Advisor, Ministry of Women Development, Social Welfare and Special Education, Ms. Fareeda Shaheed, Coordinator, Shirkat Gah, Dr. Iftikhar-un-Nissa Hassan, Director, Women Resource and Research Centre, Fatimah Jinnah University, Ms. Fauzia Wahab, Member of National Assembly and Mr. Kunwar Khalid Yunus, Member of National Assembly. We would also like to thank the session chairs Ms. Nilofar Bakhtiar, Advisor to the Prime Minister on Women Development and Senator S.M. Zafar, for presiding over their respective sessions and actively participating in the discourse. The Briefing Session was organized by PILDAT as part of the Pakistan Legislative Strengthening Consortium under the Strengthening National and Provincial Legislative Governance Project supported by United States Agency for International Development - USAID. Disclaimer PILDAT has made every effort to ensure the accuracy of views, discussion and presentations in compiling and editing of this report. PILDAT, however, does not take any responsibility of any omission or an error since it is not deliberate. The views expressed at this workshop and presented in this report are those of the resource persons and participants and do not necessarily represent the views of PILDAT, PLSC or USAID. PILDAT Briefing Session for Parliamentarians The Status of Implementation of International Agreements on Women in Pakistan Executive Summary The Briefing Session on The Status of Implementation of International Agreements on Women in Pakistan was organized to provide parliamentarians with a comprehensive assessment that will raise awareness about the importance of implementation of Agreements relating to women's rights in Pakistan. The briefing session held on March 29th, 2004 at Serena Hotel, Islamabad, was attended by 32 participants, including 21 MNAs, 6 Senators and 2 MPAs. The 29 participating parliamentarians belonged to 7 political parties including - PPPP, PPP(S), NA, BNPM, BNP(A), PML(Q) and MMAP. The three remaining participants included 3 members of the National Assembly Secretariat. A number of key speakers addressed the audience during a one-day Briefing Session divided into 2 sessions. Session 1 included an overview of the Status of Women: International, Regional and Local Perspectives and a presentation on International Treaties and Agreements signed by Pakistan. Session 2 followed with a panel discussion on A Critical Review of Government of Pakistan's commitment to implementing International agreements on Women conducted by 5 discussants. The Briefing Session enjoyed lively debate and active interaction between speakers and the audience. The general consensus arrived at by most participants was that the status of implementation of International Agreements on Women was a national priority area that should be the focus of more proactive parliamentary debate and policy making. Three important conclusions reached by several participants included - First, agreement on the urgent need for Pakistan to submit a documented report on the status of implementation of CEDAW rules. Second, a number of participants also expressed their reservations about implementing CEDAW procedures instead of Islamic law through existing legislation according to the Quran and Sunnah. Third, participants acknowledged that there was a definitive need for the Pakistan Government and