ISLAMABAD: Aurat Foundation (AF) with support of Search for Common Ground (SFCG) on Thursday celebrated the success stories of 75 women peace architects who contributed to the welfare of women.

The inaugural session was attended by Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Faisal Kareem Kundi. Chairperson National Commission for Status of Women (NCSW) Nilofar Bakhtiar attended the concluding session.

Kundi said that it was imperative to financially empower women while expressing hope for them to play their role for establishing peace in the society. Bakhtiar stressed the need for the inclusion of women in decision-making roles, citing their capabilities.

Deputy Speaker of Sindh Assembly, Anthony Naveed highlighted Sindh’s progress as the sole province with four women deputy speakers.

He said women had been appointed in decision-making committees in the province.

He suggested that only women candidates should be allowed to contest elections in certain constituencies.

Executive Director Aurat Foundation Naeem Mirza said that women can play a vital role in their communities for peace.

Key Recommendations

During their learning journey, Women Peace Architects (WPAs) acquired insights and developed the following recommendations for promoting peace building at various levels of society and state.

The short term recommendations include ensuring that all citizens are treated equal before law without discrimination on the bases of sex, class, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, pregnancy through effective and accountable governance committee system and local government institutes.

Ensure 50pc proportion of representation of women in provincial and district peace committees and; encourage appointment of women as heads of these committees.

Ensure minority representation for speakers and deputy speakers’ seats at the Senate and and the Provincial and National Assemblies. Ensure 50pc proportion of representation of women in decision-making bodies, political parties, and governance structures, both in the public and private sectors. Ensure that the TV channel refrain from negative portrayal of women.

Ensure that all political parties to contest elections award 15pc tickets on general seats to women in winnable constituencies, either through reserved seats or political party’s quotas, or statutory legislation.

Ensure implementation of prevention from domestic violence and anti-sexual harassment, and customary laws which ban swara, wani, badl e sulah and marriage with Quran as punishable crimes.

Ensure gender based violence (GBV) training of all female/male cadres of law enforcement agencies.

It should be part of their professional training curriculum. Governments should monitor and counter extremist content online, promoting digital literacy and critical thinking skills to help individuals discern misinformation, disinformation and hateful material.

In the medium term, the provincial government should substantially increase budget allocations for law enforcement agencies, GBV protection departments, and commissions to ensure effective implementation of laws and maintenance of peace.

Ensure the provision of financial assistance, microcredit, and skill development programs to empower minority women economically. Revisit and revise the National Action Plan 2014, to integrate a gender perspective into the plan and ensure role of civilian authorities and women’s rights organisations in developing women-focused strategies and; implementing actions against extremism and countering violent extremism (CVE).

In the long term, the provincial government should allocate a significant budget for survivors of extremism to support their socio-economic rehabilitation.

Develop an effective de-radicalisation awareness and capacity-building programme at the party level for helping party voters and citizens to abandon extremist views, shun violence and hate speech and; reintegrate them into healthy activities and debate within and outside the party.

Improve access to quality education and vocational training programs, providing young people with skills that enhance employability and resilience against extremist narratives. In local government systems, develop and implement programs that identify and support individuals at risk of radicalisation, providing mentorship and guidance.

Published in Dawn, July 13th, 2024