December 4, 2015 – Pakistan Gender News

By: Rabia Ali

KARACHI:This December 5, Roshni has chosen not to be a part of the polling process that will bring in the local government (LG) system for the city of lights. In fact, the entire transgender community has decided to boycott the elections, resulting in a loss of around 2,000 voters across the city.

Transgender activist Bindiya Rana reasoned that since no separate arrangements have been made for them at polling stations, they have decided not to vote. “Which line should I stand in at the polling station, male or female? There are no separate polling booths for us as well,” lamented Rana, who runs the organisation, Gender Interactive Alliance (GIA).

The activist blames both the election commission and the political parties for their lack of interest in the transgender community.

The transgender community was officially recognised in the country as a third gender after the landmark judgement by the Supreme Court in 2011. The decision grants them the right to a separate identity and vote.

According to the organisation, there are 4,000 transgender persons in Karachi, at least half of whom possess a CNIC. Many others are waiting to get their identity cards.
Non-participation

Unlike the 2013 general elections, when transgender people contested the elections, none of its members have shown interest this time. Rana, who contested from PS-114, said that there are no exclusive candidate forms based on their gender. “We are not contesting the elections because there is no form available for us. In the general elections, we didn’t make it an issue because there was shortage of time so we filed the nomination papers as women.”

For his part, provincial election commissioner Tanveer Zaki told The Express Tribune that they had not received any request from the community regarding the establishment of separate polling booths. He added that at the time of registration in electoral rolls, the community’s members had themselves told the authorities if they wanted to be included in the male or female voters’ list.
Reserved seats

The transgender community also demand that there should be reserved seats for them. “If there are reserved seats for women, why not for us? Are we not Pakistanis?” questioned Rana.

Social activist Rana Asif Habib, who works with street children and members of the transgender community, said that, this time, there was no support from any sector.

“Organisations didn’t include them in their training for elections. The media did not support them. These are the poorest of the poor, yet they are being deprived of their right to participation,” he lamented
Habib feels that in the absence of transgender contestants and voters, there will be no representation at the local level to protect their rights.

The community also feels ignored by political parties.

For his part, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s spokesperson said that they do not discriminate against anyone based on their gender. “We feel the transgender community are important members of our society and they should be granted all the rights according to the law,” said Aminul Haque.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Karachi chief, Ali Zaidi, however, blamed the community for not being pro-active. “They need to become more involved to be taken seriously,” he said.

Express Tribune

By: Asma Ghani

Islamabad – Pakistan is among 11 disaster prone countries and continuous war on terror, poverty and vulnerability to disasters like earthquakes and floods has hampered the persistent efforts to protect vulnerable population, including women and girls, against these calamities.

The health needs of women and adolescents are too often neglected in humanitarian response to natural disasters and conflicts around the world, including Pakistan, says UNFPA report, The State of World Population 2015 on “SHELTER FROM THE STORM”-a transformative agenda for women and girls in a crisis-prone world – launched yesterday.

The other countries most at risk of disaster-induced poverty are Bangladesh, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, South Sudan, Sudan, and Uganda, says the report.

Quoting UN office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the report says about 5.3 million people displaced within the country mainly from Khyber Agency, Mohamnad Orakzai, Bajaur, South Waziristan Agencies FATA etc. due to complex emergency. And an estimated 39.7 million people affected in Pakistan from 2010 to 2015 starting from devastating flood and natural disasters.

The report highlighted that the urban population growth has become increasingly concentrated in developing countries, where 1.2 million people are migrating to cities every week. The urbanisation in Pakistan is also increasingly and this along with population growth affecting the resource planning. “The business-as-usual approach to humanitarian assistance will leave too many behind at a time when needs are so great,” UNFPA Executive Director Dr Osotimehin said. “We need to do a much better job of helping the most vulnerable, especially adolescent girls. But we must also do a much better job of investing in a more stable world, capable of withstanding the storms ahead. For the pregnant woman who is about to deliver, or the adolescent girl who survived sexual violence, life-saving services are as vital as water, food and shelter,” said Dr Osotimehin in the report. “About 100 million people in need of humanitarian assistance around the world today, about 26 million are women and adolescent girls in their childbearing years. Sexual and reproductive health services critical to the health and survival of women and adolescents are scarcest at the time they are needed the most. Three fifths of maternal deaths today occur in countries that are considered fragile because of conflict or disaster. Pregnancy and childbirth related complications kill 507 women every day in these settings,” shared the findings of the report by Sarah Masale, UNFPA Acting Representative.

About three fifths of maternal deaths around the world take place in humanitarian and fragile contexts, said Saira Afzal Tarar, Minister of National Health Services, Regulations & Coordination at the launching ceremony. “When crises occur, women and girls are disproportionately affected, and are less likely to be prepared or empowered to cope. While significant progress has been made globally in the past decade to provide services to women and girls in humanitarian situations, there are still gaps in action and in funding,” she said. She said the federal and provincial governments are closely working in collaboration with all stakeholders to explore and strengthen the mechanisms for humanitarian relief operations in the country.” said the minister. There are present opportunities for a more coordinated approach to be adopted for to address the life-saving needs of vulnerable and affected communities in the instance of any disaster, particularly so given the scarcity of resources,” she said.

The State of World Population report calls for better shelter to help women and adolescent girls dying during pregnancies in disaster and conflicts.

It also calls to provide them with critical basic services like maternal health and contraception necessary to save women’s lives and enable adolescents to make a safe and healthy transition to adulthood, with their rights and dignity intact.

The Nation

Day: December 4, 2015

Transgender community decides to boycott LG polls

Call for Women protection in disasters