May 4, 2019 – Pakistan Gender News

May 4, 2019

Importance of women participation in TVET sector highlighted

Federal Minister for Professional Training and Education Shafqat Mehmood on Friday stressed on the significance of women participation in the TVET sector as a critical factor for economic development of the country. The National Vocational & Technical Training Commission (NAVTTC) has conducted three research studies for the purpose of promoting women’s full and effective participation at all levels especially in skill sector, and providing maximum opportunities for employment to bring them in the mainstream economy.

The minister inaugurated the launching ceremony of three research studies – “Participatory gender assessment of the NAVTTC and provincial TEVTAs,” “Organisational assessment of women TVET institutions” and “Analysis of job market opportunities for women in Sindh and Balochistan” here on Friday.

Member National Assembly Andleeb Abbas, Parliamentary Secretary for Education Wajiha Akrma, Ambassador of European Union Jean Francois, Chairman NAVTTC Syed Javed Hassan, Executive Director NAVTTC Dr Nasir Khan, and representatives from public and private sector were present on the occasion.

“Women can play an integral role through their keen social and economic understanding and involvement for a prosper growth of self, household and community,” said the minister.

He commended the NAVTTC for conducting gender assessment research studies and expressed hope to learn through its analysis and recommendations about the elements crucial for more participation of women in the workforce.

“Our women are very intelligent and hardworking; around 80 percent of the top position holders in almost every field of education are females and it is our responsibility to add them to the workforce after completion of their studies,” he added.

“We also need to analyse the social and cultural factors and determine what can be done to bring women in the mainstream economy,” he said.

Creation of conducive work environment, establishment of day care centres, provision of transportation facilities from home to work place, provision of safe residence to females away from their homes for work, effective anti-harassment laws and such other incentives as maternity leave policy are some of the factors that can contribute to better employment of females, the minister said.

MNA Andleeb Abbas appreciated the findings of the study and termed them a step in the right direction for providing a way forward to the NAVTTC to work for gender equity within their structure and to perform its role as the apex TVET body and implement recommendations in the light of the findings in provinces.

“Skill building and training are very important and these studies will help us understand the areas in which we are lacking in addressing the gender gap in various fields,” she said.

Technical education and vocational training can provide a pathway to country’s women to play their economic role by promoting domestic entrepreneurial activities. Chairman NAVTTC Syed Javed Hassan endorsed the recommendations of the study and ensured that the NAVTTC will take lead in implementation of recommendations of the study.

Business Recorder

May 4, 2019

Soft launch of child sexual abuse portal

ISLAMABAD: A roundtable brought together different stakeholders to discuss the nature of child sexual abuse problem in Pakistan.

The event also marked the soft launch of online child sexual abuse portal aimed at reporting and removing online content.

Digital Rights Foundation (DRF) organised the roundtable in collaboration with the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF).

The roundtable titled ‘Online Child Sexual Abuse in Pakistan: Solutions and Call to Action’ on Friday started off with an introduction of the laws governing online child sexual abuse and pornography as well the online trends.

DRF shared its experiences of dealing with cases of minors facing online abuse and harassment.

Valentina Picco, the International Development Manager at IWF, spoke extensively about the mechanisms available at the national and international level to tackle online child abuse and the work IWF is doing in the field.

IWF is an independent not-for-profit, self-regulatory body independent of government and law enforcement in the UK working to eradicate online images of child sexual abuse.

It is the founding member of the International Association of Internet Hotlines (INHOPE) and has active online child sexual abuse portals in 27 countries, including India and Nepal, and is set to launch its portal in Pakistan after consultations with local partners today.

The portal, to be available in English and Urdu, will seek to replicate the success of IWF in the UK where the country hosted 18pc of the known online child sexual abuse material in 1996 and just 0.2pc in 2019.

Nighat Dad, the executive director of Digial Rights Foundation, said she looked forward to the portal forming a bridge between child rights organisations working in Pakistan, law enforcement agencies and international reporting mechanisms.

“Online child exploitation and abuse has been treated as a moral panic for a long time, however very little headway has been made by way of tangible efforts to understand and tackle this issue,” she said.

The portal will work with law enforcement, industry partners, DRF and its internet content analysts to identify, assess, report, seek removal and ‘hash’ criminal child sexual abuse imagery.

It will also proactively search for child sexual abuse images and videos hosted in Pakistan and beyond. The portal is scheduled to be officially launched on the Digital Rights Foundation website this summer.

Dawn

May 4, 2019

Women journalists hailed for reporting on gender-based violence

KARACHI: The Centre for Women’s Global Leadership (CWGL) on Friday commemorated the World Press Freedom Day by applauding the work of women journalists around the world in reporting on gender-based violence.

According to a press release, director of New Jersey-based CWGL Krishanti Dharmaraj said: “Women journalists have made a significant contribution to defending human rights through their reporting on gender based violence throughout the years.”

“The threats faced by women journalists while performing their jobs are very real, and it is not limited to geography or a single type of political space, it is widespread,” she added.

The CWGL started consultations on the Global Journalism Initiative on gender-based violence, a platform for journalists to work with experts in gender, trauma and human rights to better report on gender based violence. Over 70 women journalists from over 30 countries, including Mexico, Honduras, Spain, Cameroon, India, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Samoa, Jordan and Syria, were engaged through extensive consultations to share their perspectives on reporting on gender-based violence.

“It was clear from the consultations that women journalists from varying experiences faced specific threats due to their gender, and other intersecting identities in particular when reporting on gender-based violence,” said Ms Dharmaraj.

“Gender based violence continues to be an issue that hinders the full participation of women and their contribution to society. We hope that this project will not only help women journalists strengthen their trade, but also create a space for journalists to share ideas on reporting on gender based violence,” said the director.

Dawn

May 4, 2019

ECP suggests law amendment to protect women’s right to poll nominations

PESHAWAR: The Election Commission of Pakistan has prepared recommendations for the federal government to ensure the effective enforcement of the election law by the political parties, especially for the award of five per cent of the total tickets to women in general elections, ECP deputy director Asif Ali Yaseen said on Friday.

Addressing a media training workshop organised by the ECP on ‘gender-related electoral issues’ here, Mr Yaseen disclosed that the commission had noted that most political parties didn’t award election tickets to women in the constituencies believed to be their strongholds and fielded them in constituencies, where their electoral position was considered to be weak.

He made the disclosure while responding to the observation of a journalist that in the 2018 general elections, most political parties awarded five per cent of the total tickets to women in constituencies, where their positions were weak and thus, rendering the law ineffective.

Official insists political parties don’t field women in their strongholds

Mr Yaseen, who gave a detailed briefing on the provisions of the Elections Act, 2017, related to women, persons with disabilities and transgender persons, said the ECP had taken note of the issue of the parties not fielding women in their strongholds and had prepared certain recommendations for amending Section 206 of the Elections Act, which had made it binding on a political party to field at least five per cent of women candidates on the national and provincial assembly constituencies.

Answering another question, he said the condition under Section 206 of the law won’t apply to the coming provincial assembly elections in the erstwhile Fata as those polls would be a kind of by-elections, whereas that condition was applicable to the general elections.

He said under Section 9 of the Act, the commission was empowered to declare polling in a constituency or at one or more polling stations if the turnout of women voters was less than 10 per cent of the total votes cast.

The official pointed out that under Section 47 of the law, the ECP had to publish annually the disaggregated data of registered men and women voters in every National Assembly and provincial assembly constituency highlighting the difference in number of registered voters and that where the variation in the data was more than 10 per cent in a constituency, the ECP should take special measures to reduce such variation.

The training was conducted by TV presenter Tauseeq Haider and journalist Myra Imran.

ECP additional director general (gender affairs) Nighat Siddique said during the general elections, 183 women had contested on general seats for the National Assembly but only eight of them were elected.

She said the ECP had faced several problems before the general elections and had to train around 50,000 polling staff within seven months.

Ms Nighat said the ECP had a very comprehensive polls monitoring system and during the general elections it had effectively implemented codes of conduct specially about the checking of displaying billboards and hoardings contrary to the code.

She said the facility of postal ballot was utilised in large number by persons with disability in the polls and the media should highlight these things so as to make such like persons more aware about such facilities.

The official added that media persons should also point out problems faced by women, transgender and persons with disabilities so that those issues could be addressed.

Provincial election commissioner Pir Maqbool said the training programme was important as the ECP wanted journalists to be aware of all technical and legal matters related to the disadvantaged groups, including women, persons with disabilities, transgender persons, and the elderly.

ECP director (gender affairs) Haroon Shinwari highlighted the objectives of the training programme.

Dawn

May 4, 2019

Transgender community members get health cards in KP

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on Friday gave Sehat Insaf Cards to members of the transgender community to address health problems being faced by the marginalised section of society.

The health cards were given during a function held at the Peshawar Press Club. On the occasion, Sehat Sahulat Programme project director Dr Mohammad Riaz Tanoli said that the provincial government was committed to improving the status of the transgender community.

He said that transgender individuals were reportedly experiencing healthcare disparities and the health department’s step to provide them with Sehat Insaf Cards would end any such discrimination.

On the occasion, the representatives of TransAction Alliance and Blue Veins also shared their views. The organisers said that under the new plan the Sehat Insaf Card would give free-of-cost coverage for HIV/AIDS and cancer tests and treatment.

The programme will offer medical coverage of Rs400,000 per family for tertiary care diseases such as treatment of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, emergency and trauma, fractures and head and spinal injuries as well as joint replacement surgeries.

Farzana Jan, president of TransAction Alliance, said on the occasion that under the Transgender Person’s Protection of Rights Act, 2018, it was illegal to deny healthcare services to the transgender community.

Qamar Naseem, programme coordinator of Blue Veins, appreciated the initiative taken by the government to support the transgender community and said that the transgender population continued to face major challenges in getting appropriate healthcare facilities.

Taimur Kamal, coordinator of Pakhtunkhwa Civil Society Network, said the health cards would help alleviate poverty and safeguard poor segments of society by improving their access to healthcare services.

Dawn