KARACHI, Nov 10: The Sindh Women Development Department has ensured substantial allocation for a comprehensive plan to check women trafficking in the province.

The Sindh Minster for Women Development Department, Dr Saeeda Malik, has said that the project has been incorporated into the essential components of the Annual Development Programme of the province.

She was speaking at a provincial consultative workshop on women trafficking here on Saturday organised by the Sindh Directorate of Women Development. The day-long programme was part of a series of consultative workshops organised to sensitize women in particular and people in general on issues like dowry, violence and human trafficking, etc.

The minister said that the government was committed to the cause of the economic, political and legal empowerment of the womenfolk.

“We are also paying attention towards the protection of women trapped into the menace of trafficking,” Dr Malik said. The women development department, she said was playing its role as a catalyst and lobbyist.

Dr Malik said that the Pakistan government had promulgated the Prevention and Control of Human Trafficking Ordinance in 2002 and in the same year also signed the UN Convention against Trans-national Organised Crime along with protocols on trafficking in persons and smuggling in persons.

“With a view to ensure that these agreements and rules are actually implemented, we in the current fiscal will conduct an elaborate survey across the province to gauge the true situation,” she said.

Sindh Women Development Secretary Abdul Subhan Memon said that a substantial amount had been allocated for the purpose and an expert or a consultancy firm would be hired through a transparent process for the purpose.

All the 22 districts and 18 towns would be included in the survey and the report would be prepared in two phases, he said.

A number of suggestions were put forward by the participants from all the districts of the province. It was mentioned that women from different parts of the country were trafficked to commercial hub of the country from where they were further shifted to other areas.

The participants stressed the need for establishing a helpline service for the women and a close coordination among different government agencies, departments and relevant NGOs.–APP
Source: Dawn
Date:11/11/2007