Peace & Democracy

Representatives of political parties and civil society all echoed in same voice for the increased representation and participation of women in decision-making forums in the political and social arena by ensuring level-playing field to them. They shared these views at the launching of the Gender Action Manifesto, policy paper, organised by the Heinrich Boell Stiftung in collaboration with the Women's Parliamentarian Caucus on 13th October, 2017 in Islamabad.

Political empowerment of women cannot be made possible without changing the patriarchal mindset within political parties, participants at a consultation on “Gender Action Manifesto” highlighted. The consultation was held in Karachi on April 20, 2017as part of a series of such activities being organsied by the Heinrich Boell Stiftung (hbs) at provincial and national level under its “Gender Action Manifesto” project.

Under the umbrella of the Regional Green Dialogs project and in collaboration with Vasl Artists’ Collective, from April 6th to May 12th, 2017 an arts residency with five artists from Afghanistan and Pakistan is taking place in Karachi. For six weeks, the participants explore the concept of Social Sculpture that evolved from the broad understanding of art of the German artist Joseph Beuys who said ‘Every Human Being can be an Artist’. Professor Shelley Sacks, Director of the Social Sculpture Research Unit at Oxford Brookes University, UK is mentoring the residency. The artists’ works were installed on public places in Karachi and involved the general public.

In 2010, by means of 18th amendment to the constitution of Pakistan, provinces were made autonomous. This amendment opened up an opportunity to rethink and formulate provincial level policies across board. Civil society in this regard has been acting as a support for the provincial governments. Bargad-Organization for Youth Development initiated a process of supporting provinces (Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) in formulating youth development policies. hbs being a green foundation considered it worthwhile to support Bargad in launching of the environmental component of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa youth development policy on 29th November 2016. Following are some of the pictures from the event.

“Women nominated on quotas are usually party-bound and they have to follow party-line first and if they disagree with the party, they stay aloof,” said an MNA Nafeesa Khattak during the hbs workshop on “Strategizing Women’s Substantive Political Representation”, held in Islamabad on July 13, 2016.

Since its formation in 2014, the National Unity Government of Afghanistan has in different occasions, expressed its commitment to share the benefits of Afghanistan’s geographic centrality through regional cooperation - particularly economic integration - with its neighbors and countries beyond the immediate neighborhood.

We have to shift the focus from women’s individual agency and capacity towards structural and constitutional constraints, to understand the barriers for women’s substantive representation in political decision making, says Dr. Farzana Bari in her research study “Bridging the Fault Lines? Rethinking the Gender Quota Approach in Pakistan”, launched by the Heinrich Böll Stiftung Pakistan on 26th January 2016 in Islamabad.

In 2015, the hbs head office in collaboration with regional offices in Afghanistan and Pakistan arranged a delegation visit to Berlin and Brussels from to discuss country situation, women parliamentarians performance, gender equality, peace building, shrinking spaces for women rights activism, and share the findings of the comparative study “Unmaking Political Patriarchy through Gender Quotas?” with a wide range of stakeholders at the European level.