PAKISTAN: Speakers Urge Govt to Protect Women Rights During Conflicts

Participants here at a seminar on Monday called upon the government to fulfill its obligations under the UN resolution 1325 to ensure protection of rights of women during conflicts and wars. Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), Bedari, INSAN Foundation Trust, CAMP and PAIMAN jointly organised the seminar on ‘Impact of the UN resolution 1325 on lives of women in Pakistan' as part of the national campaign on Women Action for Peace (WAP).

Member Planning Commission of Pakistan Dr Saba Gul Khattak and SDPI former executive director Kishwar Sultana, INSAN Foundation Trust Executive Director Ambreen Ajaib and Bedari former executive director Salim Malik also spoke on the occasion.

Bedari Programme Officer Ambreen Yasin Khan moderated the proceedings. Speakers also urged the government to take steps to recognize women as indispensable part of the peace-building and reconciliation process in the aftermath of wars and conflicts and above all ensure their safety during armed conflicts. Member Planning Commission of Pakistan Dr Saba Gul Khattak, in her remarks, noted that protection of women during times of conflict was vital. She highlighted the victimization women had to endure at the hands of rampaging armies during wars. She also drew participants' attention to the lack of implementation on national and international instruments pertaining to women's rights adding, “Rape and harassment have widely been used as weapons of war against women.”

She said that women always suffered displacement, sexual violence and abduction both during war and times of peace. She referred to the cases of rape and humiliation of women reported from various parts of the sub-continent at the time of partition in 1947 and again in 1971 when Pakistan disintegrated. Referring to the shortcomings of the UN resolution, she said, “It lacks specific timelines, weak prosecution aspects due to country-specific domestic laws and absence of concrete guidelines for the member countries.”

Khattak informed that there existed a ‘Civil Society Advisory Committee' in the UN to accelerate implementation of the resolution, while a civil society representative was member of the committee. Citing SDPI study in this regard, she said that there was a need to ensure protection of women and refugees as the conflict zones in Pakistan had now become more vulnerable than they were in the past. Bedari former executive director Salim Malik urged that women's rights should not only be protected and safeguarded during conflict and disasters but also during times of peace.

He noted that even in times of peace women did not normally enjoy rights and when conflicts took place, they were subjected to even greater humiliation and torture. He cited incidents from partition of the sub-continent in 1947 and also when the country disintegrated in 1971 besides narrating sufferings of women during the Afghan war of 1980's and its aftermath.

INSAN Foundation Trust Executive Director Ambreen Ajaib informed participants that seminar was part of the ongoing national campaign on ‘Women Action for Peace' (WAP), which was launched in the country by five civil society organisations for effective implementation on the UN Resolution 1325. SDPI former executive director Kishwar Sultana shed light on evolution of the resolution and different obligations that the government of Pakistan had to fulfill.

She said that for the first time in the history most powerful body of UN and Security Council had recognized the impact of war and conflict on women and children. Sultana explained that according to the UNSCR 1325, states were bound to ensure that women were active part of all peacemaking efforts being carried out at national, regional and international levels and that states will take necessary actions to protect women from sexual and gender based violence during conflicts.

She said states were also bound to develop mechanisms for prevention of violence as per the resolution. “The resolution demands from states to undertake relief and rehabilitation efforts for the IDPs and women refugees, especially those who live in camps,” she concluded.