CELEBRATION OF INTERNATIONAL DAY OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN 2013.

On 25th November, 2013, a seminar entitled “Implementation on domestic violence Act 2012” was organized by Peace for nation international (PNI) in collaboration with The society of Marginalized, at Village # 235, Niamowala, Faisalabad. The activity was organized to mark International Day of Violence against women 2013 and to share the provisions of safeguards in the Domestic violence act 2012 by Government of Pakistan. The seminar was joined by 100 male and female participants belong to brick kiln industry while Mr. ZafarIqbal (program manger – PNI), Mr. Azeem Salamat (President - The society of Marginalized) Mr. Baba Rustam (Social activist and poet), Mr. Razaaq (Director - The society of Marginalized) Ms. Shamim (social activist), Ms. Sobia (Leader brick kiln workers) and Mr. Shahbaz (social worker) were among the speakers of the seminar. The activity was started with prayer;

Ms. Shmim shared the introduction and objectives of Peace for nation international (PNI) & The society of Marginalized and shared the importance and history of the International day of violence against women. She said that there are lots of sacrifices and hard struggle is behind the achievements for the human rights of women to eliminate violence against women all over the world and especially in the third world countries like Pakistan.

Mr. Baba Rustam shared the social attitudes, behaviors and customary practices in the society. He said that violence against women in many shapes could be seen and this is a very common issue but most of people do not take this matter as serious issue. He more said that domestic violence is not a private matter between a husband and wife but it is crime and we need to take action against such kind of violence.
Mr. ZafarIqbal shared the different kinds and shapes of visible and non-visible violence against women. He shared the detail of Domestic violence Act 2012. He also shared the laws and remedies to provide protection to women from all kinds of violence. He said that Many conventions of United Nation has been signed and ratified by the Pakistan Government and now there are lots of bills has been passed by the Parliament and senate to ensure the modesty and security of women, bills like, women protection bill, bill against honor killing, acid thronging and sexual harassment at work places. He said that now courts are more empowered to protect women right. Women shelters and women Police stations are also available to facilitate the women.

Mr. Azeem Salamat shared the role and responsibilities of individuals, family and state to eliminate violence against women. He termed the education and awareness as basic tools to deal with the situation. He said that we should organize such kind of activities at grass root level to enhance awareness and we should motivate the community to adopt democratic principles.
Ms. Sobia shared some fact finding reports and statistics of violence against women belong to domestic and public sector. She encouraged the women to take necessary steps in case of any violation of women rights.
Mr. Nadeem shared that village courts and community leaders of rural areas does not allow to women to lodge application in the Police station in case of domestic violence but they consider it an ordinary and private matter of the family. So we should involve the community leaders in capacity building trainings and seminars. He more said that implementation on the recently passed laws is responsibility of the Government and it is also an obligation of Government to aware the people about all legislation concern to women rights.

CELEBRATION OF INTERNATIONAL DAY OF HUMAN RIGHTS & CHRISTMAS GET-TOGETHER. 

On 10th December 2013, a seminar entitled “Human rights and religious minorities” was organized by Peace for nation international (PNI) to mark International day of human rights 2013 at Khushaal Town, Faisalabad. The seminar was joined by 100 people belong to different spheres of life, while Mr. ZafarIqbal (Program manger – PNI), Mr. Akram Masih, Mr. Anwar Fazal, Ms. Julia Javed, Mr. Haroon Ali and Mr. Qasir were among the speakers of the seminar. The purpose of this activity was to celebrate human rights day and invite people to share the love and peace of Jesus through get-together in regard to Christmas. 
Mr. ZafarIqbal (program manger – PNI) said that Christians and other religious minorities in Pakistan are being persecuted; forced conversation and killing of Christians are the common issues all over the country. Socio economic condition of Christians is also very poor due to unavailability of equal opportunities in education and Governmental job sectors.

Speakers shared that social and religious discriminations are in practice in the society and some negative elements of society are promoting segregation in the country to divide us in the name of religion, tongue, area and creed. They said that we should come forward to eliminate all kinds of discrimination from society for the best interest of Pakistan. 
Government should develop solid legislation and policies to provide health, education and job opportunities to all. Government should take effective and immediate measures to face energy and gas shortage crisis. We all should contribute for the promotion of democratic values and human rights. 
Christmas cake cutting ceremony was also the part of this activity. The activity was concluded with prayers for long lasting peace in the country.

CAPACITY BUILDING TRAINING FOR HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION.

On 14th June 2014, 2 days capacity building training was organized to provide human rights education to community protection group established by Justice and peace commission Multan- Faisalabad region at Catholic Church, Christian colony Gojra. Mr. ZafarIqbal (Program manager-PNI) provided his services as facilitator during this training. 30 male and female participants, member of community protection group joined the training. Basic concepts of human rights, universal declaration of human rights (UDHR) and Mechanism of United nations were shared by Mr. ZafarIqbal.

The purpose of the training was to equip community protection group with tool and skill to play their role as human rights activist in case of human rights violations to persons belong to religious minorities who are living with feeling of insecurity due to brutal killings of innocent Christians at Christian colony Gojra and village koriaan few miles away from city.
Mr. ZafarIqbal shared basic concept of human rights and discussed some articles of constitution of Pakistan. He said that all citizens of Pakistan are equal according to constitution but unfortunately due to lack of education there is discrimination in the society on the basis of religion, sects, area, language and sex. We should educate the society to eliminate segregation and discrimination. Universal declaration of human rights also describes that “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood” he added.

They participants were equipped with skill of fact finding and reporting on human rights violations. They were also introduced with the requirements and procedures of Police station and court to provide justice to the victims of violence and other human rights violation during their advocacy endeavors being the member of community protection group.

WOMEN WORKERS’ CONVENTION 20th OCTOBER 2014.

A women workers convention entitled “Women Workers and Safe Working Environment” was held at TMA Hall in Faisalabad on October 20, 2014 by engaging women workers, parliamentarians, government officials and civil society groups. The event was hosted by Peace for nation international (PNI), the Association of Women for Awareness and Motivation (AWAM), implementing project of “Enhancing Women Workers’ Awareness on their Rights & Labor Laws” under the Gender Equity Program (GEP) of Aurat Foundation by the support of the American People through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
At this juncture, Baba Najmi (Renowned Poet) recited his revolutionary poetry on labor rights to highlight issues of workers, and response of rulers, while Shazia George (Program Manager-AWAM) joined the event as master of the ceremony. 

Advocate Hashmat Barkat (Founder & Chairman PNI) said, “The women workers face exploitation and violence, therefore the government must regularize peasant workers, domestic workers and home-based workers to extend social and legal protection to them.”

Speaking on the occasion, a member of the Punjab Assembly, Dr. Najma Afzal said, “The government has made remarkable strides for the empowerment of women by ensuring their significant representation in all fields of life. Undoubtedly, females face obstacles in life due to a mindset that puts them in a position of inferiority, therefore, females must focus on improving their talent and skills, and must struggle for the defense of their due rights.”

The executive director of working women organization, Aima Mehmood said, “The women workers must unite and organize themselves to build a strong unified voice for the protection of their rights. The real change will come, and the issues of workers will get resolved, when the true representatives of workers are elected to raise voice on the floor of the parliament.” “The absence of legal cover for home-based workers is a conspiracy to shift workplace from factories to homes, and prevent formation of labor unions for their due rights,” she added.
A labor rights activist, Aslam Wafa said, “The labor rights of workers are violated, because the departments of labor, social security and EOBI are not strong enough to ensure enforcement of labor laws in letter and spirit to stop exploitation of worker’s rights.”
A representative of labor department, Asghar Gill said, “The parliamentarians must make strict labor laws to protect workers’ rights and take action against employers violating labor rights and laws by not getting their factories/industries registered and giving employment benefits to workers.”

A human rights activist, Naseem Anthony said, “The women workers must improve their skills in collective bargaining for their empowerment. The Employer should make sure that the women workers have safety health protection especially for those women who are doing hazardous work, and must adopt code of conduct for gender justice against sexual harassment to create favorable environment at workplaces.”

The executive director of the AWAM, Nazia Sardar said, “The women workers must own their identity with pride and dignity, and avoid hiding it.” “The labor laws and policies must be framed after consultation with all the stakeholders, and every labor policy must have a separate section for the women workers which may also include time frame and action plan for the implementation of pro-women provisions. The ILO conventions 177 and 189 must be ratified to protect domestic workers and home-based workers,” she demanded.

The grant holder of GEP, Sumera Saleem said, “The women workers must play leadership role and join trade unions to collectively fight for the protection of their due rights.”

CAPACITY BUILDING TRAINING ON HUMAN RIGHTS.

We Christians and other religious minorities in Pakistan are facing persecution, discrimination and prejudice. So we are extending awareness and motivation, educating our community about their fundamental freedoms and basic rights.
On 7th November 2014 at village # 6 Rahimpur Okara, Peace for nation international (PNI) in collaboration with Justice and peace commission, conducted a capacity building training workshop with college going girls, school and college teachers and social workers. Nuns from Catholic Church were also joined the training to get human rights education. Mr. ZafarIqbal (Program manager-PNI) shared Universal declaration of human rights (UDHR), UN Mechanism of Human rights, UN Convention on the elimination of all sorts of discrimination against women (CEDAW) and fundamental rights according to the constitution of Pakistan.

CELEBRATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS DAY 2014.

On 10th December 2014, a seminar entitled “State of Rights of women & Religious minorities in Pakistan” was organized by RASTA Network to mark International Day of Human rights 2014 at WID Centre Daud Nagar, Faisalabad. Seminar was joined by 200 male and female participants belong to different spheres of life. while Advocate Hashmat Barkat, Mrs. Amina Zaman, Mrs, Shaheen, Dr. Gul Perviaz, Baber Saroya and Adnan Yousaf were among the speakers of the seminar.

Advocate Hasmat Barkat (Chairman and founder of Peace for Nation International) shared the state of religious minorities in Pakistan. During his speech he shared that religious minorities are the most vulnerable and marginalized sect of this society. Religious minorities are facing social discrimination, prejudice and persecution since the birth of Pakistan. They have no equal job opportunities and financial securities, the 5% job quota which is not even sufficient is also not being implemented and other opportunities like study abroad, scholarships, Prime minister’s Youth load scheme and Ashiana Housing scheme.  Christian marriages are not registering at NADRA which creates many bureaucratic hurdles for legal matters.     

Mrs. Shaheen (Director-AIM) shared the introduction and achievements of RASTA Network. She further said that RASTA network is striving for peace and interfaith harmony for last three years. Now we intend to start activities for the promotion and protection of human right and democracy. All member organizations are doing their best for the development of the society.
Dr. Gul Perviaz (Chairman-HEDO) shared the Universal declaration of human rights. He shared some article of UDHR and its linkage with constitution of Pakistan. He also shared about some UN treaties which are legal bindings and obligation of Government of Pakistan for their implementation through legislations and policy reforms.
Mrs. Amina Zaman (Director-ASDP) shared the state of women rights in Pakistan. She shared about recent legislation for the protection and empowerment of woman. Women need awareness and sensitization regarding their rights and opportunities provided by the government. 
Mr. yousaf Adnan (Chairman-CRAE), Mr. Shahzad younas (Journalist), Mr. Baber Saroya (PACE) and Mr. Arshad Parkash (Chairman-ASB) shared discrimination, prejudice and exploitation faced by women and religious minorities during the year 2014. Statistics of domestic violence, sexual violence, women trafficking, honor killing and target killing were also shared by speakers of the seminar.