News

Islamabad, 20 October 2023 As part of its media campaign on women's political participation that is being designed and executed by the renowned journalist Syed Talat Hussain, the Omar Asghar Khan Foundation team worked with Talat and Saquib to review beat sheets and scripts for the multiple media products. Next step: lights, camera, action...

Social accountability for better public services leaders & allies meet government officials & elected public reps 5 October 2023, Haripur Omar Asghar Khan Foundation assisted 14 women leaders, including one transperson, and 10 male allies from 17 CSOs of District Haripur to present more 100 public petitions demanding improvements in schools, roads and other public services as well as payment of minimum wages in a series of five meetings with senior district government officials of…

Innovations in Promoting Citizen Engagement & WPP Comsats University - Abbottabad Campus 28 September - 4 October 2023 Omar Asghar Khan Foundation facilitated Shirkat Gah-Women's Resource Centre and Comsats University (Abbottabad Campus) with assistance from the District Election Commission (Abbottabad) to use a creative game that helped students better understand the importance of citizen engagement in democratic governance and electoral processes. Responding with energy and enthusiasm, students grouped in make-believe, fictional political parties prepared their…

Planning meeting: telefilm on WPP Lahore, 28 September 2023 Omar Asghar Khan Foundation is super excited to work with the very talented Sarmad Khoosat and his team at Khoosat Films on a telefilm featuring women’s leadership and political participation. The telefilm is part of a media campaign that is being designed and executed by Omar Asghar Khan Foundation with the renowned Syed Talat Hussain and Saqib Tanveer under the Foundation’s Fempower Pakistan project. Creative ideas…

Social accountability for better public services leaders & allies meet government officials & elected public reps 20-21 September 2023, Abbottabad Omar Asghar Khan Foundation assisted 17 women leaders and 12 male allies from 13 CSOs of District Abbottabad to present about 100 public petitions demanding improvements in schools, roads and other public services in a series of six meetings with senior district government officials of the education, health and social welfare departments as well as…

14th Aawaz II Provincial Forum Meeting 22 September 2023, Peshawar The 14th meeting of Aawaz II's Provincial Forum (PF) in KP was held in Peshawar on 22 September 2023. The PF members reviewed progress made on key policy and governance issues pursued by its six sub-committees. Dr. Yasmin Zaidi shared key recommendations emerging from the district and provincial dialogues to promote interfaith harmony. "Effective measures are needed to ensure religious minority communities do not face…

A GBT methodology designed by Omar Asghar Khan Foundation for the Sub-National Governance Project was reviewed and given a thumbs-up by a Working Group attended by senior government officials of the Government of Punjab. Omar Asghar Khan Foundation will now apply the GBT methodology to Punjab's budgets of the last three fiscal years and present findings of trends in public finance investments to promote women's empowerment. The methodology has already been approved by the Government…

Fempower Interventions Promoting Women’s Political Participation 2-Day Workshop: Reflections & Planning 22-23 August 2023, Islamabad More than 40 women leaders and 20 male allies from KP’s districts Abbottabad, Haripur, Mardan, Nowshera and Peshawar came together in a two-day workshop to reflect on achievements in women’s political empowerment under Fempower since 2019 and plan continued advocacy. They shared their experiences of using social accountability to help local women get access to better schools, healthcare, roads, etc.…

Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) Methodology for Gender Budget Tagging (GBT) Government of KP - Working Group Meeting Peshawar, 15 August 2023 A GBT methodology designed by Omar Asghar Khan Foundation for the Sub-National Governance Project was reviewed and given a thumbs-up by a Working Group chaired by the Additional Secretary-Budget, Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Omar Asghar Khan Foundation will now apply the GBT methodology to KP's budgets of the last three fiscal years and present…

Sindh Budget FY2023-24 Promoting Gender Responsive Budgeting & Climate Change Policies 21 July 2023, Karachi Sindh Commission on the Status of Women in partnership with Omar Asghar Khan Foundation and Shirkat Gah-Women's Resource Centre brought key parliamentarians, government officials and civil society activists to review Sindh's Budget FY2023-24 with a gender lens to identify key gender-responsive allocations that need to be implemented. Omar Asghar Khan Foundation's analysis of the province's budget was presented to assist…

Federal Budget FY2023-24 Roundtable: Promoting Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) 14 June 2023, Islamabad The National Assembly's Women Parliamentary Caucus (WPC) brought together MNAs, academics, rights activists and the media in a roundtable meeting to discuss the Federal Budget FY2023-24 from a gender-inclusive perspective, in light of Pakistan's Constitution and its international obligations including CEDAW and SDGs. The roundtable was organized in collaboration with Omar Asghar Khan Foundation and Shirkat Gah-Women's Resource Center as part of…

Call for Proposals Media Campaign

Protection & Response Mechanisms for GBV Survivors Aawaz II Provincial Consultation-KP 8 June 2023, Peshawar “The KP Government is establishing facilities to help GBV survivors learn skills to will help them become more self-reliant,” said Deputy Secretary, Social Welfare & Women’s Empowerment, Ms. Warda Latif. She was speaking at the consultation that brought together more than 60 women, persons with disabilities, transgender persons, and religious minorities from 13 KP districts: Peshawar, Charsadda, Haripur, Nowshehra, Buner,…

Aawaz II Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Partners Network Meeting 8 June 2023, Peshawar In December 2022 a network of partners was created to sustain engagement in the nine KP districts included in Aawaz II's first phase (2020-22). Partners that initiated work in the five additional KP districts in the second phase from January 2023 are also included in the network. Omar Asghar Khan Foundation as the provincial lead in KP and the Project Management Unit are also…

Aawaz II Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 13th Provincial Forum (PF) Meeting 7 June 2023, Peshawar The mechanism for distributing the Disable Persons Rehab (DPR) Funds, presently over Rs.500 million, has been approved by the Provincial Council for Rehabilitation of Disabled Persons (PCRDP). This was shared by Additional Secretary-Social Welfare Department and Mr. Zawar Noor, member, PCRDP. The PF members applauded this achievement, that it was advocating since 2020. Soft loans, training of PWDs, provision of assistive devices,…

Aawaz II Provincial Forum - Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Orientation on Phase II 7 June 2023, Peshawar Members of Aawaz II's Provincial Forum in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were given a detailed orientation by Aawaz II's Team Lead, Dr. Yasmin Zaidi, and Head of Delivery, Mr. Arshad Mehmood, on the focus, pathways, expected outputs/outcomes and the institutional structure of the programme in phase II that was initiated in January 2023 after the successful completion of the first two-year phase…

Roundtable: Reviewing Pakistan's Constitution from a Woman’s Perspective Women Parliamentary Caucus, National Assembly of Pakistan 5-6 June 2023, Islamabad The language of the Constitution must be gender-inclusive to reflect the state's commitment to gender equality. A resolution should be tabled in the National Assembly on the use of gender-inclusive language in legislation. These were some of the suggestions made at a RT organized by the Women Parliamentary Caucus of the National Assembly attended by more…

Gender Budget Tagging & Tracking (GBT) TA to Governments of Punjab & KP Punjab Working Group Meeting, 14 April 2023, Lahore "GTB will assist the government to take concrete steps to reduce gender inequity," said Punjab's Secretary P&D while chairing the first meeting of the Working Group on GBT. The Working Group consisting relevant government departments has been notified by the Government of Punjab to support the establishment and institutionalisation of a GBT methodology and…

Aawaz II Provincial Forum KP Executive Committee (EC) Meeting 31 March 2023, Peshawar Despite increased reporting of rape and other gender-based violence, the conviction rate remains disappointing low. This was discussed at the EC meeting of Aawaz II’s Provincial Forum. The EC members stressed the need for resources to rehabilitate survivors of GBV and help their social reintegration. Members also shared updates such as the finalisation of a distribution mechanism of the DPR Fund. The…

Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) Punjab Budgets FY2022-23 & FY2023-24 Consultative Session with Key Officials, Government of Punjab 28 February 2023, WDD Office, Lahore Omar Asghar Khan Foundation, Shirkat Gah and the Women Development Department (WDD), Government of Punjab collaboratively convened a meeting bringing together representatives of Social Welfare, Home, TVETA, Agriculture, Education, Special Education, Population Welfare and other key departments. Shirkat Gah presented its analysis of priorities for improved compliance with CEDAW & SDG5. The…

Gender Responsive Budgets (GRB) Balochistan Budgets FY2022-23 & FY2023-24 24-25 February 2023, Islamabad The Balochistan Assembly, especially its Women Parliamentary Caucus, in collaboration with Omar Asghar Khan Foundation (the Foundation) and Shirkat Gah (SG), convened a two-day meeting of MPs and the Chair of BCSW to discuss gender-responsive budgeting that also contributes to improving compliance with CEDAW & SDG5. SG assisted the MPs to review compliance priorities of CEDAW & SDG5, emphasising some of the…

Gender Responsive Budgeting Planning a Meeting with the National Assembly & Senate of Pakistan 14 February 2023, WPC Office, Islamabad Omar Asghar Khan Foundation met with the Secretary-Women Parliamentary Caucus-NA, Dr. Shahida Rehmani, to follow up on discussions held in August 2022 on GRB, CEDAW and SDG5. It was agreed that collaboration between the Foundation, Shirkat Gah & the WPC members/Senators will help promote GRB in ways that contributes to implementing the GRB Strategy developed…

"No nation can ever be worthy of its existence that cannot take with them their #women. No struggle can ever succeed without women ever participating side by side with men.” Quaid Azam Jinnah Islamia College for Women, Lahore, 25 March 1940 #AawazII vمیں نے ہمیشہ کہا ہے کہ کوئی قوم اپنی خواتین کو ساتھ لیے بغیراپنے وجود کے لائق نہیں ہو سکتی۔ خواتین کو مردوں کے شانہ بشانہ شریک کیے بغیر کوئی بھی جدوجہد کامیاب…

On 12 February 1983 women protested against the discriminatory laws in Pakistan. Each year this day is commemorated as National Women's Day to honor their struggle.

Gender Responsive Budgeting Punjab Budgets FY2021-22 & 2022-23 Meeting with Secretary-WDD, Government of Punjab 10 February 2023, WDD Office, Lahore Key government departments like WDD, Social Welfare, Police, Home, Agriculture, Industries, TVETA, Education, Health and Population Welfare will meet to review the Foundation’s gendered analysis of Punjab’s Budget FY2022-23 and develop proposals for the province’s budget for FY2023-24. Key compliance needs of SDG5 and CEDAW will also be discussed. This was agreed at a meeting…

Formed in 2000 Omar Asghar Khan Foundation is an NGO registered under the Societies Act 1860. Its average annual budget over the past three years is Rs.55 million. It has a staff of about 25 and offices in Islamabad and Abbottabad. It is Aawaz II’s lead partner in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa since 2000. We are looking to hire a qualified person to lead on financial management & planning and support administration. The selected individual will be…

Eco-responsibility Training in Vermicomposting 27 January 2023, Islamabad Omar Asghar Khan Foundation attended a half-day training on vermicomposting to improve its in-house waste separation and composting practices.

2022 Floods Aawaz II Partners' Recommendations on Social Inclusion 24 January 2023, Peshawar Omar Asghar Khan Foundation met with the Secretary-Relief & Rehabilitation and the DG and senior officials of the PDMA to share recommendations made by women, PWDs, transgender persons and religious minorities to make relief, rehabilitation and resilience more responsive to their needs & interests. The recommendations were made at an Aawaz II Provincial Consultation on Social Inclusion & 2022 Floods held in…

Improved Referral Pathways Exposure Visits to 16 Government Facilities for GBV, Child Protection, Drug Rehab, etc. Abbottabad, Haripur, Mardan, Nowshera & Peshawar December 2022-January 2023 Based on a needs assessment conducted in November 2022 involving 25 women’s organizations in 5 KP districts, the Foundation facilitated exposure visits to 16 government facilities including the Women Crisis Centre, Darul Amans, Child Protection Units, etc. Meetings were also held with the Social Welfare Departments and the District Reconciliation…

Meeting with Faculty & Students 10 January 2023, COMSATS, Abbottabad Following up on discussions in November 2022 between senior faculty members of COMSATS and Omar Asghar Khan Foundation on exploring ways to collaborate on development studies, the Foundation's team met with about 30 faculty members & students of COMSATS at its campus in Abbottabad. The Foundation's strategy, work and results were discussed in detail. Opportunities for students benefiting from experiential learning through participating in the…

Expenditure Tracking Gender-Responsive Budgeting (GRB) KP Budget FY2022-23 27-29 December 2022, Islamabad KP's Women Parliamentary Caucus successfully advocated an allocation of Rs,3.5 billion in KP's Budget FY2022-23 with support from Omar Asghar Khan Foundation and Shirkat Gah. To track expenditure, the WPC was assisted in convening a two-day meeting that brought together legislators and senior government officials. Comprehensive presentations on budget allocations and projects/schemes updates were made by senior representatives from Social Welfare & Women…

Aawaz II Provincial Consultation 6 December 2022, Peshawar #16DaysOfActivismAgainstGenderBasedViolence Aawaz II in collaboration with the KP Commission on the Status of Women convened a multi-stakeholder consultation on referral pathways used by survivors of GBV & ways in which their access to available services may be better facilitated. GBV is a core focus area of Aawaz II. "We are striving to improve prevention, protection & prosecution of GBV," said Dr. Yasmin Zaidi, Team Lead of Aawaz…

Balochistan Budget FY2022-23 Gender-Responsive Budgeting (GRB) Meeting with MPs & Chair-BCSW 1 December 2022, Quetta Members of the Balochistan Assembly and the Chair of the Balochistan Commission on the Status of Women attended a meeting in which Omar Asghar Khan Foundation's gendered analysis of Balochistan's Budget FY2022-23 was shared. This meeting was hosted by the Foundation and Shirkat Gah in continuation of its engagement with parliamentarians & government officials under Fempower Pakistan to promote GRB,…

Gendered Analysis Meeting with Secretary, Balochistan Assembly 1 December 2022 "Consistent engagement with MPs is necessary to promote GRB," suggested Mr. Taher, Shah, Secretary, Provincial Assembly of Balochistan. He was talking with a delegation of Omar Asghar Khan Foundation and Shirkat Gah who called on him to hand over 65 copies of the Foundation's gendered analysis of Balochistan's Budget FY2022-23 for distribution among the honourable MPs. Agreeing with the Secretary, Ms. Rashida Dohad assured of…

Trends in Funding for Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) in Pakistan Launch of Report 29 November 2022, Islamabad Omar Asghar Khan Foundation analysed federal & provincial budgets (2015-20) to track funding for women’s economic empowerment in Pakistan. The study identified 1,674 projects, with a combined expenditure of Rs.131,998.8 million. It also assessed funding for women’s financial inclusion and women’s empowerment collectives. https://www.oakdf.org.pk/.../National-Funding-for-WEE-in... About 30 key stakeholders including government officials, business persons, CSOs and the media attended…

Building Capacities in Social Accountability Foundation & AAN Training Workshop 26-28 November 2022, Islamabad More than 30 women rights' activists from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, Sindh and Gilgit-Baltistan attended a 3-day training workshop on social accountability facilitated by Omar Asghar Khan Foundation for Aawaz e Niswan (AAN).