News & Updates

19 March 2024, Peshawar Since its inception in 2020, Aawaz II’s Provincial Forum in KP meets every quarter to review actions to promote social inclusion and work collectively to prevent gender-based violence and child marriage. At its 16th meeting, the Forum’s government and civil society members reviewed progress by its sub-committees. Rights of religious minorities: the sub-committee reported multi-stakeholder consultations on rules of business to improve the implementation of the Hindu Marriage Act 2018. Members…

8 March 2024, Peshawar The Executive Committee of Aawaz II's Provincial Forum in KP formally delivered Aawaz II’s nominations for Child Protection District Committees in 14 KP districts to Mr. Ijaz Khan, Deputy Chief of the KP Child Protection and Welfare Commission. Mr. Khan assured the Provincial Forum members that these nominations will be forwarded to the relevant district administration. Moreover, it was agreed that nominations for Village and Neighbourhood Child Protection Committees will be…

5-6 March 2024, Islamabad More than 200 community partners of Aawaz II from Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa attended the Learning and Sharing Forum. They shared experiences from Aawaz II and also engaged with government officials, sector experts, and, others to highlight the importance of community engagement and behaviour change in eliminating gender-based violence, child marriage and intolerance. At the Forum, stalls were setup by provincial and district support partners from Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to…

5 March 2024, Karachi Shirkat Gah-Women’s Resource Centre, Collective for Social Science Research, Omar Asghar Khan Foundation and Ms. Kausar S. Khan, Ms. Khawar Mumtaz and Dr. Yasmin Qazi constitute the Core Design Team (CDT) of the Women’s Voice & Local Ownership project supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. 15 CDT members reviewed progress on project implementation including meetings and MOUs (in process) with key stakeholders including PPHI, RMNCH, etc., discussions with key…

3-4 March 2024, Karachi About 25 community women, councilors, civil society activists and service providers (Lady Health Workers, Community Midwives, etc.) from District Khairpur came together to assess causes and impacts of poor uptake of family planning. They defined women’s health as a right to social, physical and mental well-being identified blocks to achieving it. Participants identified key stakeholders (enablers, opponents and fence sitters) and ways to engage them. This two-day workshop was part of…

Institutionalizing Public Engagement & Behaviour Change in KP Aawaz II Provincial Consultation Peshawar, 20 February 2024 Aawaz II forums at village, tehsil and provincial levels are demonstrating ways to help governments engage with citizens to improve outcomes of laws, policies and public budgets on preventing gender-based violence and child marriage, and, promoting social inclusion. This and similar successes from Aawaz II other initiatives led by civil society and the government were discussed at a consultation…

Hindu Marriage Act 2018: Rules of Business Aawaz II Stakeholder Meeting Peshawar, 31 January 2024 The Sub-Committee on Minority Rights of Aawaz II’s Provincial Forum in KP in collaboration with the National Commission for Human Rights-KP convened a meeting to discuss implementation of the Hindu Marriage Act 2018 in KP. Seven legal experts and representatives of Aawaz II, Faith Friends, Aurat Foundation participated in the meeting. The lack of subsidiary legislation, rules of business, was…

Gender Budget Tagging (GBT) Training Workshop for Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 4 January 2024, Peshawar On 4 January 2024, Omar Asghar Khan Foundation designed and conducted a training on Gender Budget Tagging for about 40 government officials from key departments including Finance, Planning & Development, Social Welfare & Women's Empowerment, Health, Education, Home, etc. The training was part of the technical assistance provided by the Foundation since February 2023 through the Sub-National Governance Project to…

Social Accountability 8 Online Training Sessions for Activists in Iran November 2023 Extending its footprints beyond Pakistan, Omar Asghar Khan Foundation designed and conducted an online training on #SocialAccountability for more than 30 activists in Iran. The training helped participants understand public budgets and ways in which citizens can monitor them to recommend government actions for improving the delivery of public services. The training was designed within the PFM context of Iran.

She Leads We Prosper Fempower Pakistan National Convention 21 December 2023, Lahore More than 300 women leaders, male allies, including community activists, parliamentarians and government officials, participated in a convention to celebrate the achievements of Fempower Pakistan (2019-2024). They shared stories, experiences and reaffirmed their commitment to promoting women’s political participation for equal opportunities, choices and building a fair society. Implemented by Shirkat Gah-Women’s Resource Centre, Omar Asghar Khan Foundation, Simorgh Women's Resource & Publication…

Gender Budget Tagging & Expenditure Tracking (GBT&ET) Training Workshop for Government of Punjab 20 December 2023, Lahore On 20 December 2023, Omar Asghar Khan Foundation designed and conducted a training on Gender Budget Tagging & Expenditure Tracking for about 50 government officials from key departments including Finance, Planning & Development, Women Development, Social Welfare, Health, Education, Population Welfare, Home, Agriculture, Forestry, Wildlife & Fisheries, etc. The training was part of the technical assistance provided by…

Aawaz II: 15th KP Provincial Forum Meeting 19 December 2023, Peshawar At the 15th meeting of Aawaz II's Provincial Forum (PF) in KP, members including senior representatives of government/statutory bodies and civil society organisations reviewed actions taken to support policy and public finance actions to prevent GBV and child marriage and promote social inclusion. The PF commended Aawaz II's efforts to communicate policy recommendations to increase investments in preventing GBV and protecting the rights of…

Women’s Voice & Local Ownership (WVLO) Scaling Social Accountability for Amplifying Women’s Voice & Improving Health Services Launch Workshop, 3-9 December 2023, Lisbon-Portugal Scaling social accountability to amplify women’s voices to make healthcare more responsive to their needs and increase the uptake of reproductive health services is the objective of the four-year WVLO project supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF). The BMGF convened an intensive workshop bringing together its three WVLO country…

Training in Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) Police, Judiciary, Bar, Prosecution & Related Departments in KP, Balochistan & ICT October-November 2023, Peshawar, Quetta & Islamabad Ms. Rashida Dohad, Executive Director, Omar Asghar Khan Foundation worked with UNWomen to design and conduct a series of three 3-day training workshops in gender responsive budgets and planning, attended by about 80 senior government officials from justice sector institutions (JSIs), including the police, judiciary, bar and prosecution and related departments…

Aawaz II Provincial Forum - KP Meeting of the Executive Committee (EC) Peshawar, 7 November 2023 The EC of Aawaz II's Provincial Forum in KP met in Peshawar. It reviewed the planned commemoration of #16DaysOfActivism on 29 November 2023 which has been designed around the 2023 theme of government investments to prevent GBV. The EC also discussed actions taken or planned by PF sub-committees before the Provincial Forum meeting on 19 December 2023. These include…

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…

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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…