Daily Times

Chairman National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) Tariq Malik has inaugurated a dedicated helpline with transgender attendants while a number of other initiatives have also been launched by the authority to enhance registration and maximize facilitation for the transgender community. While celebrating the Transgender Day of Visibility (TDOV) as a special day for processing of transgender persons, he said sensitization training for NADRA personnel was also conducted by Regional Head Offices (RHOs) across the country to strengthen their abilities for providing information and support on obtaining identity documents to members of the transgender community.

He said the most unique feature of the dedicated helpline is the deployment of transgender employees of NADRA to answer the calls, said a news release.

“We want to provide a supportive and welcoming environment for transgender persons so that they are able to obtain their identity documents and access the services they need to thrive,” he said. Malik said NADRA wanted members of the transgender community to know that the authority supports them and is committed to providing the services they need to assimilate into society. “I hope that this dedicated helpline will go a long way in ensuring that they can claim their rightful place and are able to register and derive dividends from government schemes”, Tariq Malik added.

This acknowledgement serves to increase visibility and awareness of the issues faced by the transgender community and looks to promote their rights internationally.

The Transgender Day of Visibility (TDOV) is celebrated annually on March 31 to highlight the contributions and struggles of transgender persons around the world. NADRA declared March 31 as a special day for registering transgender persons.

The RHOs of NADRA engaged with local organizations for mobilizing transgender persons to register themselves at NADRA Registration Centres and at locally deployed Mobile Registration Vans. A series of Sensitization Sessions will be conducted in all the regions successively throughout this year.

In addition to the helpline, NADRA has launched a number of other initiatives for the transgender community, including but not limited to free of cost first Computerized National Identity Card (CNIC), the provision of jobs to transgender persons in NADRA, and recognition of a “guru” for registration of transgender persons.

Chairman NADRA has led a nationwide registration/ awareness campaign since 2021 themed “Trans Rights are Human Rights,” while 39 Sensitization/ Training Sessions have already been conducted for NADRA staff.

The authority has also nominated Focal Persons for the facilitation of transgender persons at all its centres across Pakistan. The NADRA is committed to promoting inclusiveness and diversity by making its efforts compliant with SDG 5 (Gender Equality), SDG 10.2 (Empower and Promote the Social, Economic and Political Inclusion of All) and SDG 16.9 (Legal Identity for All). This year’s TDOV observance was in continuation of NADRA’s efforts for enhancing the registration of transgender persons and creating awareness on the significance of legal identity as a step transgenders’ empowerment.