Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: As Pakistan gears up towards another general election in 2018 and towards the peaceful transition of power, protection and promotion of human rights will be the catalyst in ensuring consolidation of democracy in the country.

The members of the civil society, parliamentarians, government officials and international and national dignitaries affirmed this notion while discussing pertinent opportunities and challenges in realising democratic consolidation at the Democracy Reporting International’s national dialogue Working Together for Human Rights, held at a local hotel.

The dialogue highlighted key human rights achievements that Pakistan has made in the past four and a half years and in the process, provided an outline of a human rights priority agenda for future federal and provincial governments through deliberations, during its technical sessions. It provided a rare common platform for stakeholders to discuss their reservations and suggest ways of overcoming barriers to collaboration.

The participants lauded it as the first step to bridge differences and working together for the advancement of human rights ahead of the 2018 elections.

During the technical sessions; Beyond the 2018 Elections – Human Rights Priorities & The Role Of Stakeholders, members of the civil society pointed to the Charter of Demands, a document prepared by the civil society with inputs from political parties, as a precedent for useful collaboration between stakeholders. The document shares human rights priorities that require urgent attention of political parties and state officials.

Participants during the sessions opined that while the 2018 general elections will provide citizens an opportunity to exercise their civil and political rights of political participation through the ballot box, political parties should also look at ensuring other substantive human rights and their protection and promotion.

Human Rights Federal Minister Mumtaz Ahmed Tarar while addressing the participants, reaffirmed state’s commitment towards protection and promotion of human rights. He said that without promoting and ensuring human rights, societies remain stagnant and under threat. He said that the government of Pakistan was fully cognisant of its duty and it was the prime agenda of the government to safeguard rights of its citizens, especially the minorities, he said, adding that the government requires support of the civil society at every stage from policy formulation to its implementation at grass roots level.

In his opening remarks, German Embassy Mission Deputy Head Dr Jens Jokisch said, “Every democracy needs a strong civil society as civil society actors give life to the democratic process.”

Discussing the role of the civil society as a state partner in implementing the human rights agenda, former caretaker minister and Heartfile President Dr Sania Nishtar said that the role of the civil society as a watchdog was crucial and added that “only an independent civil society can have a positive influence on government policies in favour of human rights”.

International commitments such as Sustainable Development Goals and human rights convention recognise civil society as important players for advancing the agenda, she said.

While discussing key highlights from the European Union’s second assessment report on Pakistan’s compliance with the obligations associated with its Generalised Scheme of Preference (GSP) trade incentive, European Union’s Delegation to Pakistan Mission Deputy Head and Charge d’Affaires Anne Marchal stated, “DRI’s initiative is very timely. The on-going review of Pakistan’s GSP+ beneficiary country status has brought once again in the public debate the status of Pakistan’s compliance with a series of 27 core conventions regarding human rights, labour rights, good governance and climate change. The event DRI has organised today is important to bring civil society to help in the government’s effort to work on improving implementation of the conventions.”

Published in Daily Times, February 28^th 2018.