The 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence is an annual international campaign which
runs from the 25th of November to the 10th of December. NCHR centred its campaign around its
judicial powers, and the use of its mandate and complaint redressal system to respond to cases of
gender-based violence. Multiple cases were showcased in various categories like mental health,
forced marriages and religious conversions, and violence against transgender persons. The
campaign gave a quick synopsis of the cases and NCHR’s intervention to address the issue of GBV,
and the resulting relief provided to the victims.
International Day of Persons with Disabilities
Pakistan is a party to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities,
having signed the treaty on 25 September 2008 and ratified it on 5 July 2011.
As per British Council's report Moving from the margins: Mainstreaming persons with disabilities
in Pakistan (2014), PWDs tend to have poorer health outcomes, lower education achievements,
higher rates of poverty, and less economic participation. These conditions ultimately exclude PWDs
as productive members of society; some estimates suggest the cost of exclusion leads to annual
loss of US$11.9bn-15.4bn, or 4.9-6.3% of Pakistan's GDP.
On the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, NCHR emphasised its commitment to
protecting the rights of disabled persons in Pakistan. The Commission highlighted a letter (pictured
below) sent to the Ministry of Planning, Development & Special Initiatives by NCHR recommending
the introduction of a policy change that mandates all PSDP projects to clear a Disability Impact
Assessment (DIA) for approvals similar to the requirement of the Environmental Impact
Assessment (EIA) to ensure that the rights of the differently abled are secured and that they have
access to public places in the country.
Following NCHR’s intervention, the Planning Commission in a letter to NCHR has now approved a
draft disability friendly PC-1 checklist and requested NCHR to be a part of the consultative process
to make Disability Impact Assessment a part of all PSDP projects.
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