“Unequal Citizens: Ending System Discrimination Against Minorities”, NCHR aimed at alleviating the situation of sanitary workers and ensuring that their rights are protected. These individuals mostly belong to religious minority communities in Pakistan, primarily Christians. Thus, the NCHR recommended that manual unclogging of sewers should be replaced by machine unclogging. Additionally, NCHR recommended that no sanitary worker should be forced to go into the sewage system without the adequate and proper Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). It further recommended that each sanitary worker must be paid a living wage, hazard pay, and to register each worker with the EOBI to ensure social security, medical leave and holidays.19 c. Implementation of Minority Quota: Recognizing the importance of quotas for the protection of minority’s employment rights, the NCHR made a recommendation to the Government to ensure proper implementation of the minority quota. As a result, several public sector organizations have complied with NCHR recommendations e.g., hospitals; PIMs, Holy Family, Poly Clinic, DHQ Mansehra, Ayub Teaching Hospital Abbottabad, Benazir Bhutto Hospital Rawalpindi, DHQ Rawalpindi, Christian Memorial Hospital Sialkot, DHQ Sialkot and Rawalpindi Institute of Cardiology. d. Suo Moto Action – Priyantha Kumara Lynching Case: Violence against minorities and the misuse of blasphemy allegations continues to prevail in Pakistan. The NCHR took suo moto notice of the lynching of a Sri Lankan citizen in Sialkot. NCHR team visited the site to inspect the area and called for periodic reports and updates from the District Police Officer in order to monitor the case closely. NCHR also wrote a letter to the Chief Minister of Punjab to demand a speedy, impartial, and in-depth inquiry and exemplary punishment for the perpetrators. As a result, all 87 persons accused in the case were convicted within a record period of three months. Throughout the incident, NCHR was in touch with the Sri Lankan Commission for Human Rights and the wife of Priyantha.20 e. EmpowHER Project: The NCHR recognized the need to increase actions to protect the rights of women from minority communities. Using football as a mechanism of outreach, NCHR hoped to build confidence, resilience, and a sense of belonging among marginalized communities, addressing pressing issues such as genderbased violence and mental health challenges. The project focused on three of the most vulnerable communities: the Hazara women of Balochistan province; women from the far-flung valley of Chitral in northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province; and women from Lyari one of the poorest and most crime-ridden and ethnically discriminated areas of Karachi in Sindh province.21 19 “Unequal citizens: Ending Systematic Discrimination against Minorities in Pakistan,” NCHR Fact Finding Report, available at: https://nchr.gov.pk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Minority-Report-compressed.pdf 20 NCHR Annual Report 2021-2022, available at: https://www.nchr.gov.pk/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Annual-Report-2022.pdf 21 “Karachi wins Futsal tournament under NCHR’s ‘Empower Her’ campaign,” available at: https://www.radio.gov.pk/24-012024/karachi-wins-futsal-tournament-under-nchrs-empower-her-campaign 12