Shirkat Gah

A n n u a l R e p o r t
Letter From The Executive Director

In 2018 Shirkat Gah’s interventions continued to change

ground realities for many women and girls in Pakistan,
bringing new knowledge, skills and linkages to access and
assert rights. Shirkat Gah teams brought awareness of the
rights of women and girls to more than 80,000 people,
mostly women. More than 13,000 women were registered
as new voters prior to the general elections in 2018; CNICs
were obtained for over 13,000 women, ensuring access to
schemes and franchise.
Farida Shaheed
Ending multiple forms of violence against women and girls remained a priority, with a focus
on bringing about community-owned changes to end the pernicious cycle of gender based
violence, as reflected in some of the stories highlighted in the report. In four districts, 1000 new
households pledged to become Violence Free Families, led by male heads of households but
joined also by teenage boys and women. Two adolescent-focused projects came to a close,
bringing substantial change in four districts across Pakistan with community-owned changes
to end child and early-aged marriages. All the girls, boys and mothers engaged in the project
shared information on the negative impact of early and child marriages with their friends,
relatives, neighbours and schoolmates. The vast majority of the girls and mothers (83% and
84% respectively) intervened to stop such marriages; 27.5% made efforts to delay their own
marriages. More than two thirds of the boys engaged (67%) also tried to stop the marriages of
female relatives but equally of male relatives; a few delayed their own marriages. They were
mostly successful (85.7% - 100%). Only in Balochistan, did girls meet with less success (23%). The
very fact that the taboo subject has been broached and girls are speaking up is remarkable.
Our reproductive health champions and CSO partners in the field worked to improve access
to services and rights, including especially by using government complaint mechanisms.

Our work with women councilors came to a close. Numerous councilors as well as community
women stepped into leadership roles. Councilors successfully demanded improved conditions
to ensure their own participation, engaged with their constituents in more regular sessions to
learn about and then take up women’s priority issues and missing facilities in their areas and
many directly intervened in cases of gender-based violence as well as helping women to
obtain CNICs and use their franchise. Gender sensitised local media helped to promote a
more positive role of women representatives and women in general.

In terms of agenda setting and influencing, Shirkat Gah served on nine different government
committees in its priority areas. We are proud that we made significant inputs into the high-level
discussions at the Asia Pacific Forum for Sustainable Development and was on the drafting
committee for the CSO Statement for the Intergovernmental Meeting that followed the Forum.

Shirkat Gah’s nurturing of and interconnecting feminists continued through the feminist hubs
being run by its institute graduates. A meeting with activists across 5 South Asia countries
enabled new linkages and connections, and rich discussions which culminated in a document
Towards A Feminist Change Agenda For South Asia.

A new beginning in 2018 was the start of a project promoting the safety of women human
rights defenders and those promoting gender equality across the country. In 2018, the main
concern was scoping the nature of threats confronted and actions taken.

I am proud of and grateful for the dedicated commitment of Shirkat Gah colleagues who
have made this possible along with our field partners, CSO networks the brave women and
girls, but also boys and men as well as responsive duty-bearers who are making possible the
needed changes for gender equality and pluralism in the country.

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 Acronyms
ASNs Area Support Networks

BHU Basic Health Unit

CAGs Community Action Groups

CBOs Community Based Organizations

CIP Costed Implementation Plan

CNICs Computerized National Identity Cards

CODs Charter of Demands

CSO Civil Society Organizations

EDO Education District Officer

FIR First Information Report

ICPD International Conference on Population and Development

NCSW National Commission on the Status of Women

PCSW Punjab Commission on the Status of Women

PSL Personal Status Law

RRNs Rapid Response Networks

SDGs Sustainable Development Goals

SRHR Sexual and reproductive health and rights

UC Union Council

VAWG Violence Against Women and Girls

VFF Violence Free Families

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Contents
• About Us................................................................................................................05

• Shirkat Gah’s District-Wise Presence in Pakistan........................................................08

• Strategic Priorities...................................................................................................10

• Highlights Of 2018................................................................................................12

• Contribution to Improved Policy Frameworks............................................................22

• Compliance under International Instruments & Agenda Setting..................................22

• IEC 2018 Publications.............................................................................................23

• Infographics on Early Age Marriage & Gender Base Violence..................................28

• Annual Audit Report 2018......................................................................................31

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About Us
Shirkat Gah - Women’s Resource Centre was established in 1975 and registered un-
der the Societies Act in 1976. We are committed to advancing gender equality in the
political, economic, social and cultural spheres, adhering to a feminist perspective
and upholding religious freedom for everyone. Our Interventions support a culture
of peace, democracy & pluralism and promote environment-friendly practices and
policies for the sustainable use of natural resources.

Our Vision

• A just, vibrant and democratic society in which:

• Women are fully empowered;
• Human rights and dignity are enjoyed by all equally without discrimination, and
• Where peace prevails and resources and opportunities are ensured on a sustainable
and equitable basis.

Our Mission
We strive to:

• Strengthen women as rights holders to claim their rights and redefine existing parame-
ters of State and society
• Advocate and mobilize for gender equality and social justice, promoting equitable pol-
icies and practices from the local to the global and back again;
• Hold the State accountable for equal rights, security and dignity of all and the sustain-
able and equitable use of resources;
• Promote a culture of peace, democracy and pluralism and resist the use of culture and
religion by State and non-State actors to deny women’s rights, and
• Flourish as an inclusive, vibrant, pro-active feminist organization.

Our Uniqueness Lies In Our Cyclical Processes To Leverage Sustainable

Change

• We think globally, act locally & bring local knowledge to global processes:
• Grounded work informs & enriches interventions in national, regional and
international arenas;
• Challenges, concepts & thinking of transnational work are shared with and bolster
grassroots work in Pakistan;
• Community work is anchored in empirical research and conceptual understanding,
with grounded experiences providing new insights and dimensions to existing discours
es and practices. Strong linkages with social movements, media and other actors en
sure that our messages reach a wider audience, helping to promote an enabling
environment for raising voices for women’s rights.

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 Shirkat Gah’s District-Wise Presence In Pakistan 2018

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 Strategic Priorities
ALL SG ACTIONS ARE DESIGNED UNDER THE FOUR THEMATIC AREAS OF ITS STRATEGIC
PLAN 2014-18:

Bodily Rights:

To build and enhance women’s conceptual understanding of and ability to exercise their
rights in the areas of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), violence against
women (VAW) and Personal Status Law (PSL), and promote a conducive environment.
Women enabled to recognize, understand and claim their bodily rights as well as resist all
discriminatory practices.
We believe for a woman to secure her bodily rights, her immediate environment must be
enabling. This requires reorienting her community, local duty bearers, service providers and
society as a whole. Our interventions have increased the sensitization level and responsiveness
of duty bearers. It also ensures effective linkages with community based organizations and
local government bodies.
At Shirkat Gah, we believe the state must ensure that women-supportive laws and policies
are formulated and implemented effectively so that women can fearlessly claim their bodily
rights. As part of a larger social reconciliatory effort, Shirkat Gah also engages with men
including youth through various programmes and projects to create acceptance of women’s
bodily rights.

Voice:
To strengthen women to raise their individual and collective voices against patriarchy and
other obstructive factors, claim their democratic rights and demand social justice, locally,
provincially, nationally and even globally. Shirkat Gah believes in developing capacity at the
grassroots, and provide opportunities for women and male allies to raise their voices and act
collectively for gender equality, peace and pluralism throughout Pakistan, as well as regionally
and internationally. Women and male allies – active citizens, champions and leaders – across
the country in different communities are pivotal as effective agents of sustainable change.

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Environmental Context:

Towards a conducive socio-cultural, political, economic and natural environment to achieve

women’s empowerment, peace and social justice, Shirkat Gah transfers knowledge and
technical skills to community women and men and creates effective links with appropriate
State and non-state actors and institutions. Actions seek to both change socio-cultural patterns
on the ground and ensure appropriate laws, policies and processes. A culture of peace,
democracy, pluralism and sustainable development premised on human rights promoted,
and the values of women’s equality and empowerment upheld.
An enabling policy framework and social environment is necessary for women to fully exercise
their rights. Upholding women’s rights and ensuring an enabling environment is the primary
responsibility of the State. At Shirkat Gah, through our work with marginalized, underserved and
underrepresented women, we help hold the State accountable for creating a stable political
environment to work and thrive in. Furthermore, since research has proved that women are
more vulnerable to the devastating and long-term impacts of climate change in terms of water
scarcity and food insecurity, we work with women across communities to create awareness
about their natural environmental rights as well, promoting sustainability and efficient use of
natural resources.

Organizational Evolution:
To mainstream a pro-active feminist, learning and listening culture within staff, supported by
appropriate structures, systems and procedures. A robust knowledge management system is
reinforced by a vibrant learning culture keeping abreast of new developments in SG’s priority
areas, the general socio-political context as well as critical thinking.

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 Highlights of 2018
In 2018, Shirkat Gah and project partners engaged with 80,027 women and
men to better inform them of women rights and improve their access to existing
rights and services in 23 districts.

• 80,027 women, men and youth were made aware of women’s rights and existing
services through awareness sessions, door to door campaigns, theatre performances
and trainings on their legal rights especially relating to marriage, divorce, marriage
contract (Nikah Nama), dower (Haq Meher), basic document registrations (birth, death,
CNIC, vote), Child Marriage and prevalent laws against child marriages.

• 2,500 women & girls were facilitated to manage risks, access rights and existing services
through doctors’ visits, legal camps, obtaining interest free loans and setting up stalls in
Jamini Bazaars in 11 districts.

• 13,070 women were facilitated to obtain CNIC cards and register as voters in Hyderabad,
Jaffarabad, Vehari and Mardan through CNIC and voter registration drives which also
aimed at spreading awareness on the significance of having basic documentation
and casting votes. Many community women spread the acquired knowledge and
motivated their peers to register as voters.

• 1000 households pledged to be violence-free (VFF) in Hyderabad, Jaffarabad, Vehari

and Mardan. The houses have been marked with the purple VFF slogans. VFF caps were
given and awards were distributed to community members, who see themselves as
leaders/change makers in the community.

• 13 multi-stakeholder groups were established and strengthened including 9 Rapid

Response Networks (RRNs) in Jaffarabad, Lahore, Quetta, Vehari, Hyderabad, Karachi,
Peshawar and Mardan.

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Community Action Group (CAG):
As VAWG persists in part due to the lack of efective implementation
of existing laws and access to services, Community Action
Groups (CAGs), comprising of active community women and
men, were formed in Vehari, Swat, Jaffarabad and Hyderabad.
CAGs were linked to elected and executive duty bearers as
well as private service providers such as the UC secretary, the
SHO, nikkah registrars and health practitioners to ensure a timely
and adequate response at the local level. CAG’s have a dual-
responsibility: a) to mobilize the community to execute local
actions and b) to link up the beneficiaries at the local to district-
level authorities by representing their issues at the district level and
also sharing back feedback and responses of authorities with those present at the local level.

Area Support Network (ASN):

Area Support Networks (ASNs), includes public-sector duty bears
and private-sector service providers including medico-legal units,
local lawyers, Union Council Secretary and marriage registrars, the
government shelter homes of the Social Welfare Department and
those belonging to the private sector, along with local police stations
and media personnel, all of whom facilitate state responses at the
district level. The presence of the most active CAG members in ASNs
ensures coherence of actions at the district and UC level.

Women Friendly Spaces WFS:

The Women Friendly Spaces (WFS) established since 2011 to
provide safe haven to women and girls in rural areas have
enabled accelerated positive change in communities by
not only facilitating rights and services, but by also providing
platforms for skill development, capacity building, prevention
and reduction of VAWG, increased access to healthcare
and other basic services and most importantly by allowing
women and girls to feel physically and emotionally safe. SG in
2018 strengthened the 4 existing spaces in Shahdadkot, Swat,
Jaffarabad and Muzaffargarh as well as established 4 new WFS
in Hyderabad, Nawabshah, Sheikhupura and Quetta.

RRNs:
In 2018, 9 multi stakeholder safety and Rapid Response Networks
were established in Lahore, Quetta, Jaffarabad, Vehari, Karachi,
Hyderabad, Peshawar and Mardan, to both enhance the safety of
and reinforce the capacity of W/HRDs to effectively pursue their work
for the rights of women and girls. These networks served as avenues
and forums for W/HRDs to share experiences and pool resources
for more effective actions to promote or defend the human rights
of women and girls as well as for the security of W/HRDs. The RRNs
include public sector duty bearers, such as police officials, medical
officers, Union Council secretaries, those in charge of government-
run shelters, helplines etc., as well as private sector service providers
such as representatives of private shelter homes but also lawyers,
health practitioners and media.

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 Women Hold Duty Bearers Accountable

• Sajida Bibi was 16 years old while her brother, Mohammad Waqas was 7 years old when
their parents engaged them in exchange marriages. A member from Area Support
Network (ASN) went to police who refused and said they did not have time to solve
such issues. ASN members pressured the police through media coverage and then
proceeded to file an FIR to seek legal charges against the accused.
• In Jaffarabad, a community leader witnessing the absenteeism of teachers in her
college took up the issue with Education District Officer (EDO) who took it into notice. As
a result of the action taken by the community leader and the EDO teachers are coming
to the college and there is decrease in teacher absenteeism.
• In Mardan, noticing the lack of adequate medicines in the Basic Health Unit (BHU) in
her area, a community leader mobilized women around her and collectively met the
District Health Officer. She submitted a written application and within 5 days medicines
were stocked in the BHU.
• Women Champions from Charsadda have taken the responsibility to regularly monitor
the BHU in their area, and to be watchful, if women and girls face any problems in
accessing services at the BHU. Whenever any reproductive health related issue or case
comes to their notice, champions immediately contact the doctor at the BHU or file a
complaint at the government’s district complaint cell.

Women become advocates of their own rights

• Abida, an eleven year old girl from Vehari, was forced to marry without her consent.
Her father, grandfather and all the other elders of the family were organizing the
marriage. Members of Area Support Network and Community Action Groups not
only pressured them against it, but also informed them of the punishments set by the
government on EAMs. When her family was told about the fine and imprisonment,
they stopped the wedding and allowed Abida to continue with her studies.

• Dilshad from Jafarabad was a victim of domestic violence. Her husband used to
beat her up every day. Even though the house they lived in was given to Dilshad from
her father, one day her husband decided to kick Dilshad out of the house and take
custody of their children With the help of the coordinator of Women Friendly Space
(WFS) and lawyer Ahsan Miski, Dilshad successfully filed for divorce from her husband
and gained custody of her children*. She now also gets a monthly maintenance
stipend from him for their child.

• A youth champion from district Jafarabad, Ishrat Fatima, attended the Shirkat Gah
training on reproductive health. Her family did not approve of her attending the
training, rather they got angry. They argued that girls of her age who were unmarried
should not be taking part in such training sessions. Her family also stopped her from
passing the information she learned to others. Ishrat explained the content of the
training to her mother so that she could understand that her marital status is irrelevant
to the training material. She even took her mother to one of the training sessions on
reproductive health to erase her mother’s doubts. After listening to the session, her
mother allowed her to conduct her own training sessions on reproductive health.

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Forty-five-year-old Shan Bibi belongs to Ghora Khela village of district Swat in Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa. She got married at a very young age. Her husband treated her badly.
She tried her best to make things better but nothing worked. Finally, she decided to
take divorce from him and came back to her parents’ house.
After a few months, her father got her married to an old man who was already married
to someone and also had children. Shan Bibi gave birth to six of his children. After her
sons got married, her husband divorced her on a minor dispute.
Bibi is now living with her children. She is an active member of the community. She
raises awareness about girls education and stops people from getting their daughters
married at an early age. She does awareness sessions with young girls and parents in
which she tells them how early age marriage affect the physical and mental health
of girls and the whole family. She has stopped at least fifteen early age marriages till
date.
She voluntarily gave two rooms of her house to Shirkat Gah to conduct awareness
sessions.
Bibi is always the first person in her area who raises her voice against any injustice
happening to any girl in the area. She also has the credit for mobilizing women in
Swat valley to stand against odds and demand their rights. Dozens of women in her
leadership did protest against the shortage of gas supply in the area. It was the first
women’s protest in the history of Swat.

Women Councilors Become A Force Of Change Within Their Districts

• A councillor from an extremely impoverished village from Mardan was concerned

about the lack of a Basic health Unit or any other medical facility in their village.
Having met the District Health Officer in the health department during the exposure
visits, the councillor forwarded her complaint to him. The DHO explained that
their department was underfunded but if someone in the area was able to donate
land for the BHU then he would be able to include the area in future schemes.
Showing strong commitment and activism, the councillor donated her own land for
construction of BHU.

• In Jaffarabad, Parveen Mir managed to secure funds for several initiatives: repairs of
the main colony road and the civil hospital road, as well as installation of street lights
post-elections.

• An extremely active woman councillor from UC 84 in Hyderabad said that previously

women councillors were not included in any decision-making. After trainings on
local government and leadership she contacted the UC chairman and with his
cooperation helped many women acquire basic documents, including birth and
marriage certificates. She has also led a successful CNIC drive, helping 1500-1800
women obtain CNICs. To facilitate women from low income areas, she organized
a health camp. She also took up the issue of missing facilities in her area, including
the repair of sewerage lines and streets. The exposure visit to the police station
overcame her fear of the department and she also lodged complaints for 12 women
with the police.

• In Vehari, a councillor shared that she was very shy initially after becoming a councillor
and did not attend any union council meetings because the male counterparts did
not take her seriously. Training on advocacy and communication skills enabled her
to take the lead in council meetings and present her constituents demands in front
of the council.

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 Violence Free Families

Violence Free Family (VFF) campaign was conducted by active community women and men
in 4 districts: Vehari, Swat, Hyderabad and Jaffarabad in which families pledged to be violence
free. The pledge forms consisted of 5 questions in which men from the families promised to stop
violence within their homes. The houses which pledged to be violence free were marked with
stickers and purple flags so as to make known within the community that they do not support
and perpetrate violence against women and girls.

Under violence free pledge a questionnaire was developed for the males of the family which
included questions/undertaking by the male members to facilitate and give due rights to their
female family members.

o They will not stop women in the household from obtaining basic legal documentation.

o They will not stop their women from studying, working and casting votes.

o They will include women in decision making.

o They will remove Physical, Mental and Economic Violence.

o They will eliminate cultural violence including EAM, Forced Marriage etc.

In 2018 alone, 1000 families became violence free in the 4 districts where the VFF campaign
was conducted through door-to-door visits, radio and cable messages.

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Bridging Gap between Duty Bearers and Community Women- Khuli Kechari
Khuli Kacheris are women led public hearings, wherein community women engage in a public
policy conversation with public officials. Khuli Kacheris in Swat and Vehari provided women
with a platform to demand accountability from elected and executive duty bearers as citizens
of Pakistan and bridging the gap between the state and its female citizens. These public
conversations were seen as necessary for the translation of needs of women and girls into
strategies and laws that aim to improve their quality of life.

In Vehari community women invited representative from Health department, Police department
and local government and raised following issues:

• Unavailability of medicine at government hospitals

• Increase in viral diseases due to unsafe drinking water and poor sewerage system
• Women unable to exercise their rights due to lack of CNICs
• Difficult process of obtaining birth registration and marriage registration
• Rise in college fees and cost of books making education inaccessible especially for girls.

In Swat community women raised the following issues infront of the District Nazim, Tehsil Nazim,
and representatives of Social Welfare and Education department:

• Lack of waiting area for women at bus terminals

• Girls dropping out of schools due to absence of teachers and school premises being far
from villages
• Lack of recreational spaces for women
• Lack of electricity in villages

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 Open Mics
Open Mics serve as an opportunity for women to express themselves freely without fear
of judgment, an act they seldom have the freedom to do, which has increased their self-
confidence manifold. Through Open Mics, women got a chance to explore, discover and
express themselves, freely. Open Mics have facilitated community women to form bonds
amongst each other and provided them with a safe space where they can come together to
share their life experiences.

Community women were encouraged to find their voice in Open Mics through singing songs,
and reciting poetry. Open mics offer a creative space to women to have open discussions
and express themselves.

Feminist Hubs
The hubs were were initiated by the active young girls and women who attended a five day
TOT on feminism. The hubs function as feminist learning circles and undertake social action
initiatives. A total of 9 feminist hubs were created in Lahore, Vehari, Peshawar, Khyber Agency,
Karachi, Hyderabad, Quetta, Swat and Nowshera. In these hubs, focus group discussions are
held on issues faced by young girls and women in Pakistan and possible ways and measures to
address them. They also hold awareness sessions and seminars.

Beenish, a student from a small town in Pakistan became a powerful agent of change
in the national movement.
Beenish participated in the workshop and after interacting with women from diverse
backgrounds and resource persons she gained a lot of confidence. She was motivated
and eager to join Women’s Action Forum (WAF), Pakistan leading platform lobbying
and advocating on behalf of women and gender equality. Beenish started attending
meetings and was quickly accepted as a member. Since then she has participated
in WAF meetings as well as rallies, including a rally for women workers rights held on
1st May 2018. Beenish now plans to initiate a WAF chapter in her hometown, Vehari,
to mobilize more women. While Beenish’s leadership journey is far from complete it
gives us hope that more and more women from the grassroots will become part of the
women’s movement in Pakistan.

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Bringing Women Together
National Youth Convention, held in Islamabad, brought together 92 young women and men
from across Pakistan where they engaged with high-level policymakers and experts, shared
their stories, and presented a unanimous Charter of Demands (CODs). The key topics of CoDs
included enrolment and retention of girls in schools, early age marriage, registration of legal
documents rights of religious minorities. The CoD was presented to 10 government officials
on the convention for a positive change in Pakistan. The CoDs were covered by local media
including Radio Pakistan, Khyber TV, The News, Neo TV, Dawn TV, KN News and Dawn News.

National Convention:
National Convention, held in Lahore, brought together
130 active community women leaders, women
councillors, and male supporters from Vehari, Hyderabad,
Jaffarabad and Mardan. This national event allowed
women councillors, active community women and
male supporters to directly engage with politicians, and
executive duty bearers from both the provincial and
national level and present Charter of Demands (CODs).

Furthermore, the women councillors highlighted the

demands and concerns of their community women as
well as the problems and challenges they face while
fulfilling their duties as councillors to the MPAs present at
the convention.

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 FEMPOWER! South Asia Roundtable
FEMPOWER! South Asia Roundtable was held in Kathmandu, Nepal. It was attended by 35
participants from Nepal, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Feminist Institute graduates from
Pakistan. Its objectives were to strengthen links amongst activists in the sub-region and national
movements by bringing in new thinking and praxis from diverse contexts and on diverse issues.

The round table concluded with the identification of follow-up activities:

(i) round table participants’ organizations supported to analyze their situations, prioritize
issues and articulate this in Charter of Demands from the grassroots to the regional
level; and

(ii) a cross regional convening in 2019 bringing together organizations/representatives

from South Asia and South East Asia to take forward feminist agenda and draft a
vision for Asia.

Women Led Bazaars

5 bazaars, organized by women in Vehari,
Hyderabad, and Swat, were visited by more
than 45,000 people. Strengthened women
put up stalls offering food, fresh fruits, clothes,
toys, handicrafts, cosmetics, books etc. Bazaar
not only served as a means of expanding
livelihood options but also as spaces for cultural
expression and venues to receive legal and
health counseling on VAWG- related issues.

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Feedback Of The Community Women:
Women felt uncomfortable in a market full
of men making it more challenging for them
to sell their products. However these Bazaars
have given them a better opportunity to sell
and publicize their products. Women from
Community Action Groups (CAGs) have asked
for more interest free loans so that they can earn
through these Bazaars. A few women said that
they would want more exposure of the whole
sale market to run a better business strategy.

Sixty-five-year-old Naseem Bibi runs a grocery shop inside her house in a village
near Hyderabad, Sindh. She opened this shop a year ago after attending Financial
Management Training (FMT) organized by Shirkat Gah as part of its project ‘Drivers of
Change’.

‘Now, I buy my medicines myself. I do not have to ask my son for my needs. I earn my
own money. I also help him in running this house,’ she said with a smile on her face.

Naseem Bibi has had helped her husband in running his tobacco shop for several
years. After the demise of her husband, she had to close the shop. She started selling
clothes. She would buy clothes from Hyderabad city and sell those in nearby villages.
It was not profitable.

She, then, opened a grocery shop in her house but it also failed. The local community
action group invited her to attend two-day financial management training in August
last year. The training covered basic skills needed to start and run a business including
bookkeeping and then having the women come up with a business plan that they
could implement.

‘Keeping my all fears aside, I decided to start my shop again. I took to start with 6
thousand rupees only. Now, my shop has commodities worth of fifty thousand rupees,’
she told proudly.

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 Contributing to Improved Policy Frameworks:
In 2018, Shirkat Gah was appointed as the technical lead for the Quality of Care sub-group
and hosted 3 meeting to assess and discuss how the quality of family planning practices under
the Costed Implementation Plan (CIP) on Family Planning for Sindh could be improved. Shirkat
Gah has also actively provided input on the Sindh Dowry Act, Sindh Acid Crime Bill in 2018.

In 2018, Shirkat Gah served on the following Government committees:

(1) National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW),

(2) NCSW – lead Election observation committee;
(3) Punjab Commission on the Status of Women (PCSW)- Research Committee
(4) PCSW- Gender Management Information System;
(5) Sindh Commission on the status of women- Home based workers Act, Acid crime Bill;
(6) FP 2020 Task Force;
(7) Peshawar District Commission on the Status of Women;
(8) Reproductive Health Services Technical Working Group (Government of Sindh);
(9) KP Commission of the Status of Women.

Compliance Under International Instruments & Agenda Setting

Shirkat Gah continued to work with civil society groups, networks and initiatives to strengthen
the regional and international agenda for women’s empowerment and gender equality

• Represented Pakistan in the regional meeting for ICPD+25 Report hosted by ARROW in
Malaysia to discuss the Pakistan’s youth policy, in particular its component on health and
youth. The meeting was also attended by representatives from India, Maldives, Philippines,
Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Indonesia, Bangladesh, and Nepal.

• SG was a panel member at the International Conference on Family Planning 2018, in Kigali,
Rwanda, and presented on quality of care and the importance of advocacy to promote
quality services in family planning practices.

• Attended She Decides in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

• SG participated in the Asia Pacific Forum for Sustainable Development and was on
the drafting committee for the CSO Statement for the Intergovernmental Meeting that
followed the Forum.

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 Shirkat Gah developed the following publications in 2018:

Report on Sexual and Reproductive Health Policy Brief on Ending Early Age Marriage
and Rights

Module on Birth Registration Executive Summary Ending Child and

Early AgeMarriages

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Shirkat Gah – Women’s Resource Centre
SG Publications Printed in 2018 From Jan-Dec,2018

Informational Booklet on the Local Informational Booklet on the Local

Government in Sindh Government in Punjab

Picture Book on Muslim Family Laws

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Shirkat Gah – Women’s Resource Centre
 Posters and Broucher 16-Days of Activism

Saying No to Violence Against Awareness about Early Age Poster On Sexual Harrassment on
Women Marriage work Places Public Places

Sindh Child Marriage Act 2013 Complaint Mechanisms for Victims of Sexual Harassment

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Shirkat Gah – Women’s Resource Centre
 Poster and Survey Infograph During Elections 2018

Shirkat Gah developed and published infographs on

Women’s Right to Vote, the importance of Elections and
information on Voter Registration.

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Shirkat Gah – Women’s Resource Centre
 Shirkat Gah produced User Friendly
Infographics On Early Age Marriage

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Shirkat Gah – Women’s Resource Centre
 Shirkat Gah produced User Friendly
Infographics on Gender Base Violence

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Shirkat Gah – Women’s Resource Centre
 Publications 2018

Option of Puberty (regarding

The Nikkahnama Inheritance for Women
Early Age Marriage)

Wife’s Entitlement to Maintenance

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Shirkat Gah – Women’s Resource Centre
Annual Audit Report 2018

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Shirkat Gah – Women’s Resource Centre
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Shirkat Gah – Women’s Resource Centre
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Shirkat Gah – Women’s Resource Centre
 Shirkat Gah – Women’s Resource Centre
House No.68-Tipu Block,New Garden Town,
Lahore, Pakistan

Telephone: (92) 42-35838815

Website: shirkatgah.org

Facebook: www.facebook.com/shirkatgahdotorg/

Twitter: @Shirkat_Gah
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Shirkat Gah – Women’s Resource Centre
Publisher: Shirkat Gah – Women’s Resource Centre

Design and Layout : Husnain Jalil

©:Shirkat Gah – Women’s Resource Centre