By Shad Begum [1]
I
still recollect the difficult times when, for the first time I decided to
contest the elections for the local government as an independent candidate in
2001. In the under developed district of
Lower Dir, women were barred by local influential figures through mutual
agreements to cast their votes in elections, let alone to allow a woman as an
independent candidate. Despite all opposition the people voted for me to become
the first elected women councilor on non-reserved seat as an independent
candidate.
The
year 2008 was a period of great disappointment as militants had taken control
of Swat valley excluding women from public spheres including putting ban on
girl’s education for sometime. It appeared that all efforts by different
actors, including my organization, have gone back to zero.
The
operation Rah-e-Nijat in 2009 by
Pakistan’s security forces dislodged militants from power, yet the challenge of
rehabilitating almost two millions IDPs back in Swat appeared almost
impossible. As if the testing of the people of Swat-Malakand region was not
complete yet, devastating flood in 2010 washed swaths of agricultural land, affecting
the livelihoods of millions of people.
It
is indeed heartening to see the resilience of the people of Malakand region in
bouncing back to their lives and getting back to whatever they had lost during
the militancy and floods crisis. Personally, I am glade to see women now engaged
in the discussions and activities that affect their lives politically, socially
and economically at the community level. We wanted to promote the work of women
embellished workers to increase their income through making them shareholders
in the net profits of their labor. To this end we opened an outlet in the
capital city of Islamabad and to showcase their work at national level in
Pakistan. Apart from our own trained hundreds of women workers, MEDA[2]
had trained and organized thousands of women embellished workers in
Swat-Malakand region during the past five years. We have taken up the
responsibility to become sustainability partner of MEDA for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,
which will enable us to link the work of MEDA for women economic empowerment to
our own efforts of Shinkhalai. Shinkhalai is the brand name of our women
economic empowerment program that is marketing and promoting women workers hand
and machine made products. Unfortunately the precious work of the women
embellishers is under valued because of the lack of competitiveness of their
products with the market trends. We have engaged Hunerkada – the art and
fashion designing school in Islamabad to overcome this gap and to design the
products according to the prevailing market trends and demands at the national
level.
To
build synergies, we have linked the efforts of other institutions such as the
women skill development program of Small Industrial Development Board (SIDB) of
government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Through a memorandum of understanding, we
have agreed to pool resources and energies towards the economic empowerment of
women in the disasters hit Swat-Malakand region for creating a greater impact.
During
my interactions with women from Swat-Malakand region in our political
empowerment program known as Jamhori
Maidan program (JMP), I have felt extreme joy to see women taking an
interest in democracy, political process and elections. It has enabled me to overcome
the disappointments and depressions that I had experienced during my work with
women IDPs from the region in 2010. The most amazing development in the JMP is
the reality that women are not only taking interest in political developments
but also there is an emerging trend amongst the educated female from the region
that they can take independent decision to support a political party of their
choice as against the preferences of their male members in their families. I
have also seen many more women taking the courage to contest elections as
independent candidates such as Ms. Nusrat Begum from Lower Dir, where she run
for National assembly seat. Even women with disabilities are politically active
and aware of their role in the society.
The JMP has
engaged men and women from Malakand region to get engaged in bridging the gap
between state-institutions and citizens through formation of citizen’s forums.
Young women and men of the area have been trained to become leaders in the
political sphere. Through radio talk shows, women and men have taken part in the
discussions that relate to women participation in the political processes and
their rights as equal citizens of Pakistan. In my opinion this is a huge
development in changing the discourse and propaganda of the militants that they
made through the use of FM radio channels in Swat-Malakand region.
To
make these changes sustainable and provide them institutional backing, we have
reached a memorandum of understanding with the Provincial Commission on the
Status of Women (PCSW) to support the establishment of the District Committees
on the Status of Women (DCSW) in three districts of Malakand division that
include Lower Dir, Upper Dir and Malakand. The women leaders that have been
trained in the JMP in the three
districts are the potential nominees for the DCSWs. It is rather saddening to see the pro-women
PTI government being slow in notifying the DCSW in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The DCSW
have an important function with regard to cases of gender-based violence (GBV)
and gender sensitive planning, budgeting and monitoring at the district level.
There
are many women now ready to contest the forthcoming local government elections,
as independent candidates after our political training program but
unfortunately the local government elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have not
been held so far. These eager and motivated women leaders from the region are
looking forward to the local government institutions as a great opportunity of
their political empowerment and testing their leadership skills.
Let
us hope that this journey of peace and progress continue in the region for our
bright future.
--------------
[1] Shad Begum is a human rights
activist from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan and a recipient of international
women of courage awards.
[2] Founded in 1953, MEDA is an international
economic development organization whose mission is to create business solutions
to poverty http://www.meda.org/
 |
| MOU signing ceremony between ABKT and MEDA |
No comments:
Post a Comment