KARACHI:Civil society organizations and activists have called the first-ever Sindh Human Rights Policy draft presented on behalf of the Human Rights Department as the best start in the right direction.
A consultative session was held at a local hotel by the Human Rights Department of Sindh to seek input from stakeholders on the proposed draft of its policy, which was chaired by Surendar Valasai, Special Assistant to the Chief Minister of Sindh on Human Rights.
Department Secretary Javed Sibghatullah Mahar, Additional Secretary Zahid Hussain Khemtio and others were also present in the meeting. Addressing the meeting, Surendar Valasai said that any policy made without incorporating the views of the stakeholders is of no use as such the Human Rights Department decided to take all stockholders into confidence before finalizing and approval of its draft policy for facilitating future legislations on the issues related to human rights and implementations.
Valasai said that the problem of implementation of policies is not limited to Sindh province alone, but the whole country is facing it. However, the solution remains in continuity of efforts. He said that in the light of the vision of PPP Chairman and Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the government of Sindh is determined to implement human rights protection laws in the province.
He said that problems regarding the implementation will definitely come up, but they will be resolved eventually. Meanwhile, Sindh Human Rights Department Secretary Javed Sibghatullah Mahar briefed the meeting on the draft policy. He said that the proposed policy will be revised after every five years and this proposed policy will also be linked to various departments including Women Welfare Department, Social Welfare Department, Minority Affairs Department etc., and will also set targets of goals for the next five years for the concerned departments.
The consultative meeting was attended by representatives of human rights, women, children, transgender, minorities, special persons, workers and farmers’ rights and representatives of organizations. Among those who participated were Iqbal Dethu, Kiran Rao, Haya Emaan Zahid, Noor Muhammad Bajeer, Vajeeha Gilani, Muhammad Osama, Abdul Rahim Brohi, Abid Lashari, Kiran Zubair, Hina Baloch, Altaf Khoso, Shahzadi Rai, Marvi Awani and others.
The participants in the meeting appreciated the Sindh Human Rights Department’s initiative of consulting stakeholders on the draft policy and said that consultation and support of all stakeholders is the key to the success of any policy. The participants emphasized that the Department of Human Rights should play its leadership role in the province especially in terms of awareness and training on human rights among the youth.