KARACHI: Special Assistant to the Chief Minister Sindh for Culture and Tourism, Sharmila Farooqi Sunday said that capacity building is essential to improve governance.
She said this while addressing in a two-day workshop on Human Rights Monitoring and Reporting organised here for Sindh Government officials to facilitate them human rights compliance reporting in wake of GSP+ obligations, said a statement issued here.
Appreciated Sindh Human Rights Commission (SHRC) for organizing the workshop, she suggested SHRC to extend its outreach, particularly in rural parts of Sindh, for the protection of citizens rights.
She further said that numerous laws have been introduced in Sindh while two laws related to minorities' rights are under consideration in Sindh Assembly.
The workshop, attended by over 50 officials of different government departments, held by SHRC in collaboration with Democracy Reporting International (DRI).
Sindh Secretary Law; Aslam Shaikh, Joint Director Sindh Labour Department, Gulfam Memon, Senior Superintendent Police, Sindh, Faizullah Korejo, Chairperson SHRC, Justice (Retd) Majida Razvi and MPA Kulsoom Chandio also participated in the event.
Justice (R) Majida Razvi in her remarks elaborated SHRC's role, saying that SHRC is mandated to review policies and laws and to deal with human rights violations.
She urged officials to play their due role in ensuring compliance to Pakistan's International human rights commitments, particularly in the wake of GSP+ obligations.
Sindh Secretary Law, Aslam Shaikh shared that Sindh is taking lead in legal reforms as majority of provincial laws have been enacted compliant to international standards such as law against discrimination against women, domestic violence, laws related to minorities, child labour and bonded labour.
Additionally, all other laws are being reformed in conformity with international standards, he added.
Faizullah Korejo while talking on the implications of child and forced marriages said that newly enacted Child Marriage Restraint Act is expected to help reduce prevalence of child marriages in the province.
Judiciary's role however is important to ensure implementation on the law, he added.
Gulfam Memon said that Sindh took lead in bringing agriculture workers under the ambit of law.
He further added that numerous labour laws have been amended, to bring in conformity with international labour standards.
DRI's Team Leader Zulfiqar Shah appreciated Sindh government's initiative to establish the SHRC, terming it a step towards ensuring compliance to the country's international HR commitments.
He added that compliance to global commitments will help maintain GSP+ status as well as strengthen country's position at various international forums including the UN.
Human Rights experts Iqbal Detho and Maliha Zia talked on legal and normative dimensions of the international human rights instruments and their applicability, taking into account Pakistan's global obligations.
Sharmila and Secretary Law Aslam Shaikh presented certificates to the participants.
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