Aurat Foundation recommends government to hold LB polls

Aurat Foundation has recommended the government to hold local bodies' elections at the earliest to resolve issues at the grass root levels. This was demanded by the participants in a seminar organised by the organisation on "Issues of Internally Displaced People in Pakistan with Special Focus on Women".
The seminar was addressed by the former Justice Nasira Javaid Iqbal - Ex-President LHC Bar Association, Shameela Aslam - MPA, PML (N), Humaira Sheikh - Shirkat Gah, Daud Saqlain - Action Aid Lahore Region, Research Scholar and Lecturer of Fatima Jinnah Women University Rawalpindi, Salman Haider and Shumaila Tanvir Programme Officer Aurat Foundation Lahore. Salman Haider highlighted the issues faced by IDPs, while presenting his research paper at a seminar organised by the Legislative Watch Group of Aurat Foundation.
He said that in Pakistan, the displaced persons during the destructive earthquake of 2005 and devastating flood of 2010 are facing acute problems and number of basic issues including the abuse, exploitation for distribution of resources especially for unaccompanied women, malnourished motherhood and pregnancies. He added that the main challenges IDPs faced include non-accessibility of resources, lack of preventive measures, dissatisfactory identification of rights, lack of input from displaced persons in the policy about and management of their facilities.
He said that the major cause of the non-availability of the policy for rehabilitation for IDPs is one of the big hurdles for the proper rehabilitation of the displaced persons and to minimise the miseries of the poor women residing in camps since 2005.
Highlighting the history of internal displacements and cross the border refugees in his paper, Haider said that yet the government had not been very efficient in dealing with the issues related to either IDPs or Refugees. Most of the people were displaced and relocated due to the developmental projects, as Mangla Dam affected 81000 people to relocate, 32900 hectares land was acquired, 6 towns and 255 villages were affected, he added.
He referred to the recent displacement due to the hand-over of two islands in Karachi. Ethnic riots, tribal clashes army operations, wars & tensions with India, earthquakes, and floods had been trampled upon again and again and forced people to leave their homes, he added. Shameela Aslam MPA highlighted the initiatives taken by the government for the IDPs and shared her experience of Muzaffargarh and Vehari. She explained the role of Punjab Government in the rehabilitation of the IDPs and updated the provision of foodstuff, medicines, bedding materials provided to the affectees of the recent devastating flood.