Central Prison: Sindh govt, UNDP, SEF, SPARC celebrate Women’s Day

KARACHI: The Sindh government together with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Sindh Education Foundation (SEF) and Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC) celebrated International Women’s Day 2021 at the Central Prison for Women Karachi.

DIG Sheeba Shah and parliamentarians MNA Kishwer Zehra, MPA Sharmila Faruqi and other dignitaries from Women Development Department and Sindh Commission on Status of Women were also present at the occasion.

Direct informal discussion took place with the women prisoners on challenges that they face, and the need for inmates to utilise skills learnt during the sentence to reintegrate into the society.

“Infrastructural challenges are a harsh reality but in order to be effective, women correctional facilitates must strive to ensure that women prisoners retain all their rights except those that have been lost as a specific consequence of deprivation of liberty,” said Kishwer Zehra, Member of the National Assembly of Pakistan.

Abdul Kabir Kazi, Managing Director, Sindh Education Foundation, Government of Sindh, highlighted the role that Government of Sindh is playing to address these challenges. “In partnership with UNDP and civil society organisations like SPARC, the Foundation is ensuring that marginalised women such as those confined in prisons are provided market informed livelihood skills trainings to become strong pillars of the society,” he said.

Inspector General Sindh Prison Department Kazi Nazir Ahmed indicated that, “Successful rehabilitation of women prisoners is the top-most priority of the department. We are continuously striving to work together with partners such as SEF, UNDP and SPARC to revamp the concept of prisons into correctional facilities. The department is also ensuring that children living with their mothers and juvenile girls are provided special care to reduce any chance of falling in life of crime.”

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021