ISLAMABAD: Human Rights Minister, Dr Shireen M Mazari Friday said that government was committed to ensure the rights of every citizen including differently abled people in order to bring them in the mainstream.

She said government was working on creating awareness about the laws, especially for people who were differently abled, adding "Human Rights Ministry has prepared laws on differently abled people which is lying in the standing committee of the parliament." She expressed these views while addressing the launching ceremony of Application ‘DeafTawk’ for disabled persons here.

She appreciated the entrepreneurs who set up the application for disabled persons and said that Private-public partnership was a best way to support them and government would implement policies and support the private entrepreneurs especially the youth. Addressing the ceremony, Dr Mazari said "Our Constitution guarantees the rights of every citizen without any prejudice."

She emphasized that we should not look this issue as a social welfare but as a right based issue.

Dr Mazari said there were rights that were guaranteed to every citizen in the country and those rights had to be protected.   She said all out efforts were being made to ensure the provision of facilities to the differently abled people and bring them in to the mainstream.

She said "We have to change the society’s mindset as the environment is not encouraging for differently abled people in the country," adding that government was working on creating awareness about the laws.

Dr Mazari said the differently abled people should be given priority who suffered from non physical disabilities as well. The incumbent government was committed to protect the rights of all citizens, she added.

The minister said that the focus of government was raise the level of marginalized and to bring them into the mainstream so that they could fully participate in the development of the country.

She said poverty alleviation programs had been launched. She said besides implementation of existing laws, working on new legislation was underway.

She said "We have started awareness campaigns to prevent the child abuse and ensure the women right to inheritance."  She said her ministry was also working on the gender based violence.

The Human Rights Ministry has also proposed a bill on domestic violence, she added. Shireen Mazari said we have also started a first ever data collection in collaboration with UNICEF on Child Labour and Child Labour survey would be completed soon. She said her ministry had established helpline 1099 to report issues related to human rights abuses and “we are also providing the facility of probono lawyers to human rights victims in almost all districts especially the women” The minister said the ministry was committed to ensure the rights of every citizen not through social welfare but through rights in the Constitution.

A large number of differently abled people, students and representatives of the Team-up, Telecommunication Company Jazz and others also attended the event.

Copyright APP (Associated Press of Pakistan), 2019

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