During a consultative meeting of Key Stakeholders on Transgender (TG) Economic Empowerment without Stigma & Discrimination held here Monday under the aegis of UNWomen, HomeNet Pakistan and Aurat Foundation participants registered with concern that the cited lapse have particularly delayed the transgender persons right to employment.
This was noticed to have also compromised their right of easy accessibility to basic facilities including decent living and shelter as well healthcare facilities.
Session attended by sizable numbers of concerned community members also took strong exception to the exact strength of their population in the province as reflected under the last population census.
Uzma Yaqoob, executive director, forum for dignity initiatives (fdi) sharing her research report on Transgender Economic Empowerment - How and Why," said transgender community has its own dynamics.
She supplemented her preceding speakers, Mehnaz Rehman of Aurat Foundation and Naheed Syed of HomeNet that to address these issues and challenges, an effective approach with focused policy planning was rudimentary.
Integrated and coordinated efforts of line departments, CSOs and transgender themselves were crucially needed at every level, emphasized the researcher cum activist.
Representatives of the Excluded Communities led by Bindiya Rana appreciative of the law adopted by the parliament appreciated that their status has been recognized paving their pay to not only procure CNICs and Health Cards but also demand their share in ancestral property.
They, however, also drew attention towards certain lacunae in the facilities provided to them in particular context of health card with no provision to avail off the services at out patient departments,
Shelter was said to be another major problem faced by them which not only often jeopardised their safety but also added to their financial woes.
Naheed Syed in her introductory remarks said UNwomen has given essential importance to issues of transgender and has engaged Forum for Dignity Initiatives (FDi) to conduct a study and to engage transgender community into project activities.
Being actively engaged in empowerment of the peculiar excluded community, she said HomeNet Pakistan is implementing UNWomen project Economic Empowerment of women Home Based Workers and Excluded Groups in Pakistan in Karachi & Thatta in collaboration with Aurat Foundation.
Mehnaz Rehman expressing her gratitude to the participants of the meeting said consultation of different stakeholders, to discuss on various aspects for transgender protection of rights Act and right to employment was duly needed to identify and improve information dissemination mechanisms for effective and meaningful access of TGs in mainstream economic activity.