"No nation can ever be worthy of its existence that cannot take with them their #women. No struggle can ever succeed without women ever participating side by side with men.” Quaid Azam Jinnah Islamia College for Women, Lahore, 25 March 1940 #AawazII vمیں نے ہمیشہ کہا ہے کہ کوئی قوم اپنی خواتین کو ساتھ لیے بغیراپنے وجود کے لائق نہیں ہو سکتی۔ خواتین کو مردوں کے شانہ بشانہ شریک کیے بغیر کوئی بھی جدوجہد کامیاب…
On 12 February 1983 women protested against the discriminatory laws in Pakistan. Each year this day is commemorated as National Women's Day to honor their struggle.
Gender Responsive Budgeting Punjab Budgets FY2021-22 & 2022-23 Meeting with Secretary-WDD, Government of Punjab 10 February 2023, WDD Office, Lahore Key government departments like WDD, Social Welfare, Police, Home, Agriculture, Industries, TVETA, Education, Health and Population Welfare will meet to review the Foundation’s gendered analysis of Punjab’s Budget FY2022-23 and develop proposals for the province’s budget for FY2023-24. Key compliance needs of SDG5 and CEDAW will also be discussed. This was agreed at a meeting…
Formed in 2000 Omar Asghar Khan Foundation is an NGO registered under the Societies Act 1860. Its average annual budget over the past three years is Rs.55 million. It has a staff of about 25 and offices in Islamabad and Abbottabad. It is Aawaz II’s lead partner in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa since 2000. We are looking to hire a qualified person to lead on financial management & planning and support administration. The selected individual will be…
Eco-responsibility Training in Vermicomposting 27 January 2023, Islamabad Omar Asghar Khan Foundation attended a half-day training on vermicomposting to improve its in-house waste separation and composting practices.
2022 Floods Aawaz II Partners' Recommendations on Social Inclusion 24 January 2023, Peshawar Omar Asghar Khan Foundation met with the Secretary-Relief & Rehabilitation and the DG and senior officials of the PDMA to share recommendations made by women, PWDs, transgender persons and religious minorities to make relief, rehabilitation and resilience more responsive to their needs & interests. The recommendations were made at an Aawaz II Provincial Consultation on Social Inclusion & 2022 Floods held in…
Improved Referral Pathways Exposure Visits to 16 Government Facilities for GBV, Child Protection, Drug Rehab, etc. Abbottabad, Haripur, Mardan, Nowshera & Peshawar December 2022-January 2023 Based on a needs assessment conducted in November 2022 involving 25 women’s organizations in 5 KP districts, the Foundation facilitated exposure visits to 16 government facilities including the Women Crisis Centre, Darul Amans, Child Protection Units, etc. Meetings were also held with the Social Welfare Departments and the District Reconciliation…
Meeting with Faculty & Students 10 January 2023, COMSATS, Abbottabad Following up on discussions in November 2022 between senior faculty members of COMSATS and Omar Asghar Khan Foundation on exploring ways to collaborate on development studies, the Foundation's team met with about 30 faculty members & students of COMSATS at its campus in Abbottabad. The Foundation's strategy, work and results were discussed in detail. Opportunities for students benefiting from experiential learning through participating in the…
Expenditure Tracking Gender-Responsive Budgeting (GRB) KP Budget FY2022-23 27-29 December 2022, Islamabad KP's Women Parliamentary Caucus successfully advocated an allocation of Rs,3.5 billion in KP's Budget FY2022-23 with support from Omar Asghar Khan Foundation and Shirkat Gah. To track expenditure, the WPC was assisted in convening a two-day meeting that brought together legislators and senior government officials. Comprehensive presentations on budget allocations and projects/schemes updates were made by senior representatives from Social Welfare & Women…
Aawaz II Provincial Consultation 6 December 2022, Peshawar #16DaysOfActivismAgainstGenderBasedViolence Aawaz II in collaboration with the KP Commission on the Status of Women convened a multi-stakeholder consultation on referral pathways used by survivors of GBV & ways in which their access to available services may be better facilitated. GBV is a core focus area of Aawaz II. "We are striving to improve prevention, protection & prosecution of GBV," said Dr. Yasmin Zaidi, Team Lead of Aawaz…
Balochistan Budget FY2022-23 Gender-Responsive Budgeting (GRB) Meeting with MPs & Chair-BCSW 1 December 2022, Quetta Members of the Balochistan Assembly and the Chair of the Balochistan Commission on the Status of Women attended a meeting in which Omar Asghar Khan Foundation's gendered analysis of Balochistan's Budget FY2022-23 was shared. This meeting was hosted by the Foundation and Shirkat Gah in continuation of its engagement with parliamentarians & government officials under Fempower Pakistan to promote GRB,…
Gendered Analysis Meeting with Secretary, Balochistan Assembly 1 December 2022 "Consistent engagement with MPs is necessary to promote GRB," suggested Mr. Taher, Shah, Secretary, Provincial Assembly of Balochistan. He was talking with a delegation of Omar Asghar Khan Foundation and Shirkat Gah who called on him to hand over 65 copies of the Foundation's gendered analysis of Balochistan's Budget FY2022-23 for distribution among the honourable MPs. Agreeing with the Secretary, Ms. Rashida Dohad assured of…
Trends in Funding for Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) in Pakistan Launch of Report 29 November 2022, Islamabad Omar Asghar Khan Foundation analysed federal & provincial budgets (2015-20) to track funding for women’s economic empowerment in Pakistan. The study identified 1,674 projects, with a combined expenditure of Rs.131,998.8 million. It also assessed funding for women’s financial inclusion and women’s empowerment collectives. https://www.oakdf.org.pk/.../National-Funding-for-WEE-in... About 30 key stakeholders including government officials, business persons, CSOs and the media attended…
Building Capacities in Social Accountability Foundation & AAN Training Workshop 26-28 November 2022, Islamabad More than 30 women rights' activists from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, Sindh and Gilgit-Baltistan attended a 3-day training workshop on social accountability facilitated by Omar Asghar Khan Foundation for Aawaz e Niswan (AAN).
Team Foundation reviewed the impact of its efforts & shaped future implementation strategies. Over three days, it took stock of its programmes implemented in 2018-19 and identified upcoming programme priorities. Using the framework of relevance, effectiveness, efficiency & sustainability each theme programme presented its experiences from1 May 2018–31 March 2019, effectively using photographs, animation and other material including a video. Under social accountability, careful selection of CSOs, iterative review & fine-tuning of module, consistent staff training,…
In collaboration with the District Nazim’s office, the Local Government Department and partner CSOs, the Foundation organized the first in a series of khuli kutcheries (townhall meetings) in Mardan under its Citizen Engagement for Responsive & Accountable Governance (Cerag) project funded by the EU. More than 100 people attended the event, including about 60 local people and CSO activists, 12 government officials and local councillors, 10 journalists and 10 CSO representatives from other parts of KP. Participating citizens discussed…
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National Press Club - Islamabad The "gunahgaar" women & men who marched in Lahore on 12 February 1983 set the path for the outstanding achievements of the Women’s Action Forum. To commemorate this historic event, a conference was organized at National Press Club Islamabad by the Women Action Forum (WAF) & EVAWG. Mr. I.A. Rehman, Ms. Khawar Mumtaz, Ms. Tahira Abdullah, Ms. Bushra Gohar, Senator Sherry Rahman and Ms. Rashida Dohad recalled the trajectory of…
Launched in 2006, the OBS is the world’s only independent, comparative assessment of the three pillars of public budget accountability: transparency, oversight and public participation. The sixth round of this biennial assessment, the 2017 survey evaluated 115 countries, including Pakistan. The OBS in Pakistan was completed by the Foundation, which has led it in the country since 2009. Drawing on internationally accepted criteria developed by multilateral organizations, the Open Budget…
Actions urged to remove threats to fundamental rights of association & expression
#16DaysActivismAgainstGenderBasedViolence. The 7 December event was part of the 16-day global campaign. The Foundation used flowers & balloons to spread orange..
Elected councillors & activists from Abbottabad, Haripur & Mansehra reviewed the 2018 manifestos, identified more important pledges -- and also gaps -- that support women's agency in democratic governance. This will shape dialogue with political leaders and others.
More than 400 councillors (including about 70 women) from Abbottabad, Haripur & Mansehra discussed their first-hand engagement with the present LG in the province & recommended ways to strengthen it. This is the first in a series of consultations the Foundation will organise across KP. Final set of recommendations based on experiences of over 3,000 councillors will be conveyed to those shaping the new local government in KP and also Punjab.
56 CSOs learnt skills in social accountability in two training workshops organized by the Foundation. With them, the total number of CSOs now capable of holding the government to account has increased to 117 across 12 districts of KP: D/I. Khan, Kohat, Karak, Swat, Shangla, Peshawar, Mardan, Nowshera, Abbottabad, Mansehra, Battagram and Haripur
Awami National Party’s Senior Vice President, Ms. Bushra Gohar, said that the ECP must assert its role and authority. She commended the outgoing assembly for the passage of the Elections Act 2017. “This law will deter instances like the by-election of PK-95 in which not a single woman was allowed to vote,” she said. Ms. Aisha Syed of the Jamaat-e-Islami/MMA recommended transparent internal party procedures for nominating women on reserved seats. “Reservation of seats…
30 young women and men from Abbottabad, Mansehra & Haripur made plans to engage 10,000 other young voters. They were attending a training workshop run by the Foundation. The youth activists became more familiar with the importance of voting. Working in district groups, they identified priorities which the young want included in party manifestos.
Hundreds of ideas for news stories around 6 themes on women’s participation in the 2018 elections were generated by about 50 journalists at a training organized by the Foundation under its She Can Lead project. Celebrated journalist/anchor Syed Talat Hussain led the training. Data on trends in women’s participation as voters, electoral contestants & legislators was reviewed. Recent legal & administrative affirmative measures were discussed, including reforms under the Elections Act 2017…
60 women activists from Abbottabad, Haripur & Mansehra attended a training organized by the Foundation under its programme: She Can Lead. They discussed the imperative for women’s political participation and prepared plans to assist over 7,000 women in their families and communities to use their right to vote.
Round-the-clock, all-out efforts by the Foundation, NADRA & ECP helped 7,014 women in 50 very poor villages get their NIC & register as voters. NADRA officials say this is six times more than average numbers processed daily. The Foundation also identified 9,718 women who are among the 12.5 million women across Pakistan who do not have an NIC. The intensive six-week campaign was run with support from TDEA & UNDP.
Women Voters Dalola, District Abbottabad
Week 3 April 2018 Continuing its round-the-clock, intensive campaign, the Foundation helped NADRA & ECP reach poor women living in Bakot, Nammal & Berote villages nestled in Abbottabad's mountains
