ALL those working for women’s rights are receiving accolades for their continued run of success in the area of legislation. They deserve more of this because they have played a key role in getting the lawmakers round to their point of view.
The passage of the National Commission on the Status of Women Bill is a most promising development. As an autonomous body with considerably enlarged authority, the commission, which has already done substantial work, will have possibilities of addressing women’s concerns on a regular basis.
Much of this will obviously depend on the government’s ability to find the right set of people to run the commission and to give them the financial and administrative backing their pioneering efforts will need in good measure.
Women activists’ success in pushing the relevant bill through both houses of parliament within a short period is all the more significant in view of the slow progress of the proposal for the establishment of a national human rights commission.
Categories: gender, Human Rights, Human values, Pakistan, Women Rights