Thursday, 19 December, 2024: PODA -Pakistan commemorated National Voters Day from 07 to 18 December 2024 by organizing awareness camps in 26 districts across Pakistan. These districts included Harnai, Hub, Khuzdar, Kohlu, and Sohbatpur (Baluchistan); Chitral, D.I. Khan, Khyber, Kurram, Mansehra, Mardan, Nowshera, Swabi, Peshawar, and Swat (KP); Bahawalnagar, Faisalabad, Narowal, Rahim Yar Khan, Sheikhupura, and Sialkot (Punjab); and Badin, Dadu, Hyderabad, Naushahro Feroze, and Tharparkar (Sindh). More than 800 participants, including members (DIWA), farmers, teachers, students, and youth, attended these camps to learn about the importance of voter registration and acquiring computerized national identity cards (CNICs). The initiative emphasized the constitutional right to vote and the legal requirement for CNIC, empowering women to maintain their civic rights after attaining the age of 18 years.
Ms. Najma, a member of the District Information Women’s Alliance (DIWA), brought these concerns during an educational camp on National Voter Day, December 7, 2024.
“I spent over 10 days at the local NADRA office to obtain my first Computerized National Identity Card (CNIC) in Hub, Baluchistan. It is imperative that NADRA begins facilitating the registration of births and CNICs for women and girls from remote areas instead of pushing them to travel to Islamabad”.
Single women, including those who are divorced or widowed, face significant difficulties when trying to register their children’s births or obtain Form B. National Database & Registration Authority’s (NADRA) requirement for a father’s CNIC, which they often do not have, is unacceptable. These women should not be make to initiate the impractical journey to NADRA Islamabad.
Such urgent issues were powerfully addressed in her video message for PODA. It is crucial to convey this to NADRA to ensure these women receive essential services within their communities.
The awareness camps were organized by the PODA Rural Women Network for Civic Leadership & Participation under Democracy Education Program.
