15th January, 2020 (Bhera, district Sargodha): “All stakeholders must work together to reduce gender gap in electoral lists and to ensure women’s political participation at all levels” said Ms. Sameena Nazir, President PODA-Pakistan at a consultation on the Role of “Wider Stakeholders in ensuring Women’s Political Participation” held in collaboration with the Election Commission of Pakistan. Ms. Nighat Siddique, Additional Director, Gender Wing at the Election Commission of Pakistan said the government will increase its work with civil society organizations like PODA to reach out to over 15 million missing women voters in Pakistan.
The consultation was organized by PODA in collaboration with Bhera Press Club and the Election Commission of Pakistan and supported by National Endowment for Democracy. Over 80 participants including women councilors, rural women leaders, lawyers, teachers, community activists, journalists and representatives of various government departments in district Sargodha including regional director of National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) and department of Social Welfare among others. The objective of the consultation was to link civil society with the relevant government departments in district Sargodha so that they could work in coordination to reach out to women who do not have their Computerized National Identity Card (CNIC) and who can not register as voters. The participants discussed the various challenges rural women face in getting registration and what steps need to be taken to reach out to new women voters and women with disabilities.
Ms. Nighat Siddique, Additional Director General, Gender Wing, Election Commission of Pakistan shared that there is gender gap of over 15 million voters in electoral lists. Despite extensive efforts to register women as voters still these 15 million women are missing from electoral lists. She said that in district Sargodha over 200,000 women do not have CNICs and have not registered as voters yet. She said that it is not possible that only the Election Commission can facilitate such a large number of women therefore we need the help of all members of the civil society especially women rights groups working at grassroots level. She said many women in rural areas need help in filling the forms to apply for CNICs and voter registration and to prepare the right documentation to be eligible. She said although the government has made the process of getting CNIC much easy now, still many women need help due to illiteracy or due to lack of travel experience. She said we need coordinated efforts by all relevant stakeholders including NADRA and civil society organizations to identify missing women voters and to facilitate women to obtain CNICs and register as voters.
Mr. Rana Farooq, Zonal Manager, NADRA in district Saragodha said NADRA’s Mobile Registration Vans (MRVs) are working at grass-root level to register women in villages. Ms. Nasreen Atta, a former woman Councilor from Bhera said that women are often excluded from planning phase of development projects at local government and their gender specific concerns are not addressed. Mr. Mian Arshad Ali, District Election Commissioner, Sargodha shared that the Election Commission has established display centers at village level so that women and men can visit and verify their details and correct if there is any mistake in their name or if their name is missing or if they are registered in the wrong zone or union council.
Mr. Muhammad Nawaz Mehar, General Secretary Bhera Bar Association said that women’s political participation is historically low in our society therefore there a greater need to create awareness about women’s rights as citizen and their role in democratic processes. The participants of the consultation appreciated the information provided and engaged in discussion with the speakers. PODA team distributed informational and educational materials at the meeting to all the participants. PODA team also visited a local display center.