AWAM Pakistan’s core mandate is women’s empowerment, which is essential for gender equality. Empowerment enhances self-worth, decision-making, resource access, and control over lives, crucial for influencing social behaviors. Despite being half of the population, women face pervasive gender inequality, hindered by acceptance of violence, harassment, discriminatory laws, and workplace bias.
Pakistan, having ratified international agreements like CEDAW and committed to SDGs, introduced laws and policies to protect women’s rights. AWAM focuses on addressing societal factors leading to harmful practices like early marriage, domestic violence, and discrimination, striving for a safer, equitable society.
AWAM engages grassroots communities, authorities, and decision-makers to promote gender equality, and educate on women’s rights, discriminatory practices, and relevant laws. It empowers young women to lead and supports women human rights defenders, including those from minority and informal sectors.
Since its inception in 2007, AWAM has dedicated itself to empowering working women [of informal sectors], focusing on domestic and home-based workers. By organizing small groups, AWAM educates these workers about their rights, facilitates their civic registration, and advocates for their access to social security benefits and social protection schemes.
This Specific Programme Is Meant To Mobilize Local Communities To Increase Girl Enrolment, And Retention, And Influence The Female Youth School Dropout Ratio. Its Primary Focus Is On (I) ‘strengthen The Capacities Of Local Leaders, Youth, And Religious Leaders To Take Advocacy Initiatives For Influencing The Authorities, And Political Decision-makers To Ensure The Girls’ Education And (Ii) ‘engaging The Parliamentarians, Media Houses, And Journalists For Protecting The Right To Education Of Girls And Young Women’ As Committed In Cedaw And Sdgs.
Women’s Empowerment Is The Core Mandate Of Awam Pakistan. For Awam, Empowering Women Is Crucial For Gender Equality As Empowerment Increases Their Self-worth, Decision-making Power, Access To Resources, Control Over Their Lives, And Ability To Influence Social Behaviors. Women And Girls Make Up Half Of The World’s Population, Which Means They Have Tremendous Potential To Contribute To Society.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) has sparked new discussions on disability rights and influenced lawmakers to adopt policies that focus on empowering people with disabilities and engaging them in social activities. The convention emphasizes inclusion, legal protection, and treating persons with disabilities as a diverse group with certain rights and social roles, along with responsibilities similar to those of non-disabled individuals.
Pakistan is regarded as a land of rich diversity – in terms of culture, religion, ethnicity, and language. However, such attributes as diversity are simultaneously a strength of the nation and have complicated socio-political and socio-cultural contexts. Therefore, the context of diversity and multiple identities increases the probability of conflict among the communities.
© 2024 Awam. All rights reserved.