Pakistan Country Report

For Women International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF)

2011 International Congress - Costa Rica

By Sameena Nazir2nd August 2011

1. Membership InformationAs of 1st August 2011, WILPF has 12 active members in Pakistan

2. Monthly MeetingsWILPF Pakistan meets once a month on the first Thursday of each month in Islamabad

3. Membership Payment

- Each member has paid $5 as annual membership fee

- The funds have been sent to WILPF International Treasurer

- Each member pays Rs. 100 per month (equal to $1 ) or per meeting for savings.

- WILPF Pakistan is planning local fundraisers to raise funds for WILPF mission activities in Pakistan

- WILPF Pakistan will pay $ 200 as country fees next year to WILPF International

4. Country Representation•

This 12 member group is the only WILP representative in Pakistan

• WILPF Office Bearers in Pakistan

In a meeting held on 18 July 2011 in Islamabad, the 12 membersunanimously elected the following office bearers for WILPF work Pakistan until July 2012. Next election will be held in August 2012

President - Ms. Sameena NazirTreasurer - Ms.Sehrish Ayub

The group also agreed to make a Fundraising Committee and a Program Committee and an Out Reach Committee to make new members.

5. Work plan for 2011-2012

• Create awareness about WILPF, its history and its mission and goals

• Create awareness about UN Security Council Resolution 1325 and thelinkage between violence against women and violence in society throughfour public education seminars over the period of 12 months.

• Create awareness about Pakistan’s international obligations under UN human rights treaties signed by Pakistan (CAT, ICCPR, CEDAW, CRC, ICESCR)and participate in UPR meetings in Geneva and CSW in New York in 2012

• Realizing that the armed conflict in Pakistan has regional diemensions WILPF Pakistan will reach out to women’s rights activists in Afghanistan to create awareness about WILPF and to help facilitate a WILPF group there.

• Work with WILPF India and WILPF Nepal and Sri Lanka for regional issues

• Prepare for WILPF 100th anniversary Congress that will be held in 2015 in Holland

Why should we have WILPF in Pakistan

• P• A• K• I• S• T• A• N

•WHY ????????

What comes to mind when you hear PAKISTAN

- the most dangerous country in the world ?- Nukes ……. Nuke sellers……. ? Crazy nukes

- The country with Islamic bomb ?- All women are covered in Burqa and beaten all the time?

- All children love guns and don’t go to school ?- Bin Laden was in Pakistan and all Pakistanis knew about it ?????

- Strategic location country – gate keeper of oil and gas in Afghanistan and Central Asia – old friend of China) – the trouble maker in Kashmir

- Country of disasters ---- earthquakes---- terrorists – floods ---- !

But do you ever hear this about PAKISTAN ?

9 of the 14 highest mountain peaks (8000 meters +) are in Pakistan like K-2

Children ( including girls) do go to schools

A country of many women pioneers

1948Rana Liaqat

First Pakistani woman

delegate to the UN for

UDHR drafting 1992Benazir Bhutto First woman

Prime Minister in Pakistan and

in all Muslim countries

2008First woman Speaker of

Parliament in Pakistan and in

any Muslim country

2011First woman

Foreign Minister in

Pakistan and in any Muslim

country

A country where many women are still trying to make history - day by day

First women team to win a cricket gold

medal in Asia

First Pakistani woman to win marathon

Gold medal in Asian games in India

First Pakistani woman to climb the Himalayas

Pakistani women defending human rights

locally and globally

Mukhtar Mai – a village woman who was gang

raped by 4 men at order of an all male village jury. She took her rapists to court

and defied a cultural tradition that raped women

should hide away.

Hina Jilani – a leading Pakistani human rights lawyer and the first UN Special

Representative for human Rights Defenders

So why WILPF in Pakistan ???• Pakistan is a country of 180 million people• 55 % of Pakistanis are under the age of 25• Pakistan is the poorest country to have nukes• Literacy rate for Pakistani rural women is 30 %• Military spending is the biggest budget item of annual

GDP in Pakistan• In 2010 – unprecedented floods displaced 18 million

Pakistanis. • Today 10 million are still internally displaced.• You can buy a gun for $ 50 in Pakistan

-Pakistan was the front line country in USA-USSR cold war played in Afghanistan for 20 years

- Pakistan is still the center stage of international strategic interests of many countries including hunt for natural gas reserves in Afghanistan and central Asia and access to warm waters

-Still a great game among many players (USA-Iran-Russia-Saudi Arabia-India-Iran-China- any many many more )

-We need WILPF in Pakistan because - A war in the name of Islam is still on – whose correct interpretation of Islam should rule the world ? Saudi Arabia or Iran or Pakistan or USA? -Over 35,000 Pakistanis have been killed since 9-11-(as a collective result of Pakistani military operations in Taliban held areas in Pakistan, by USA drones attacks, by suicide bombings in mosques, funerals, schools, hospitals)

-The average age of a suicide bomber is 25 years – youngest are 12 years old. Women suicide bombers have also started.

We have a lot of work to do in Pakistanjoin Us !!!

Application for WILPF Section in Pakistan

• I request this Congress to approve a WILPF section in Pakistan

Thank you !

And I want to work with all WILPF sections so here is my email !!!

sameena.poda@gmail.com