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Pakistan Centers

Page history last edited by Jeff Plantilla 4 years, 10 months ago

Center List

Pakistan Centers

 

Known Centers based in Pakistan

If your center is not in this list and you want to be added, please contact HURIGHTS OSAKA and we will assist you.

 

 

 


 

 

Human Rights Commission of Pakistan

 

Year Established: 1986

 

Short Historical Background

 

Since 1986, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has developed to become a broad-spectrum, countrywide human rights body. Nationally, the HRCP has established a leading role in providing a highly informed and independent voice in the struggle for human rights and democratic development in Pakistan - a role increasingly recognised internationally, also. It is an independent, voluntary, non-political, non-profit making, non-governmental organisation, registered under the Societies Registration Act (XXI of 1860)

 

Objectives

 

HRCP aims 

 

  1. To work for the ratification and implementation by Pakistan of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and of other related Charters, Covenants, Protocols, Resolutions, Recommendations and internationally adopted norms;
  2. To promote studies in the field of human rights and mobilize public opinion in favor of accepted norms through all available media and forums, and to carry out every category of activity to further the cause; 
  3. To cooperate with and aid national and international groups, organisations and individuals engaged in the promotion of human rights and to participate in meetings and congresses on human rights at home and abroad;
  4. To take appropriate action to prevent violations of human rights and to provide legal aid and other assistance to victims of those violations and to individuals and groups striving to protect human rights;
  5. To take note of and investigate by appropriate means allegations of violations of human rights, hold inquiries, recommend to appropriate authority's action for redress, and to publish reports and recommendations.

 

Programs and Activities

 

  • Fact-finding through HRCP's own missions for an independent, objective inquiry into an event or development of concern and to build appropriate pressure for action
  • Seminars on human right issues or human rights aspect of issues to create awareness or/and to influence and mobilize public opinion
  • Workshops to involve motivators, activists and others and develop insight/skill/know-how in respect of chosen activity
  • Surveys and studies in areas of concern where new formulations or findings required to be made
  • Publications to disseminate new information, to focus public attention or advance a point of view on issues of current concern, or as tools for coordination of activity
  • Public demonstrations as a way both of mobilizing people and seeking to influence decision-makers
  • Lobbying public representatives in the direction of the public action being canvassed
  • Legal assistance in individual cases of particular need, and court intervention on issues of general concern to HRCP
  • Networking with like-minded organizations within the country and liaison abroad, mostly with human rights bodies and in relation to human rights concerns, to exchange views and information and develop a solidarity of concern and action.

 

Special Concerns

 

Democracy, constitution, judiciary, legal profession, rights of women, children, and labour, minorities, ethnic groups, tribal people

 

 

Publications

 

State of Human Rights (annual, since 1990)

 

Women

  • Profiles of Vulnerability Female under-trial prisoners in Punjab - 1999
  • Blood, tears and lives to live - Women in the cross fire)
  • Women in the labour force - 1990

 

Children

  • Rights of Pakistan Children (The task ahead) - 2004
  • Law of bail for Juveniles: The need for reform - 2000
  • Child labour Oslo Conference - 1998
  • Child labour in Pakistan Sialkot Kasur - 1995
  • Pakistan & the Rights of the Child (Serial No.4) - 1994
  • Carpet Child revisited (Serial No.5) - 1994
  • Child labour in Mardan & in NWFP mines (Serial No.6) - 1994
  • Child labour in Mardan & in NWFP mines (Serial No.6) -1992-1993
  • Rights of the Child (Serial No.2) - 1990

 

Education

  • Education Budget in Pakistan - Feb 2005
  • The Primary education and funding in Pakistan - 2004
  • Status of Primary education after devolution - 2004

 

Prison

  • Law of bail for Juveniles: The need for reform (Pakistan) - 2003
  • Resource Handbook For Pakistan Prison-Based Training -2001
  • UN Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment - 1998
  • United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners - 1998
  • A Penal system long overdue for Change - a report - 1998

 

Other reports

  • State of Human Rights in Azad Jammu & Kashmir - 2004
  • Human Rights in Balochistan & Balochistan's Rights - 2004
  • Sectarian Violence in Karachi 1994-2002 - 2003
  • Abolition of bonded labour in Pakistan - 2003
  • HRCP Report on Referendum - 2002
  • Pakistan Election 2002 - 2002
  • Press: Freedom and Responsibility (a tribute to Nisar Osmani)
  • Bonded Haris of Sindh - 1996
  • Bonded Labour in Brick kiln industry of Pakistan
  • Pakistan election laws and rules
  • Courage journalism Right to Know - 1996
  • Karachi: Quest for a Way out - 1995
  • What next in Sindh? What the people say - 1994
  • The Tyranny of Rape - 1992
  • Justice Delayed - 1991
  • Sindh Inquiry Summer 1990 - 1990
  • Guidelines for Fact-Finding Missions Feb 1990
  • Human Rights in Pakistan-1989 1990
  • Report on Chak Sikandar Arson & Violence - 1989
  • Shia Report - 1986
  • March to President's farm and after: HRCP inquiry into PML (N) Complaint
  • Sind 1986 -1986

 

Other Information

 

Address

 

Human Rights Commission of Pakistan

107 Tipu Block, New Garden Town, Lahore, Pakistan

ph (92-42) 583-8131, 586-4994

fax (92-42) 588-3582

e-mail: iar[a]hrcp.cjb.net

www.hrcp.cjb.net

 

 

 

Human Rights Studies Centre

- University of Peshawar

 

Year Established:

 

Short Historical Background

 

Objectives

 

Human Rights Studies Centre aims

  1. To provide facilities for advanced studies training and Research in Law;
  2. To prepare candidates for the degrees of Master of Laws, Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy in Law, and such other diplomas and degrees as may be instituted;
  3. To provide opportunities for professional educators to improve their knowledge and ability through special courses, workshops, seminars and other means;
  4. To conduct research in various branches of Law, publish the results of such research, and act as an education information dissemination centre; and
  5. To take any responsibility relating to the training of Lawyers, Judges, Police, academicians etc. and implementation of educational programmes and policies; and
  6. To render any other service to educational institutions at all levels as and when necessary.

 

Programs

 

Special certificate course in the international Law of Human Rights

Diploma level course by the start of next year before reaching out for its aim to develop a full fledge curriculum for Human Rights as a subject at the Master's Degree Level

Short courses on Women's Law to improve gender awareness and sensitization for various social sectors

Seminar series on human rights accessible to a wide audience including students, human rights activists, researchers, members of academic institutions, governmental, non governmental, and community-based organizations

 

Activities

 

Special Concerns

 

Publications

 

Other Information

 

Address

 

Human Rights Studies Centre

University of Peshawar

Peshawar 25000

Pakistan

ph/fax : (9291) 9216695

e-mail: hrsc[a]psh.paknet.com.pk

"Mukhtar Aziz Kansi" kansi[a]psh.paknet.com.pk

 

 

 

Pakistan Institute of Human Rights (PIHR)

 

Year Established: 1998

 

Short Historical Background

 

PIHR was founded on 10 December, 1998 on the eve of 50th anniversary of Universal Declaration of Human Rights, by human rights advocates. It is primarily a research-based academic institution which serves as a think tank for promotion of the universal human rights concept including all parallel human rights concepts present any where in the world. PIHR is a non-profit and non-political Institute and is duly registered under the law of Pakistan. The institute is committed to promoting the values of human rights in Pakistan, to strengthen democratic values, justice, equality, peace, security and tolerance in Pakistani society.

 

Objectives

 

PIHR aims

  1. To introduce human rights as a discipline in the universities and colleges and other academic institutions including religious madrassas with the comparative study of local values system;
  2. To develop a comprehensive data base/library of articles, newspaper, report, books and other accounts written or published electronically or otherwise on the topic of Human Rights and other related topics like politics, policies an governance and make them easily accessible to the members of the institute and other researchers;
  3. To develop an interactive web site of "PIHR"/web portal, to publicize the philosophy and goals of the Institute to provide an online space for dialogue and sharing of views among like-minded scholars;
  4. To establish an e-Journal if possible bi-lingual to provide a place for the exchange of ideas and to put forward the case of human rights in its true sense along with comparative study of all the parallel Value Systems;
  5. To develop a comprehensive annotated bibliography that lists articles, journals, books on Human Rights and related topics published in any language especially in Urdu, Arabic, Persian and English with special emphasis on the topic of comparative human rights;
  6. To monitor the media,including newspapers, for relevant developments on human rights concept in the West;
  7. To develop relation/liaison and coordination with the like-minded scholars/jurists all over the country to encourage them and their work; and
  8. To objectively analyze politically-motivated human rights reports to ascertain the exact and true human rights situation of the country or territory;
  9. To convene conferences, symposiums, seminars, on national and international level on the topic to highlight the PIHR's point of view;
  10. To create liaison with the Bar Associations of the country;
  11. To collaborate with all the national and international organizations involved in the promotion of human rights directly or indirectly.

 

Programs

 

  1. Human Rights Education Program: The main objective of this program is to promote education in remote areas of Pakistan with the primary focus on the religious seminaries (Madrasas) and also to introduce human rights as a subject in academic institutions, including primary, secondary and higher education institutions. Presently PIHR is running a huge project under this program to introduce contemporary education in more than Three Hundred Madrasas of South Punjab, Northern Sindh and Eastern Balochistan in collaboration with "Wahdat Foundation Pakistan". 
  2. Human Rights Research and Development Program: This program is aimed at promoting research facilities among the research fellows in Pakistan and to coordinate the on going research. Apart from promotion of academic research the Institute convenes and facilitates conferences, symposia, seminars and workshop etc in the field of human rights. Under this program the Institute is presently running a project called "Transparency Pakistan" under which the Institute is preparing a state of the are data base with a search engine to compile each and every relevant document and information relating to Pakistan in the areas of : politics, policies, governance, law, history and international relations etc in order to provide a best research tool for human rights activists, politicians, policy makers and academicians alike. 
  3. ESC Rights Promotion Program: This program is targeted to promote all kinds of Economical, Social and Cultural (ESC) Rights with the preference over civil and political rights. Under this program the institute is running a project "Promotion of Consumers Rights". In past the Institute executed a project for "Protection of Environmental Pollution Caused by Oil Tanker (Tasmania) in the Coastal Areas of Karachi".
  4. Civil and Political Rights Promotion: To promote civil and political rights with the comparative perspective of developing and developed nations. Under this Program the Institute is running a program of "Democratization of Pakistan" by promoting awareness campaign of democratic values amongst parliamentarians and political parties of Pakistan alike.

 

Activities

 

PHIR biannually conduct courses on human rights education of professionals and university students at the main office library hall of the institute or at the university auditorium.

 

Special Concerns

 

Publications

 

Other Information

 

Address

 

Pakistan Institute of Human Rights (PIHR)

H-No. 1/A, St. 38 (Main Double Road), F-8/1, Islamabad.

ph (92-51) 2855565

fax (92-51) 9263368

e-mail: director[a]pihr.org.pk, programcoordinator[a]pihr.org.pk

www.pihr.org.pk

 

 

Pakistan Press Foundation

 

Year Established: 1967

 

Short Historical Background

 

The Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) was established in 1967 as a non-profit organization committed to the promotion of independent media in Pakistan. 

 

For almost fifty years, PPF has worked for the improvement of professional skills, and in helping to raise journalists’ awareness on professional, social, political and human-rights issues. PPF is actively involved in promoting freedom of expression and ethical standards in Pakistani media.

 

PPF organizes training programmes and seminars, in rural centres as well as in the cities on issues facing Pakistani media. It has worked for the improvement of professional skills, safety and to raise journalists’ awareness on professional, social, political and human-rights issues.

 

PPF is involved in documentation of mass communication issues in Pakistan. The organization has produced a number of reports and publications. PPF is also involved in producing manuals and handbooks on journalism.

 

Objectives

 

PPF aims

  1. To enhance professional capacity of Pakistani media practitioners;
  2. To promote media ethics and accountability;
  3.  To promote and defend freedom, security and access to information for media practitioners.

 

 

Programs and Activities

 

PPF implements the following programs and activities:

 

  1. Training workshops for media practitioners on methods and techniques for improved media coverage;
  2. Investigative Reporting Fellowships for Pakistani journalists that provide training, financial and legal support to journalists to do long-term investigative reporting projects;
  3. Seminars and discussions for media practitioners to get exposure to diverse view points of view on current issues;
  4. International exposure of media professionals by publicizing professional fellowship opportunities and facilitating their application processes;
  5. Translation of guidelines, manuals, books, research papers;
  6. Research and documentation on issues related to media development, ethics and freedom of expression;
  7. Developing standard trainings that PPF offers to media practitioners to increase their professional standards, PPF will seek to develop a media training center that will be able to offer certified courses regularly and as per a business plan;
  8. Operating the Vicky Zeitlin Media Library and Training Centre that offers training for media practitioners;
  9. Content monitoring of the media to develop baseline of ethical standards and practices;
  10. Participating in national and international coalitions working to media ethics and accountability;
  11. Regular monitoring and follow up of attacks on freedom of expression;
  12. Highlight attacks on media by issuing alerts and reports to commemorate international days such as the World Press Freedom Day (May 3rd) and Day Against Impunity (November 23rd);
  13. Facilitate increased visibility and support to media victims of violence, specifically in cases of impunity to end the culture of impunity for crimes against journalists;
  14. Training for media professionals to protect and secure themselves;
  15. Lobbying for reform of right to information laws and develop capacity of media practitioners to effectively use these laws;
  16. Interventions that focus on capacity-building, training and safety of freelance journalists working across Pakistan for the international, national and provincial media.

 

Publications

 
  •  Weekly Pakistan Media Review
  •  Freedom of Expression report for joint submission by PPF, IFEX and RIDH for Pakistan Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (CCPR) Review
  •  Joint submission to the UN Universal Periodic Review of Pakistan by PPF, Article 19 and IFEX
  •  Annual Pakistan press freedom reports
  • Pakistan Media Safety Report 2015
  • Report on Safety of Media Workers
  • Report on Ethical Dimensions of Media Content in Pakistan
  • Needs Assessment on Promoting Ethics and Transparency in Pakistani Media
  • Ethics con Conflict Coverage.

 

Other Information

 

The PPF-Vicky Zeitlin Media Library and Training Centre houses an extensive collection of publications on the media and issues of interest to the Pakistani media. Training workshops and seminars are regularly held at the training centre.

 

The PPF has successfully worked as member of a number of national and international coalitions including International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX), Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN), Trust for Democratic Education and Accountability (TDEA), Pakistan Ethical Journalism Coalition and also serves as the secretariat of Editors for Safety (EfS).

 

PPF has long standing links with the national and international media. PPF secretary general has on a number of occasions been on the governing boards of All Pakistan Newspaper Society (APNS) and Council of Pakistan Newspaper Society (CPNE), as well as on their various committees such as the Arbitration Committee, Training Committee and as the Human Rights Rapporteur for the APNS.

 

The PPF Secretary General serves as the Deputy Convener of the International Freedom of Expression Exchange and has been elected to the IFEX Council and on the board of The International Press Institute (IPI). PPF is a founding member of Global Ethical Journalism Network.

 

Address

 

Pakistan Press Foundation

Press Center,

Shahrah Kamal Ataturk

Karachi 74200 PAKISTAN

ph (92-21) 32633215 - 32627882

fax (92-21) 32631275 - 32631125

e-mail: ppf[a]pakistanpressfoundation.org

www.pakistanpressfoundation.org/

 

 

Shirkat Gah

 

Year Established: 1975

 

Short Historical Background

 

Shirkat Gah - Women's Resource Center was formed in 1975, as a Collective to integrate consciousness raising with a development perspective, and to initiate projects translating advocacy into action.

 

Shirkat Gah means, 'place of participation', and over the last 30 years it has empowered women by increasing their access to information, resources, skills and decision making. In this process Shirkat Gah has brought positive change to policies, laws, and practices. Shirkat Gah has ECOSOC status at the United Nations.

 

Objectives

 

Shirkat Gah aims

  1. To hold the state accountable and to develop a culture of peace that ensures the sustainable and equitable use of resources and the full inclusion and rights of all people;
  2. To advocate and mobilize for positive changes in policies and practices from the community to the national and international levels; and
  3. To build capacity, provide support and solidarity that enables women and their communities to make informed decisions and create new choices.

 

Programs

 

Women Law and Status (WLS) - addresses the obstacles to women's rights in Pakistan and internationally. Domestically, WLS addresses women's strategic needs by engaging with decision-makers at the provincial and national level to bring about better laws and policies and to improve implementation of existing rights and programmes. It addresses women's practical needs by: informing women (and men) about existing rights, building local capacity and resource institutions to access rights, linking individuals and groups with support institutions and with each other, and providing legal assistance and solidarity interventions in a limited number of cases. Building civil society initiatives is essential: at the grassroots, CSOs facilitate women's practical needs, at the national level CSO initiatives are key components for legal and policy reforms.

 

Women and Sustainable Development (WSD) - initiated in 1992, the program was the logical extension of Shirkat Gah's close involvement in the National Conservation Strategy (NCS) development process. Over the years the program has developed with strong advocacy, networking and publication components and Shirkat Gah is perceived as a resource centre on women and environment issues.

 

Reproductive Health and Reproductive Rights (RH/RR) - aims to empower women to decide and act for themselves, make choices, and create options in Reproductive Health at all levels (household, community and national) by strengthening SG's capacity for providing relevant information, building capacity and expanding support to CBOs, NGOs and community groups, especially women in rural and peri-urban areas.

 

Activities

 

Special Concerns

 

Publications

 

  • Talibanisation & Poor Governance: Undermining CEDAW in Pakistan - Second Shadow Report
  • Rising from the rubble: Special bulletin on the 2005 earthquake in Pakistan
  • Auratain: Qurani Ayaat ki Roshi Main (Urdu and English)
  • Great Ancestors: Women Asserting Rights in Muslim Context - Information & Training Kit
  • Beijing 10 years on
  • Women's Agenda in the UN: To Beijing & Beyond
  • Why The Hudood Ordinances must be Repealed
  • Reading the Constitution: In search of Rights
  • Women, Law and Society: An Action Manual for NGO's
  • Faujdari Kawaneen Ka Tasweeri Kitabcha
  • Pakistan NGO Review: Beijing +5
  • Women's Rights in Muslim Family Law in Pakistan: 45 Years of Recommendations vs. the FSC Judgment January 2000
  • Shaping Women's Lives: Laws, Practices & Strategies in Pakistan
  • From a Grain to a Pearl: True Stories from the Field
  • Information Kit: Women In the Quran
  • Masavi Haqooq Ki Jadujehad: Khawateen Tehreekon Ka Kirdar
  • Time to Speak Out: Illegal Abortion and Women's Health in Pakistan
  • Women Laws Initiatives in the Muslim World
  • The Woman not the Womb: Population Control vs. Women's Reproductive Rights
  • Aman, Tanazat, Wajohat or Hal (2019)
  • Leaving the Youth Behind: The Missing Demographic in Pakistan’s SRHR Policies and Programmes Pakistan’s Report on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights: International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD+25) (2019)
  • Age of Marriage: A Position Paper (2019)
  • Towards a Feminist Change Agenda For a New South Asia (2019)
  • Freedom from violence, stigma, and stereotypes (2019)
  • Pakistan Alliance for Post Abortion Care (PAPAC) (2020)
  • Alternative CEDAW Report 2020 on Pakistan’s Fifth Periodic Report (2020)

 

Other Information

 

Specialized documentation centers at Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar.

 

The Lahore Centre represents one of the most comprehensive collections of published and unpublished reading materials related to women issues. Through its precious collection the centre aims to provide a comprehensive perspective regarding women struggles for empowerment and development programs and schemes. It caters the information needs of its internal and external users.

 

Address

 

Shirkat Gah - Women's Resource Centre

Flat # A-2, 2nd Floor

Parin Lodge Apartment

Bath Island Road,

Karachi, Pakistan

ph (92-21)-5831140 & 5830563

E-mail: shirkat[a]cyber.net.pk, sgrh[a]cyber.net.pk

www.shirkatgah.org

 

 

 

 

Simorgh Women's Resource and Publication Centre

 

Year Established: 1985

 

Short Historical Background

 

Simorgh is a non-government, non-profit, secular, feminist/activist organization. Its main focus is action research and the production and dissemination of information that will enable women and men to challenge the dominance of ideas that support social and economic divisions on the basis of gender, class, religion, race and nationality.

 

Simorgh was formed in February 1985 in response to the then military government's use of religion as a power strategy and the subsequent rise of religious extremism, the imposition of retrogressive and discriminatory legislation leading specifically to the erasure of the rights of women and religious minorities and more generally of the democratic right to the freedoms of thought, speech and expression at multiple levels.

 

Comprising women who were among those who had come together under the umbrella of Women's Action Forum to challenge a dictatorial state in their struggle for women's rights, Simorgh's work focus has been on the propagation of human rights from a third world feminist perspective as Simorgh acknowledges the fact that while women's oppression cuts across class, race, religion, age and nationality, it cannot be separated from these issues. Thus, while recognising the interconnections between gender subordination and other forms of oppression, and taking into account the systemic discriminations in our own society, Simorgh does not discount the fact that the prosperity in the developed nations have resulted partly from the political manipulation and impoverishment of the third world.

 

The members of Simorgh collective feel that knowledge is monopolized by a particular class both nationally and globally; that the communication of ideas and skills is an exclusive domain; that the economic system is designed to perpetuate the status quo and that deeply ingrained attitudes and customs reinforce the political, social, cultural and personal oppression and exploitation of women and other powerless groups.

 

Simorgh works with students, teachers, media professionals and has strong links with other national and international women's groups.

 

 

Objectives

 

Believing that a more humane and equitable society that ensures women and marginalised groups a meaningful access to resources and decision making will not only help to improve their status and position in society but is also fundamental to the growth and development of democratic norms and institutions, Simorgh's main focus is on research and the production of knowledge that will enable both women and men to free themselves from the dominance of ideas that support social and economic divisions on the basis of gender, class, religion, race and nationality.

 

Programs

 

Simorgh places special emphasis on activities and programs that will both enable women and marginalized groups to challenge and reshape ideas and also facilitate their entry into the cultural and political mainstream. Keeping this in mind, Simorgh's work ambit includes, but is not limited to:

(i) women's rights as human rights, (ii) violence against women, children and marginalized groups, (iii) education and knowledge systems, (iv) representation of women in the media, law, religion and literature etc., (v) globalization, religious extremism and women's oppression, (vi) family ideologies, (vii) women's oral histories, (viii) women's literature and women in literature, (ix) women and law.

 

Activities

 

In addition to doing a variety of publishing, Simorgh conducts seminars, conferences, income generation projects and gender awareness workshops. They have also made some important documentary films based on women's lives and struggles in Pakistan.

 

Simorgh's work in the past and its program for 2007-2012 includes:

  • Violence Against Women
  • Representation of Women in the Media
  • Fundamentalism and Women's Oppression
  • Women's History and Women in History
  • Women's Literature
  • Community mobilization: awareness raising activities with women's groups, students etc. through discussions, lectures, skill development activities
  • Advocacy on women's rights with senior judges
  • Human rights education and alternative history texts for young readers.

 

(some of the above are part of completed and ongoing projects as well as those for which are awaiting financial support)

 

 

Publications

 

  • The Romance of Raja Rasalu and other Tales - folktales of the Punjab based on stories collected, transcribed and translated into English in the late 19th century by British folklorists as providing a window to the 'native' mind. These stories reveal the inherent syncretism of South Asian cultures as well as opening up spaces for dreaming alternatives. Compiled, annotated and with an introduction by Neelam Hussain, this book has been illustrated by Laila Rahman and with a note on the illustrations by the well known Indian artist Krishan Khanna and an additional note on the politics of translation by Samina Choonara. (2007)
  • Colonial Roots and Post-Colonial Realities, edited by Samina Choonara and Neelam Hussain. This book is based on papers presented at a Simorgh conference of the same name. (2007)
  • The Politics of Language, edited by Samina Choonara, Samiya Mumtaz and Neelam Hussain. This book is based on papers presented at a Simorgh conference by the same name. (2005)
  • Hadood Shikni ke Khwab - the Urdu translation of Fatima Mernissi's well known book, "Dreams of Tresspass." Translated by Yasmin Hosain (2001)
  • Inner Courtyard, Khadija Mastur. Set in pre-partition India, this novel explores the lives of women in the inner courtyard and the silent revolution that is taking place there, even as the world outside is convulsed with the violence of public politics. Translated from Urdu by Neelam Hussain. (2000)
  • Violence Against Women and Their Quest for Justice, Shahla Zia. This research-based publication takes a look at judicial biases against women who turn to the law for redress of the injustices meted out to them. (1999)
  • Engendering the Nation State, vols. 1 and 2, Rubina Saigol, Neelam Hussain and Samiya Mumtaz (editors). This book is based on papers presented at a Simorgh conference of the same name. (1997) (forthcoming 2008: The Urdu edition as well as the revised English edition.)
  • The Quilt Book, Anjana Raza. This a documentation of the stories told by women during the making of the Trinjan Quilt for the 1995 Beijing Conference. The patchwork panels for the quilt were stitched/drawn at different sites in the cities and towns of Pakistan before it travelled to Beijing. The project coordinator and author, Anjana Raza, records women's narratives to raise important questions about violation of women's rights. (1995)
  • In the Court of Women. This is a report of the proceedings of the Tribunal on Violence Against Women, entitled "In the Court of Women" organized by Simorgh in Lahore, Pakistan in partnership with the Asian Women's Human Rights Council (29 December 1993 to 7 January 1994). It includes personal testimonies as well as the resolutions. This was the first of a series of tribunals and conferences entitled "In the Court of Women," that have been held since then including "World Courts" on different socio-political issues including the "World Court on War, Wars of Globalisation and Wars Against Women" which was held at the World Social Forum in Karachi 2006 by AWHRC and subsequently Lahore in the same month in partnership with Simorgh. (1995)
  • The Fatima Mernissi booklets:
    • The Fundamentalist Obsession with Women - This booklet, addresses a series of related questions: Who is the fundamentalist? What are his motivating impulses? Why is he obsessed with women's morality? The book is important because it breaks with the stereotypes and locates both fundamentalism and the fundamentalist within the social, economic and political imperatives of the developing world. The book is enabling in that it shakes our complacency and compels us to find our own answers to issues which concern us today. (1987) 
    • Women in Muslim History - This booklet provides historical information on women in Muslim history and in the process debunks the myth of the secluded and dependent woman of Muslim societies. (1989) 
    • Women, Saints and Sanctuaries - Fatima Mernissi examines the positive role played by traditional institutions in a changing and unfamiliar world. (1989) 
    • Can We Women Head a Muslim State? - This book addresses the age old debate within Islam regarding the right of women to head a state. Scholars are divided in their opinion on this issue. Mernissi undertakes a scholarly journey through the Quran to discuss this question. Her arguments leave no doubt on the question. The Quran does not advocate discrimination on the basis of gender. A fascinating book for everyone concerned with women's rights. (1991)
  • Reinventing Women - the portrayal of women in the media during the Zia years, Neelam Hussain and Maha Malik (editors). Written by Ferida Sher, LalaRukh, Nasrene Shah and Neelam Hussain, papers in this book critically examine the ways in which the discursive field was changed to accommodate the stereotype of the invisible, housebound economically dependent woman. (1987)
  • Rape in Pakistan, Shazreh Hussain.

 

Education

  • Planting the Seeds of Change - the Human Rights School Texts (1995)

"Kaleidoscope" Primers 1-5 introduce the idea of fundamental rights, tolerance and cultural diversity to readers through stories, writing exercises and activities.

The Kaleidoscope Primers were awarded the 2005 HURIGHTS OSAKA Award for human rights educational material for children. These primers are in use in over 25 schools in the major cities of Pakistan.

  • "Phuljhari" Urdu primers 1 and 2 are in print and beginning to find a market. Primers 3-5. (forthcoming).

Primers 6-10 are planned but project completion has been deferred due to lack of financial support.

 

Law

  • Bayan - a bi-annual socio-legal regional journal

 

*See website www.simorghpk.org for further information regarding sales etc.

 

 

Address

 

Simorgh Women's Resource and Publication Centre

2/7 Fountain Corner, Canal Park, Gulberg II

Lahore Pakistan

PO Box 3328, Gulberg II, Lahore 54660 Pakistan

ph/fax (9242) 5757195

e-mail: simorgh[a]brain.net.pk, simorgh[a]simorghpk.org

www.simorghpk.org

 

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