Press Release

ISLAMABAD, 2 October 2012 - Pakistan’s Ministry of Human Rights and UN Women signed a five-year partnership agreement intended to support legislative reform and reporting for the advancement of gender equality and women’s rights.

Signed by Mr. Shaigaan Shareef Malik, Federal Secretary of the Ministry of Human Rights and Ms. Alice H. Shackelford, Pakistan Country Director of UN Women, the Memorandum of Understanding  formalizes cooperation for effective implementation of Pakistan national obligations under CEDAW and other international human rights treaties.

The partnership focuses on capacity building at the Ministry of Human Rights on the implementation of and reporting around key gender equality and women’s empowerment commitments as included in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) as well as under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Convention against Torture (CAT) and Universal Periodic Review (UPR) - a new UN constructive mechanism to review human rights records and actions the UN Member States have taken to improve the human rights  and therefore women’s situations.

At the signing ceremony, Mr. Malik expressed the deep commitment of the Ministry of Human Rights to the partnership with UN Women in promoting human rights including women’s rights and stressed the need for enhanced partnerships and better coordination for joint interventions aimed at safeguarding human rights in the country.

Speaking on behalf of UN women, Ms. Shackelford emphasized the need for supporting government priorities with respect to women’s empowerment and women’s human rights. “UN Women is committed to the advancement of women’s human rights and looks forward to working with the Ministry of Human Rights to eliminate the many different forms of gender-based discrimination, particularly for vulnerable and marginalized groups,” said Ms. Shackelford.

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Media Inquiries:

Shaheen Hussein, UN Women Pakistan
+92-51-260-0982-4 Email: shaheen.hussein [at] unwomen.org

UN Women is the UN organization dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women. A global champion for women and girls, UN Women was established to accelerate progress on meeting their needs worldwide. www.unwomen.org