Tag: (PILDAT)

Islamabad, December 23, 2021 (PPI-OT):After receiving an overwhelming response from the Youth of Pakistan, for submitting Expressions of Interest to join the 17th Youth Parliament Pakistan, the registration process is now closed.

Aiming to inculcate the culture and values of democracy in the youth of Pakistan, registration process for the 17th Youth Parliament Pakistan was launched on October 17, 2021. In the 60-day time frame, highest number of Expressions of Interests have been received for 17th YPP from young Pakistanis living in Pakistan and overseas which reflect the enthusiasm of Pakistan’s youth to contribute to Pakistan’s development. With the close in the registration process, the Youth Parliament Secretariat has initiated the process of review and short-listing for finalising membership of the 17th Youth Parliament. Final selection will be shared with candidates by the end of January 2022.

In order to have adequate representation of young Pakistanis from all constituencies of the National Assembly, expressions of intertest are still open but only for the following three constituencies:

1. NA-25 Nowshera-I

2. NA-195 Rajanpur-III

3. NA-228 Tando Muhammad Khan

Young Pakistanis who are registered voters in these constituencies are invited to submit their Expressions of Interest as soon as possible. Expressions of Interests can only be submitted online which can be accessed here.

The YPP Secretariat deeply appreciates and would like to thank all the individuals and entities who have promoted the message of Youth Parliament across Pakistan and around the World to facilitate overwhelming response by young Pakistanis. We thank Pakistani missions abroad and our partners especially our media partner – Jang-Geo Group – for facilitating effective communication of the YPP message across Pakistan and overseas.

The 17th Youth Parliament has 300 seats for which young Pakistanis will be selected from all 272 National Assembly general constituencies as well as from Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan. Special seats are allocated in YPP for Young Pakistanis or young persons of Pakistani origin residing overseas. The 17th Youth Parliament has a term of one (1) year and its activities will mainly be conducted online alongside atleast one optional 5-day residential session to be held in-person at Islamabad.

For more information, contact:
Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (PILDAT)
P.O. Box 278, F-8, Postal Code: 44220, Islamabad, Pakistan
Email: info@pildat.org
Website: www.pildat.org

Islamabad, December 15, 2021 (PPI-OT):UNDP in collaboration with PILDAT organized a Consultation Forum today on the latest Electoral Reforms currently under debate in the Parliament. The objective of today’s event was to inform and engage citizens and policymakers to strengthen the electoral processes in Pakistan for free, fair and credible elections in 2023.

The Consultation Forum was attended by representatives of nine political parties including Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPP-P), Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Pakistan (JUI), Muttahida Quami Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), Awami National Party (ANP), National Party (NP) and Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M). Chaudhry Fawad Hussain, MNA and Federal Minister of Information and Broadcasting, provided the government’s perspective and overview of the proposed amendments in the bill.

In her welcome remarks, Ms. Aliona Niculita, Resident Representative a.i. UNDP Pakistan, said that UNDP’s project on Strengthening Electoral and Legislative Processes (SELP) works to promote accountability and transparency. She expressed her pleasure upon seeing all the major political parties of Pakistan as well as civil society and media together to discuss electoral reforms for credible, fair and inclusive elections in Pakistan. Meanwhile, Mr. Ahmed Bilal Mehboob, President PILDAT said that the purpose of today’s forum was to discuss and debate those electoral reforms that are currently before the Parliament and take perspectives along with exchange of view among political parties, civil society and media. It was hoped that some level of consensus or a contribution may be made towards consensus on electoral reforms in Parliament.

Other political parties were represented by Engr. Khurram Dastgir Khan, MNA and Former Federal Minister and Senator Dr. Afnan Ullah Khan from PML-N, Senator Taj Haider, Chair Senate Standing Committee on Parliamentary Affairs from PPP-P, Senator Kamran Murtaza, Member Senate Standing Committee on Parliamentary Affairs from JUI, Senator Faisal Subzwari, Member Central Coordination Committee of MQM-P and Mr. Javed Hanif, MPA (Sindh), Member Central Coordination Committee of MQM-P, Senator Anwar ul Haq Kakar from BAP, Mr. Zahid Khan, Information Secretary ANP and Mr. Abdur Rahim Wazir, Member Central Working Committee of ANP, Senator Tahir Bizenjo from NP and Agha Hassan Baloch, MNA from BNP-M.

Representatives from Media and Civil Society included Mr. Habib Akram of Dunya TV, Ms. Arifa Noor of Dawn TV, Mr. Mujib-ur-Rehman Shami of Daily Pakistan, Mr. Bilal Gilani of Gallup Pakistan, Dr. Taha Ali of NUST, Mr. Fahd Husain of Dawn, Mr. Nazeer Mahar of Democracy Reporting International, Ms. Benazir Shah of Geo, Mr. Mukhtar Ahmed Ali of CPDI, Mr. Kanwar Dilshad of NDF, Mr. Shabir Ahmed of IFES, Mr. Saleem Safi of Geo, Mr. Mudassir Rizvi of TDEA-FAFEN, Mr. Farrukh Patafi of PTV, Mr. Tahir Khalil of Jang and Syed Anwar ul Hassan of PTV.

For more information, contact:
Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (PILDAT)
P.O. Box 278, F-8, Postal Code: 44220, Islamabad, Pakistan
Email: info@pildat.org
Website: www.pildat.org

Islamabad, December 01, 2021 (PPI-OT):With the objective of prioritising the future of the young people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, PILDAT and UNDP Pakistan jointly organised and conducted a Youth Dialogue on Mainstreaming Young Men and Women in Policy Processes in Peshawar.

Representatives of the Provincial Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as well as members of Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa sat down together to engage with youth representatives. These included Ms. Madiha Nisar, MPA (PTI) and Vice President of Women Parliamentary Caucus and Deputy Convenor Young Parliamentary Forum in KP Assembly, Ms. Asia Saleh Khattak, MPA (PTI), Sardar Ranjeet Singh, MPA (MMA), Mr. Waqar Ahmed Khan, MPA (ANP), Ms. Rehana Ismail, MPA (MMA), and Ms. Rabia Sattar, Central Joint Secretary ANP.

In their presentations to representatives of the Provincial Government and Opposition, Young students shared policy issues on Education, Harassment, Drug Abuse, Youth Access to Legislatures and Policy Makers and Leadership Crisis. Youth representatives presented detailed key policy recommendations to MPAs, some of which include the following:

1. Revival of student unions across academic institutions in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

2. Inclusion of topics relating to working of democracy, awareness of basic laws, political rights and democratic institutions on campuses

3. Promotion of intra-party democracy in each political party to facilitate inclusion of youth in the political process at all levels

4. Increment in number of merit-based scholarships at universities

5. Opportunities of organizing seminars with professionals from various fields

6. Encouragement of internship opportunities from private and public sector companies to students and young graduates

7. Facilitation of MOUs between different national and international varsities to provide abundant cultural exchange programmes

8. Allocation of funds for research in different field

9. Development of women harassment protection apps in KP

10. Appointment of lady officers for victims of sexual harassment

11. Address lack of mental health awareness related to drug abuse

12. Allocation of funds for drug rehabilitation centres

13. Facilitation of regular interaction between youth and legislators and initiation of a youth ambassador programme for such regular and direct interaction

Members of Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa agreed with the issues highlighted by the youth and appreciated their policy inputs on issues faced by them. MPAs reiterated that they will work together with youth in the province to resolve youth issues. MPAs also shared that various committees formed in the legislature were already working on some of the issues highlighted by the young people and that it was a very useful exercise to hear directly from the youth about the issues on ground.

At the end of the presentations and dialogue, students were given a tour of the Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The aim and purpose of this dialogue was to build young peoples’ capacity to meaningfully engage in youth policy planning with decision makers in the Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. After PILDAT conducted individual training and capacity building sessions for young people from public universities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 10 young students were selected based on their participation levels to undertake one combined training.

In addition to building their capabilities of engagement with policy makers, trainings were designed to facilitate students to develop practical policy recommendations for effective engagement with legislators to facilitate inclusive and pro-youth legislation and policymaking. In his welcome address, Mr. Faheem Ahmed Khan, Senior Projects Manager PILDAT highlighted the rationale behind facilitating meaningful engagement between youth and legislators.

For more information, contact:
Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (PILDAT)
P.O. Box 278, F-8, Postal Code: 44220, Islamabad, Pakistan
Email: info@pildat.org
Website: www.pildat.org

Islamabad, November 30, 2021 (PPI-OT):Even though Youth make the largest chunk of Pakistan’s population and registered voters in 18 to 29 years cohort form the largest of all age cohorts, Youth voter turnout remains abysmally low in Pakistan. Citing estimated data on Youth voter turnout collected by Gallup Pakistan over the past 8 General Elections since 1988, PILDAT has said that Youth voter turnout in the past eight (8) elections happens to be just 31% which is 13 percentage points lower than the average overall voter turnout in these eight (8) elections.

Youth voter turnout is even lower than women voter turnout during the past two elections for which women voter turnout figures are available. Average Youth voter turnout estimates are a mere 31.5% compared to 40% for women voter turnout and 53% for average national voter turnout during the last two elections in 2013 and 2018. In India, youth participation in the 2019 General Election exceeded the All India turnout by approximately 2%.

The issue of low level of youth voter turnout in Pakistan is further compounded by extremely scant youth participation in the political process as a whole with minimal political association and participation in elections as candidates at various levels (Local, Provincial and National). PILDAT, which has consistently invested in building youth’s leadership potential and understanding of the democratic process through 16 Youth Parliaments Pakistan, strongly believes that in order to strengthen Pakistan’s electoral process and to make it more inclusive, it is imperative that every state and political entity plays an effective role to increase Youth participation in elections.

PILDAT has just launched the registration process for young Pakistanis to register to join the 17th Youth Parliament Pakistan through which 272 young Pakistanis will be selected from equal number of National Assembly constituency across Pakistan. In addition, youth representation is invited from young Pakistanis living in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan and from young Pakistanis residing overseas.

Drawing attention of the Election Commission of Pakistan to the critical issue of low voter turnout in youth of Pakistan, PILDAT has urged the ECP to consider:

1. Carrying out estimation of total number of registered voters in the age group of 18 to 29 in the electoral rolls with breakdown for gender, provinces and even constituencies needs to be undertaken. This data also needs to be made public periodically at least on a yearly basis

2. Undertaking research focusing on Youth participation in electoral process to understand the reasons behind extra-ordinarily low youth voter turnout in Pakistan

3. Designing and executing special campaigns aimed at educating youth about the importance of participation as a voter

4. Conducting multiple Exit Polls to ascertain the level of Youth voter turnout in future general elections

5. Amending the ECP Strategic Plan 2018-2023 to include strategic actions aimed at addressing the low Youth voter turnout

6. Creating a dedicated wing or at least designating a focal person within the ECP to focus continuous attention on Youth participation in electoral process

PILDAT remains committed to enhancing Pakistani youth’s engagement in the process of democratic governance in Pakistan. In addition to the ECP, all actors, including political parties, national and provincial governments, and media must join hands to accelerate youth’s meaningful engagement in the electoral and democratic process in Pakistan.

For more information, contact:
Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (PILDAT)
P.O. Box 278, F-8, Postal Code: 44220, Islamabad, Pakistan
Email: info@pildat.org
Website: www.pildat.org

Islamabad, November 23, 2021 (PPI-OT):In a Youth Parliament Pakistan organised online symposium titled Why Young People Don’t Vote in Pakistan? participants held an enlightening discussion on how young people are reluctant to participate in the electoral processes, especially casting votes in the previous general elections.

Mr. Bilal Gilani, Executive Director Gallup Pakistan spoke on the topic of Youth Voter Turnout in the General Elections of Pakistan and stressed on the important fact that ¼th of the youth normally cast their votes in Pakistan and not the remaining ¾th. He highlighted that young women normally do not cast votes due to numerous factors such as their mobility constraints and household responsibilities. He further provided an overview of the statistical analysis of youth voter turnout in the past General Elections in Pakistan. Mr. Gilani said that the current eligible youth had witnessed the downfall of the country’s economy and the peak of terrorist activities which had made them resilient but still skeptical about the electoral system.

Ms. Nighat Siddique, Additional Director General, Gender and Social Inclusion Wing ECP spoke on Young Voters in Electoral Rolls and Initiatives to Improve Youth Voter Turnout and highlighted the voter turn-out and the lack of political participation of youth in Pakistan. She provided a comprehensive overview of the pilot projects to assess youth voter turnout in KP and how ECP is trying to extend it towards other universities. She shed light on the research wing which is constantly engaging the youth in training them about the significance of electoral process in Pakistan. She said that ECP is trying its best to reach out to the grassroots level community and to encourage their participation in the elections of Pakistan. She shed light on how ECP has made the electoral process inclusive in Pakistan for people with disabilities, marginalized youth and women.

The symposium was opened by Mr. Ahmed Bilal Mehboob, President PILDAT who welcomed the participants and speakers. He also shed light on the topic of the symposium and the significance of youth voters in Pakistan. Ms. Amna Kausar, Projects Manager PILDAT and Coordinator Youth Parliament Pakistan delivered a brief presentation and an overview of the 17th Youth Parliament Pakistan which is in the process of receiving EoIs and selecting 300-900 of the brightest young individuals belonging to 272 National Assembly constituencies, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Gilgit Baltistan and Overseas Pakistanis.

Mr. Mehboob, in his concluding remarks, highlighted the stark difference of youth voter turnout in Pakistan and India. He emphasized that youth voter turnout in India had exceeded the overall voter turnout in 2014 Lok Sabha election but in Pakistan, Youth Voter turnout is about 15 percentage points behind overall voter turnout. He thanked both the speakers and the participants who made the entire session engaging and interactive. Participants for the course included civil society actors, academic researchers, businessmen and students from all regions of Pakistan.

For more information, contact:
Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (PILDAT)
P.O. Box 278, F-8, Postal Code: 44220, Islamabad, Pakistan
Email: info@pildat.org
Website: www.pildat.org

Islamabad, November 16, 2021 (PPI-OT):In a first of its kind initiative, PILDAT has authored Pakistan’s first civil society parallel report on compliance of Pakistan on the UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC). The United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) is a first legally binding international instrument on anti-corruption. Pakistan is among 181 UN member states which have ratified UNCAC. A mandatory requirement under UNCAC is a review of implementation of its clauses for each signatory state.

Officially, through a peer-review system, experts of two countries (selected through balloting) review the anti-corruption laws and procedures of another state to assess its implementation of UNCAC provisions based on the information provided by that state. In addition, independent parallel implementation review of a country by its civil-society organizations is also encouraged. PILDAT, therefore, undertook an independent parallel review of Pakistan’s implementation of UNCAC to assess the effectiveness of our state institutions and mechanisms to combat corruption.

The voluminous 82-page PILDAT parallel report is based on extensive independent research that looks at Pakistan’s implementation of UNCAC Chapter II (Preventive Measures) and Chapter V (Asset Recovery), as part of the UNCAC review cycle. The PILDAT report is a product of exhaustive research spanning over a year which has looked deeply at the intricacies of the myriad legal framework governing anti-corruption in Pakistan to carry out an objective and independent evaluation of the implementation of the framework by various State and government institutions.

While dominant public discourse on anti-corruption in Pakistan is polemical and only based on a cursory view of the anti-corruption system in place, the PILDAT report is a result of wide-ranging in-depth study to produce an independent review from citizens’ perspective on Pakistan’s anti-corruption system and its implementation as well as performance of key institutions relating to Pakistan’s global commitments to anti-corruption.

The PILDAT parallel report underscores that Pakistan has made good progress on aspects of implementation and enforcement of UNCAC and in performance of some relevant institutions. The report highlights that within anti-corruption and oversight framework, Pakistan has implemented several important legal amendments in recent years that provide a budgetary oversight role for Parliament and has advanced access to information on the federal level. In provinces, there has been forward movement in adopting laws to tackle conflicts of interest and to provide a framework for whistleblowing, among others.

The key recommendation by PILDAT in its parallel report is the urgent need to strengthen oversight mechanism of Parliament for Pakistan’s implementation of UNCAC. The Parliamentary Standing Committees on Law and Justice, as well as others, need to play an effective and active role in the oversight of the implementation of UNCAC in Pakistan. It is the duty of parliamentarians to require the executive to follow national and international obligations, and for successive governments to regularly and openly report to the Parliament on the fulfilment of international obligations.

In our independent parallel review process, PILDAT shared a draft of the report with the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for its comments. The final version of the PILDAT report contains, to an extent possible, some of the recommendations made by the NAB.

The PILDAT report on the Implementation of UNCAC Chapter II (Preventive Measures) and Chapter V (Asset Recovery) in Pakistan has been officially published by the UNCAC Coalition, a global network of civil society organisations promoting the ratification, implementation and monitoring of UNCAC. PILDAT is grateful to the UNCAC Coalition for its assistance.

The independent PILDAT parallel report is intended as a contribution to the currently ongoing second cycle of official UNCAC implementation review of Pakistan. PILDAT, however, believes that more work needs to be done to effectively implement Pakistan’s anti-corruption system and our international commitments.

The report can be accessed globally and is available here: https://uncaccoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/Parallel-Report-PILDAT-final-27.10.21.pdf

An Urdu Translated version of the PILDAT report will be available soon.

For more information, contact:
Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (PILDAT)
P.O. Box 278, F-8, Postal Code: 44220, Islamabad, Pakistan
Email: info@pildat.org
Website: www.pildat.org