Free, fair and equal: Gender checklist for elections unveiled

Aims to ensure women’s right to vote and stand for public office


Our Correspondent November 27, 2014

PESHAWAR:


A ‘gender checklist’ for free and fair elections was issued by Blue Veins, a local non-governmental organisation (NGO), on Thursday.  The publication was unveiled at Peshawar Press Club as part of the global ‘16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence’, which started on November 25 and will end on Human Rights Day on December 10.


According to a press release issued, Blue Veins Programme Coordinator Qamar Naseem said elections are an integral component of democracy.



Elections are only free and fair when there are no unreasonable or arbitrary limitations imposed on the rights of adult citizens to express their political will, either as electoral candidates or voters, said Naseem.  “But notions of citizenship and the rights, and privileges attached to it, are often gender-neutral or male-dominated.”

The checklist aims to serve as a mechanism to ensure that gender equality is taken into account at different stages of an election. It shall be a useful tool for electoral authorities, political parties, election observers, election monitors, gender activists, researchers and others concerned with assessing whether an election is free and fair, taking gender equality into account, read the press statement.

At the news conference, Takra Qabayli Khwendy Coordinator Shahida Shah said equal exercise of the vote is a democratic right.

Representatives of Pakhtunkhwa Civil Society Network (PCSN), Tribal NGOs Consortium (TNC), Takra Qabayli Khwendy (TQK) and members of K-P & FATA End Violence Against Women and Girl Alliance were also present on the occasion.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 28th, 2014.

COMMENTS (1)

Sidra Humayun | 9 years ago | Reply

Really a fine effort and at a very right time it is being shared. I think few copies should be shared with Election commission of Pakistan and other institution heads. Share it with Editors and columnists of different newspapers too.

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