Tackling jirgas: Community councils help to dispense justice in province
Report compiled on the gender-based justice project.
KARACHI:
“The scope of community-based justice system in the province will be widened under the new project,” said Sindh Home Minister Dr Zulfiqar Ali Mirza on Friday. He asked for a detailed briefing on the gender justice programme, which is being started as an alternate conflict resolution mechanism across Sindh.
Mirza issued these directives to the consultant on planning, policy, public relation and home affairs, Sharfuddin Memon, after reviewing a report he had prepared on the Gender Justice Through Musalihat Anjuman Project (GJTMAP). The project aims to create a convenient justice mechanism at a grassroots level and at the same time attempts to reduce the influence of the jirga system.
Memon pointed out in his report that GJTMAP National Project Manager has suggested that the home department and local government department should sign an MoU in order to streamline, institutionalise and ensure timely referrals and amicable dispute resolution with the help of the police and home department.
He also referred to the follow-up communication received from the GJTMAP project manager, according to which Musalihat Anjumans (MAs) were working in five districts — Shikarpur, Dadu, Sanghar, Jacobabad and Nawabshah — in Sindh.
Memon also highlighted the proposal on curriculum development for the orientation training of police officials at the provincial, district and sub-district levels. “The GJTMAP project manager said that the curriculum could be developed under the joint guidance of the home and local government departments with reference to areas such as human rights, Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR), etc,” he noted.
He observed that these MAs have been helpful in reducing gender-related violence because the community is involved in the resolution of conflicts and it also monitors the repetition of offence. The success, he added, of the MAs has in turn reduced the workload of the police as well as the courts.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 19th, 2011.
“The scope of community-based justice system in the province will be widened under the new project,” said Sindh Home Minister Dr Zulfiqar Ali Mirza on Friday. He asked for a detailed briefing on the gender justice programme, which is being started as an alternate conflict resolution mechanism across Sindh.
Mirza issued these directives to the consultant on planning, policy, public relation and home affairs, Sharfuddin Memon, after reviewing a report he had prepared on the Gender Justice Through Musalihat Anjuman Project (GJTMAP). The project aims to create a convenient justice mechanism at a grassroots level and at the same time attempts to reduce the influence of the jirga system.
Memon pointed out in his report that GJTMAP National Project Manager has suggested that the home department and local government department should sign an MoU in order to streamline, institutionalise and ensure timely referrals and amicable dispute resolution with the help of the police and home department.
He also referred to the follow-up communication received from the GJTMAP project manager, according to which Musalihat Anjumans (MAs) were working in five districts — Shikarpur, Dadu, Sanghar, Jacobabad and Nawabshah — in Sindh.
Memon also highlighted the proposal on curriculum development for the orientation training of police officials at the provincial, district and sub-district levels. “The GJTMAP project manager said that the curriculum could be developed under the joint guidance of the home and local government departments with reference to areas such as human rights, Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR), etc,” he noted.
He observed that these MAs have been helpful in reducing gender-related violence because the community is involved in the resolution of conflicts and it also monitors the repetition of offence. The success, he added, of the MAs has in turn reduced the workload of the police as well as the courts.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 19th, 2011.