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PESHAWAR, Jul 24 (APP):A multi-stakeholder consultation on draft Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Protection and Welfare Policy for Transgender proposed recommendations to ensure that the legal document is inclusive and comprehensively addresses the needs of this highly vulnerable and marginalized community.
The consultation was jointly organized by Social Welfare Department KP, National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR) and Blue Veins organization here on Thursday at Committee Room of Pakistan Forest Institute (PFI).
The workshop was attended by people belonging to different walks of life including government officials, civil society representative, lawyers, trans rights activist, academia and media persons.
In his welcome address, Additional Secretary Social Welfare Department KP, Umara Khan said that this consultation is part of Social Welfare department’s ongoing commitment to safeguarding the rights and protection of transgender persons.
The input and suggestions made by the participants in the consultative workshop will serve as instrumental in refining and strengthening the policy framework to ensure it is inclusive and responsive to the needs of transgender community.
Giving a detail background of legislations made so far for rights of transgender community, Qamar Naseem, Programme Manager Blue Veins said the community got its separate identity for the first time in 2009 in wake of a decision taken by Supreme Court of Pakistan.
The same judgement, Qamar continued, helped in issuance of X identity cards to transgender community.
In 2018, the Transgender Persons Protection and Rights Acts was passed which was later held by Federal Shariat Court (FSC) over the issues of right of self- proclaimed gender identity and inheritance rights.
Qamar said this Protection and Welfare Policy for Transgender was drafted in 2017 and now government wanted to re-draft for making in fully responsive to the needs of the community.
Known social activist and former Provincial Ombudsperson, Rakshanda Naz stresses for making the policy as `meaningful’ to ensure all needs of trans community are fulfilled.
She said currently, transgender community is facing a lot of hardship in getting X cards. The community cannot open any bank account due to lack of legal documents, while the job quota of 0.5 percent is also not fulfilled by government.
She said the KP Transgender Welfare Policy should be in harmony to international laws and obligations and for its implementation a plan of action should be chalked out. During consultation workshop separate groups were formed wherein stakeholders made suggestions in writing for the guidance of relevant departments.
Deputy Secretary Social Welfare, Nudrat thanked attendants of the workshop and held out assurance of implementation of the welfare policy with a few months.