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ISLAMABAD, Dec 22 (APP): The First Meeting of the Sub-Committee of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Ombudsman Association (OICOA) was held on Monday.
The meeting was attended by members of the sub-committee including Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Benin, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Togo and Türkiye. In addition to the members of the sub-committee, the meeting was also attended by the representatives from Women Development Organization (WDO) of OIC, Provincial Ombudsmen of Kyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab as well as OICOA Secretariat through its Executive Secretary Almas Jovinda.
Welcoming the participants of the meeting, Federal Ombudsperson FOSPAH Fauzia Viqar emphasized that collective wisdom lays the foundation for a shared journey towards strengthening women’s rights across OIC member states. The Sub-committee will serve as a platform where diverse institutional experiences will converge to shape the unified vision.
She expressed hope that the work of Sub-Committee would echo across the OICOA States and that women across OIC would look upto the Ombudsperson’s institution for protection, courage and fairness.
Country presentations highlighted the constitutional guarantees, legislative and policy frameworks and implementation mechanisms within each country such as, repealing restrictions on women employment in 674 occupations across sectors in Azerbaijan; positive discrimination in favor of women and reserving seats for women in the Parliaments of Benin and Pakistan, subsidizing the election fee in Togo for women candidates to a quarter of the fee for men, to encourage their participation in politics and; advocacy and input in national laws relating to women, including the reproductive health and child marriages, alimony, and access to economic opportunities for women in Azerbaijan and Benin. Members of the Sub Committee highlighted the ongoing challenges in their respective countries, including the socio-cultural barriers leading to weak culture of reporting and low representation of women in decision making positions.
The meeting concluded with discussion on the future plan of action for the Sub-Committee and, alignment of the Sub-Committee’s objectives and plans with the OIC Plan of Action for Advancement of Women as well as with the objectives of the WDO. Capacity building of the member States will be conducted by the Sub-Committee for its members and the general membership of the OICOA. The Sub-Committee offered to open up its initiative to the general membership of OIC through the Women Development Organization of the OIC.