The United Nations (UN) Women has launched the Tahaffuz program in collaboration with the Ministry of Law and Justice Ministry in Pakistan, aimed at protecting women and preventing violence against them through enhanced access to justice and services.
It is being funded by the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (INL) of the United States (US) Department of State and will focus on the prevention of violence against women (VAW) while facilitating their access to justice.
The program will be implemented in five districts of Punjab and Sindh, and the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) until 2024.
UN Women Deputy Country Representative, Jacqui Ketunuti, emphasized Tahaffuz’s objectives that the UN will build on the success of the program’s previous phase, She mentioned that it will address issues relating to VAW through a comprehensive strategy involving stakeholders from government institutions, law and security officials, and civil society.
Ketunuti revealed that Tahaffuz will use gender and social inclusion strategies to ensure that VAW is extensively addressed and that it will help institutions that facilitate women in accessing justice to deliver accessible, quality, and gender-responsive services.
“The program aims to tackle the issue of violence against women in a holistic way through evidence-based legislation and policy interventions, strengthening the capacity of duty bearers, enhancing coordination, and increasing awareness,” Ketunuti added.
INL’s Director, Lori Antolinez, disclosed that the US government is granting UN Women $1.5 million to help Pakistani women attain better access to justice and legal services via Tahaffuz. She also assured of the INL’s continued support and partnership with the Government of Pakistan, Pakistanis, and UN Women.
She added that the INL had been the sole funder of Phase One of the UN Women program in 2016, for which it had provided $3.5 million.
“Gender inclusivity and women’s empowerment in law enforcement and criminal justice is a top priority for INL in Pakistan. We support programs to improve women’s access to justice through improved law-enforcement response to gender-based violence. More and better-trained women law enforcement professionals mean superior delivery of justice to Pakistani women,” Antolinez declared.
She also mentioned that Tahaffuz is aimed at boosting the capacity of law-enforcement officials by improving knowledge of and attitudes to gender, and enhancing the handling of cases of VAW with improved coordination between security and justice sector stakeholders, forensic officers, and medical examiners.
The federal Minister for Law, Azam Nazeer Tarar, outlined the steps taken by the government to ensure the prevention of VAW in Pakistan and highlighted that many progressive laws and a strong legislative framework already exist in the country.
He thanked the INL and UN Women for their support and contributions and remarked, “This program will help create a safe and enabling environment for women and girls so that they may play an active role in national progress and sustainable development”.
