ISLAMABAD: Aawaz II programme convened government officials, civil society leaders, and community representatives for “Bridging the Gap: A Roadmap for Social Change,” a two day event focused on sustaining community led initiatives addressing child marriage, gender based violence, and social exclusion across Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
British Council Pakistan Country Director James Hampson, FCDO Senior Responsible Officer Ali Naqvi, Federal Ombudsperson FOSPAH Fauzia Viqar, KPCSW Chairperson Sumaira Shams, and Punjab SWD Additional Secretary Amina Munir joined community volunteers to discuss evidence and strategies for institutionalising grassroots change.
The forum highlighted significant policy wins driven by community advocacy, including the Punjab Hindu Marriage Rules 2024 protecting over 228,000 community members, and PKR 1,400 million in KP budget allocations resulting from citizen consultations. Reflecting on the programme’s impact, James Hampson stated: “The gap Aawaz has tried to address can be measured as the distance between a young girl in rural Punjab or Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the school she should be attending. It can be the silence a Hindu family feels when they have no legal recognition of their marriage.”
Day 2 features sessions on social cohesion with closing remarks from Senator Azam Nazeer Tarar, Federal Minister for Law and Justice. Implemented by the British Council and funded by FCDO, Aawaz II has reached 36 million people, mobilised 48,000 volunteers, and established 1,455 community forums where women, youth, religious minorities, persons with disabilities, and transgender persons lead efforts for social change. –PR
