Democracy

When the Devolution of Power plan was introduced in the year 2001 by the government, Society for Human Development  started the education and awareness program on the Devolution of Power plan. Following activities were carried out in the districts of Faisalabad, Toba Tek Singh and Jhang.

Seminars were organized in the rural and urban areas to introduce the Devolution of Power Plan at the community level. The seminars were conducted at the community  level as well as with the opinion makers in the society.

Society for Human Development  Theatre team performed in the Peoples’ Assemblies in Faisalabad, Lahore and Rawalpindi. The issue highlighted through the theatre was the restoration of joint electorate system in the country.

Training programs were conducted for the journalists in the district Toba Tek Singh.

Society for Human Development  encouraged the women from the rural areas to participate in the elections at every level. Twenty three women were elected as union, tehsil and district council members.

Voters’ Education program focused on the education of the voters to caste their vote not on the basis of caste, group or relationship but to caste the vote on the basis of the program given by the candidates for the development of the areas

After the district governments were formed, following activities were carried out in the district Toba Tek Singh and Tehsil Samundari.

Help social organizations establish the linkages between community and the government officials for the maximum participation of the community in the development schemes at union council level. The councilors at the union councils also attended the linkages programs as they play the vital role in the decision making.

Conducted training programs for councilors especially women councilors. The women councilors’ participation in the decision making process is specially focused.

Citizen Community Boards:

The Citizens’ Community Boards are registered to promote and strengthen the community participation in the local development. We have also built the capacity of the women groups in eight union councils and they have registered the CCBs for the development of the union councils. Society for Human Development  conducts training programs to build the capacity of the groups so that they can operate with the maximum participation of the local communities.

Women Councilors’ Network:

The Women Councilors Network is formed in District Toba Tek Singh for the political education and capacity building of the women councilors. The idea of organizing the women councilors came from the fact that most of the women councilors took part in the elections for the first time. For the first time, government allocated 33 % seats for the women in the local bodies’ elections and with this sudden decision; the women were not politically prepared for taking part in the elections. This network built the capacity of the women and prepared them for the role they opted after the elections.

The Women Councilors Network held four training programs annually on different aspects of local bodies and the role of the women councilors.