CODE PAKISTAN
CODE PAKISTAN is promoting peace, tolerance, and inclusivity in Pakistan.
CODE PAKISTAN is an Islamabad-based independent not-for-profit organization. CODE PAKISTAN was founded in May 2014 by a team of professionals with diverse expertise and strengths out of an urge to contribute to the peace and prosperity of Pakistan and to do something for the welfare of Pakistanis. Besides the professional expertise of its team, CODE PAKISTAN is endowed with a vast network of like-minded individuals as well as organizations. The network of CODE PAKISTAN extends from the remote town of Chitral in the north-west of the country to the business hub of Karachi in the south-east. CODE PAKISTAN is not only connected geographically all across Pakistan in about every province, as well as Azad Jammu and Kashmir, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), and Gilgit-Baltisan, but also across a vast spectrum of social strata including government functionaries, parliamentarians, development organizations, political parties, religious leaders, civil society, academia, journalists, and the youth. We are currently working very closely with the Government of Pakistan on a range of interventions with an aim of contributing to the peace and prosperity of this beautiful country.
CODE PAKISTAN is particularly focused on promoting peace, tolerance, and inclusivity in Pakistan. Peacebuilding, therefore, is one of the main pursuits of our organization. Besides several initiatives in the field of peacebuilding, CODE PAKISTAN is very strong in research and analysis. We have produced about half a dozen comprehensive research studies during the course of our journey. By critically evaluating some of the pressing concerns of the country through our research, we are informing future interventions in the concerned fields. Policy advocacy on the basis of hard facts and analysis with the help of our research has become a very important aspect of our work. Over the years, we have developed a strong rapport with the Government of Pakistan to assist it on policy research. Gender equity and women empowerment is another important element of our work. CODE PAKISTAN is endeavoring to explore strategies to combat gender-based violence, support survivors of domestic violence, and identify mechanisms to empower women and girls. We are of the view that reducing polarization in the society by countering extremism is imperative for the prosperity of Pakistan. Therefore, a number of our initiatives also focus on countering extremism in the society.
CODE PAKISTAN is proud to have been a part of the first-ever national-level consultations involving students and faculties of 41 universities and 4 madaris from across Pakistan through the National Youth Conference on Countering Violent Extremism in July 2018. Taking the process forward, CODE PAKISTAN has assisted the HEC in evolving action plans for countering violent extremism on campuses through the first of its kind consultations with the students and faculties of 15 universities from all over Pakistan in the form of Youth Outreach at University for Countering Violent Extremism. Once again, as a first in terms of countering violent extremism on university campuses, CODE PAKISTAN produced a seminal study on the subject titled Countering Violent Extremism on Campuses: The Need for Institutionalization in November 2019. In pursuance of CODE PAKISTAN’s mission to assist the higher education institutions in countering violent extremism, CODE PAKISTAN is in the process of implementing CVE programs on campuses in continuation of its consultations with the universities for developing action plans for countering on-campus violent extremism. The first project is being implemented at the NED University Karachi.
Alongside our untiring efforts toward countering violent extremism on campuses and involving the youth in policy formulation related to their future, we have conducted policy research for other relevant government stakeholders as well. We have assisted the Ministry of States and Frontier Regions (SAFRON) through recommendations regarding comprehensive policy response to Afghan refugees in Pakistan in collaboration with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). CODE PAKISTAN has also worked with Ministry of Interior through NACTA on framing National Policy Guidelines on Countering Extremism. CODE PAKISTAN has also assisted NACTA by producing a report titled Addressing Overcrowding in Prisons by Reducing Pre-Conviction Detention in Pakistan and a report on Revamping of the Criminal Justice System Pursuant to Point 20 of the National Action Plan.
CODE PAKISTAN is also working closely with the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). We are working closely with the KP Youth Ministry through the Provincial Minister’s Office and have established mechanisms to promote tourism and entrepreneurship among youth. The Minister, based on CODE PAKISTAN input, instructed three universities, i.e., University of Malakand, Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan, and Hazara University to strengthen the already existing tourism departments in the mentioned universities. It was CODE PAKISTAN’s efforts to work with KP Minister for Youth and Tourism that provided an opportunity for the youth to participate in various KP youth initiatives.
CODE PAKSITAN is currently conducting a research study on the lessons learnt from the Malakand merger experience for the case of the merger of the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) now known as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Merged Districts (KPMD). President CODE PAKISTAN is leading the said study. The Chief Minister of KP has authorised the study and once completed will be submitted to the Chief Minister and other relevant stakeholders in the province. These on-going efforts of CODE PAKSITAN are a testament to the faith the senior-most level representatives of the Government of KP have in our work.
Over the years, CODE PAKISTAN has earned respect among the stakeholders for upholding the values of consistency and promoting innovation. CODE PAKISTAN places great focus on peace-building efforts through youth engagement and was among the very few organisations that advocated peace efforts in Pakistani madaris both male and female in addition to the universities.
Women empowerment is also very high on the priority list of CODE PAKISTAN. We are endeavoring to explore innovative strategies for empowering women and girls. Our aim is to design programs for women that are culturally rooted and strong enough to provide long-term sustainability to the empowerment of women. CODE PAKISTAN is particularly keen on countering the structural discrimination women face in accessing education and development opportunities. CODE PAKISTAN is working toward highlighting the causes of gender disparity that include lack of awareness, resource constraints, social barriers, and limited access to facilities. We intend to break down barriers to women’s economic growth, including supporting policies that create an enabling environment for women to gain access to finance.
CODE PAKISTAN has conceived a project for assisting skilled women from remote towns and villages of KP to find a place in the national and international markets, called Stitching Hopes. The idea is to fuse their skills with contemporary market requirements both in terms of trends and techniques. The monetary profits from the project will be utilized to educate the girls (age 4-18). On the one hand, we are hoping to instill a feeling of lifelong empowerment in the minds of the beneficiary girls. On the other hand, we are also hoping to empower the women sponsoring the girls’ education by making them the decision makers. We are proud to announce that in February 2018 CODE PAKISTAN assisted the Government of Pakistan in organizing a landmark conference of a diverse group of female leaders to discuss the role of women in national peacebuilding efforts to counter violence and extremism. The attending participants ranged from religious scholars, social workers, women’s rights activists to political leaders, and businesswomen, who unanimously denounced violence and agreed on the need for women to be more actively engaged in peacebuilding strategies.
We have also recently come up with an idea of discouraging what we have termed passive harassment of women by engaging the male, as well as female, youth studying at various universities across the country in a dialogue on sensitizing them toward the subtle or passive actions that could be making women uncomfortable in a workplace or public environment. Such passive harassment might not even be perceived by the inadvertent harassers because they are unaware that it might constitute a subtle variety of harassment. We have planned to counter such passive harassment through interactive learning and sensitization sessions with the students of various universities across the country, which we believe could greatly alleviate the situation of women venturing out of the relative safety of their homes for study or work.