Presentation about GSI:

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INITIATIVE BY GENDER AND SOCIAL INCLUSION WING

ECP’s Special Measures to Enhance Women’s Political Participation and Representation:

• ECP established a dedicated Gender and Social Inclusion Wing to ensure and enhance participation of women, transgender (TGs), people with special abilities, and religious minorities in electoral process of Pakistan
• ECP launched a nationwide Women NIC/Voter Registration Campaign in 2017 in 116 districts across the country where variation in gender gap on electoral rolls was more than 10 %. The Campaign aimed to decrease the gender gap in the Electoral Rolls by increasing registration of women as voters. As a result of these special initiatives, ECP has successfully decreased the gender gap in Electoral Rolls from 11.8 % to 7.74% by December, 2023. In its 4^th phase, the campaign is currently being implemented across Pakistan
• Management Information System (MIS) is prepared for mapping activities of NIC/Voter Registration Campaign and District Voter Education Committees (DVECs) formed at district level
• Harassment Committees are working effectively at ECP Secretariat and Provincial Headquarters for ensuring conducive environment for female workforce in the organization
• All office buildings of ECP are made accessible to differently able persons by providing ramps and other means of accessibility
• ECP has successfully drafted Gender Mainstreaming and Social Inclusion Framework (GMSIF) which will be launched soon and after that ECP will become the first EMB in the region with a Gender Mainstreaming and Social Inclusion Framework
• ECP has prepared and uploaded documentaries on ECP’s website in order to raise awareness among different segments of the society about voter and civic education, voter registration, vote casting, and postal ballot facility offered to persons with disabilities
• ECP interacts continuously with rural women at the grassroots level communities and in order to raise awareness about the electoral process and polling day activities, ECP conducts mock polls and holds dialogues with rural women on Rural Women’s Day falling in October every year. Throughout the electoral cycle, youth engagement and voter awareness sessions and mock poll exercises are held in schools, colleges, universities, community centers, and religious places to encourage young people and other marginalized communities including minorities, PWDs, and TGs to take part in electoral processes
• Gender and Disability Electoral Working Group (GDEWG) is a platform provided to Civil Society Organizations working on political rights of women, PWDs, Transgender and minorities. The forum is established at ECP Secretariat and four provincial headquarters with the membership of around hundred members organizations. The forum plans, discusses, analysis issues and challenges and recommends strategies to enhance electoral participation of women, transgender, PWDs and minorities. ECP conducts gender sensitive voter information campaigns regularly with grass roots communities through District Voter Education Committees (DVEC), Provincial Project Coordination Committees (PPC) and GDEWG
• Ensures outreach messages through different modes including print, electronic and social media for grassroots level communities with special focus on voter education material in Braille and 3D pictures for PWDs.
• Ensures that as far as possible, polling stations are set up on ground floors and made accessible through ramps
• Ensures special polling arrangements and preferential voting facility (without standing in lines) for expecting mothers, PWDs, elderly people, and transgender.
• Conduct gender sensitive trainings of polling staff, security personnel and media on ways to address gender based violence and discrimination in the electoral process. Till date, 26000 plus gender sensitive trainings have been conducted to sensitize polling staff on gender mainstreaming and inclusive electoral processes
• Ensures that political parties comply with Section 206 of Elections Act 2017 and award 5% tickets to women on general seats
• Conduct spot checks of female polling stations to confirm conducive environment for female polling staff with basic facilities such as provision of clean drinking water, well lit rooms and corridors, rest rooms and ramps at the polling stations.
• Provides separate polling stations or booths for women with adequate privacy measures such as kanats at the entrances of combined polling stations for separate entry/exit for male and female voters
• Ensures presence of female staff and female security personnel at female polling stations and female polling booths at combined polling stations to guide women voters on vote casting procedure on poll day
• Establish dedicated gender desk with complaint numbers to address issues of discrimination, intimidation, undue influence and gender based violence and concerns of women, PWDs, Transgender and minorities
• District Monitoring Officers and Monitoring teams of ECP vigilantly monitor any violation of gender violence or discrimination and take immediate and appropriate actions as per the law
• ECP holds consultations with stakeholders such as political parties, election experts, academia, researchers, and forums representing women’s rights including Women Parliamentary Caucuses to understand the challenges faced by women in their political participation. Appropriate strategies are planned and implemented to enhance women’s participation in electoral processes
• ECP ensures strict compliance to Sections 9, 12, 18 (1), 19 (2)&(5), 47, 48, 84(9), 91(1), 93, 104, 170, 203(4), 206 & 226 of the Elections Act 2017 which deals with increasing political participation and representation of the marginalized groups including women, persons with disabilities, transgender citizens and minorities