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Mullahs Ask Aid Groups to Fire Women |
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Clerics in earthquake-hit Azad Kashmir have told aid agencies to fire all local women employees or face violent protests, officials and religious leaders said on August 25.
The threat, given to district officials and NGOs in Bagh will dent hopes that the October 8 quake could have a positive effect on women’s rights in the conservative region. “We have told the administration that we will not allow NGOs to exploit our women and asked them to give a date suitable to them for removal of all female workers,” said prayer leader of the Bagh central mosque.
“If our demand is not met then we will take direct action and extreme steps. There will be demonstrations and damage may be caused to public property and a law and order situation would be created in the area,” he added.
The religious leader said locals were angered by “obscene” activities at NGOs. “They hire beautiful girls and take them to Islamabad for enjoyment. They keep women in offices as decoration pieces because we know that women have no work and there is no such work that men cannot do,” he said. Aid groups say female workers are vital to ensure that religious and social conventions are respected when dealing with women in the devastated region, especially for health matters. The United Nations, which has coordinated aid efforts after the quake, said it was aware of the issue. “Discussions are going on with the government and clergy. Things are not finalized yet,” said public information officer for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. |
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US Donor Agency Withdraws Help |
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Due to bureaucratic hurdles, a US-based international donor agency, AmeriCares, has withdrawn its pledge to construct eight pre-fabricated rural health centers in the earthquake zone of the NWFP, official sources said.
According to officials of the provincial health department, AmeriCares had agreed to construct 20 rural health centers at a total cost of $3.20 million in the earthquake zones of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and the northern district of the NWFP. A Memorandum of Understanding had already been signed between the government and the donor organization, wherein the latter had agreed to construct 12 rural health centers in the AJK zone, while the remaining eight in the earthquake zones of the NWFP.
According to the MoU, the WHO was supposed to help AmeriCares as well as the government in the identification and construction of Basic Health Units, officials said.
AmeriCares had agreed to bear all construction expenditures of the pre-fabricated rural health centers containing 15 rooms, a laboratory and X-ray room, the sources said.
The health departments of the NWFP and the AJK have agreed to provide the entire technical staff and bear running expenses, including the salaries for the staff. Both the AJK and NWFP governments had agreed to identify a spot for the proposed construction of the rural health units before July 1, 2006, and the donor agency had showed its willingness to complete the construction process before August 31.
Though the staff of the donor agency approved the AJK sites, and reportedly the construction is almost half-way, while in the case of the NWFP the health department has failed to identify appropriate sites because most of the sites identified were lacking in space due to which construction work has not been started at most of the sites, the sources maintained.
When the contractor visited the identified sites, most of them were not suitable for such heavy investment as they were lacking in proper spacing, an official of the donor agency confirmed. An official said that when only 28 days had been left in the expiry of the period of the construction, it was impossible to complete its construction by the
August 3.
“Certainly the donor agency has already hinted to withdraw the investment and its local staff is trying to convince them to extend the construction period,” he said. It is believed that some senior officials were demanding commission and the contractor was refusing to do so.
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Home | Earth Quake | 1) | 2) |
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KARACHI, Oct 27: Parents of 18-year-old Tasleem Solangi, who was killed in an extremely inhumane manner allegedly by some elders of her tribe, have appealed to President and Sindh Chief Minister to provide them protection as “killers are still at large and have not been arrested because of their connections with police”.
