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Pakistani PM says prioritizing participation in leadership roles for people with disabilities

Pakistani PM says prioritizing participation in leadership roles for people with disabilities
In this file photo, taken on November 6, 2024, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif speaks during a special meeting with Gilgit Baltistan Cabinet in Gilgit. (Photo courtesy: PMO/File)
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Updated 03 December 2024
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Pakistani PM says prioritizing participation in leadership roles for people with disabilities

Pakistani PM says prioritizing participation in leadership roles for people with disabilities
  • 2024 theme for International Day Of Persons With Disabilities is ‘Amplifying leadership of persons with disabilities’
  • As many as 27 million people in Pakistan may be living with disabilities, both intellectual and physical, HRW says
Updated 03 December 2024
SAIMA SHABBIR
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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is prioritizing the participation in leadership roles of people with disabilities, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said as he joined the international community in commemorating the International Day Of Persons With Disabilities today, Tuesday.
The 2024 theme for the annual day is ‘Amplifying the leadership of persons with disabilities for an inclusive and sustainable future,’ connoting the basic requirements of participation, representation and inclusion and calls for persons with disabilities to actively shape the conditions of their lives.
People with disabilities can play important roles in leadership, and their unique perspectives can lead to better services for people with disabilities, rights bodies say. They can also help ensure that organizations are accountable for actions that affect people with disabilities.
“This year’s theme, ‘Amplifying the Leadership of Persons with Disabilities for an Inclusive and Sustainable Future,’ highlights a vital truth: the journey toward a more inclusive world must be led by those who understand its challenges firsthand,” Sharif said in a statement. 
“We are prioritizing their participation in leadership roles, ensuring that their perspectives guide our national development strategies, and building a society that values their contributions as leaders, innovators, and changemakers.”
An estimated 1.3 billion people – about 16 percent of the global population – currently experience significant disability. As many as 27 million people in Pakistan may be living with disabilities, both intellectual and physical, according to Human Rights Watch.
Sharif said initiatives such as enhancing access to assistive technologies, improving inclusive infrastructure, and ensuring the implementation of disability-friendly laws were central to Pakistan’s vision.
“We are taking meaningful steps to ensure that persons with disabilities are provided with equal opportunities in education, employment, health care, and public life. Our government is working diligently to implement comprehensive policies that address accessibility, empower individuals with disabilities, and break down societal barriers that hinder their full participation.”
Sharif also highlighted the need to acknowledge the invaluable contributions of caregivers, advocates, and organizations working to support persons with disabilities.
“I urge our institutions, businesses, and civil society to play their role in breaking down barriers and fostering environments where persons with disabilities can contribute as leaders,” the PM added. 
“We must also make conscious efforts to challenge behaviors and attitudes that perpetuate stigma and discrimination, replacing them with understanding and respect.”

Topics: International Day Of Persons With Disabilities 2024 International Day Of Persons With Disabilities

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Pakistan province forms grand jirga to broker truce after 133 killed in sectarian feuding

Pakistan province forms grand jirga to broker truce after 133 killed in sectarian feuding
Updated 47 sec ago
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Pakistan province forms grand jirga to broker truce after 133 killed in sectarian feuding

Pakistan province forms grand jirga to broker truce after 133 killed in sectarian feuding
  • 133 people killed, 177 injured in sporadic clashes in Kurram district since Nov. 21 with two failed attempts at a ceasefire
  • Grand jirga has participation of former lawmakers from tribal districts with representation from Sunni and Shiite sects
Updated 47 sec ago
REHMAT MEHSUD

PESHAWAR: The government in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province has formed a grand council of elders to broker a ceasefire in the region’s Kurram district where over 130 people have been killed in sectarian clashes since last month and two earlier deals to stymie the fighting have failed, members of the new council said on Tuesday.
Pakistan is a Sunni-majority country, but Kurram has a large Shiite population, and the communities have clashed for decades. At least 133 people have been killed and 177 injured in sporadic clashes since Nov. 21, with two failed attempts at a ceasefire.
On Monday, the provincial cabinet approved what it called a “comprehensive action plan” aimed at “restoring durable peace and stability” in Kurram. The plan involves a new grand jirga comprising former parliamentarians and senators from tribal districts with representation from both the Sunni and Shiite sects, ex-senator Saleh Shah, a member of the council, told Arab News.
“We are fully empowered by the provincial government to move the peace efforts forward to settle the Kurram saga once and for all,” Shah said on Tuesday. “Because of the representation of members of both the sects in the jirga, I’m very much optimistic that we can settle the Kurram issue ... Since the day the jirga was formed, we are getting positive signals for a breakthrough.”
The latest fighting broke out last Thursday when two separate convoys of Shiite Muslims traveling under police escort were ambushed, killing more than 40. Since then days of fighting with light and heavy weapons have brought the region to a standstill, with major roads closed and mobile phone services cut as the death toll surged.
Shah said the jirga had already had its first meeting, and also met with KP chief minister Ali Amin Gandapur and Governor Faisal Karim Kundi. Meetings were now also planned with the Peshawar corps commander, the prime minister, the president and the army chief to discuss the overall security situation of the area.
The jirga will head to Kurram district after the apex committee meeting, attended by the prime minister, his cabinet and all three services chiefs, which was scheduled to be held on Dec. 5, Shah said. 
“The jirga members have the capacity to arrest peace in Kurram as we have seen many ups and downs in the region,” Shah said. “We are active in politics on the ground in KP and the tribal areas and we have the ability to set things on track.”
Another member of the Jirga, Sajjid Hussain Turi, a former minister for overseas Pakistanis, said the northwestern tribal areas in general and the Kurram district in particular were experiencing a “complete collapse of law and order.”
“I’m sure the newly-formed jirga can deliver in helping the government to identify pathways leading to eternal peace in Kurram,” he said. “All members of the jirga are well-experienced and political heavyweights to tackle challenges effectively.
“Our main purpose is to give a permanent solution to the people of Kurram. Second, we want to give peace to our children, otherwise we have spent our youth in incessant wars and fighting.”

Pakistani PM in Riyadh today to attend One Water Summit

Pakistani PM in Riyadh today to attend One Water Summit
Updated 22 min 21 sec ago
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Pakistani PM in Riyadh today to attend One Water Summit

Pakistani PM in Riyadh today to attend One Water Summit
  • Summit is a joint initiative of Saudi Arabia, France, Kazakhstan and the World Bank
  • Sharif expected to hold bilateral meetings and engagements on forum’s sidelines
Updated 22 min 21 sec ago
SAIMA SHABBIR

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has left for Riyadh today, Tuesday, his office said, to attend the One Water Summit from Dec. 3-4, a joint initiative of Saudi Arabia, France, Kazakhstan and the World Bank.
The summit aims for high-level political commitments to promote global cooperation and a coherent international approach toward water resource management.
“The Prime Minister will address the summit on the restoration, protection and innovation of clean water resources,” Sharif’s office said about his expected keynote speech. “The Prime Minister will highlight the steps taken by Pakistan to protect water resources, prepare for climate change, improve drinking water quality, provide employment and protect aquatic life.”
Sharif will also use the platform to highlight the importance of international cooperation to overcome the impact of climate change on water resources and aquatic life due to floods, untimely changes in weather and rising temperatures.
“He will also call for meaningful international collaboration for sustainable water resource management.”
Sharif is also expected to hold bilateral meetings and engagements on the forum’s sidelines.
The summit is being held on the margins of the next high-level session of the sixteenth session of COP16 of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). It aims to contribute to ongoing United Nations discussions and processes to enhance global water governance, accelerate action on SDG6 on water and sanitation, and build on the momentum of the UN Water Conference in 2023.
The forum will also act as an incubator for solutions in preparation for the next UN Water Conference in 2026, and integrate its agenda into the other existing water processes and initiatives such as the World Water Forum, the Dushanbe Conference and the World Water Week.
“The One Water Summit’s ambition is to scale-up projects by stimulating partnerships between states, international organizations, local authorities, development and private banks, businesses, philanthropies, scientific experts, NGOs and civil society, in line with previous One Planet Summits,” the forum’s website said.

Topics: One Water Summit Riyadh

Pakistan PM vows legal action against ‘rioters’ involved in pro-Imran Khan protests

Pakistan PM vows legal action against ‘rioters’ involved in pro-Imran Khan protests
Updated 03 December 2024
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Pakistan PM vows legal action against ‘rioters’ involved in pro-Imran Khan protests

Pakistan PM vows legal action against ‘rioters’ involved in pro-Imran Khan protests
  • Last week, Sharif formed two task forces, one to identify and punish rioters and another against those behind anti-state online campaigns
  • Khan’s PTI has denounced the two task forces created by the government, saying they are meant to specifically target the party, supporters
Updated 03 December 2024
SAIMA SHABBIR

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday vowed legal action against “rioters” involved in anti-government protests led by ex-premier Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) last month, as the party decried a state-backed crackdown against its supporters. 
Thousands of supporters of the PTI stormed Islamabad last month, demanding Khan’s release from prison. The government said protesters killed four security officers in clashes, while the PTI says 12 supporters had died and, without immediately providing evidence, that hundreds had suffered gunshot wounds during chaotic scenes overnight in the heart of Islamabad as police dispersed marchers who had broken through security barricades. The PTI also says thousands have been arrested and social media platforms have been awash for days with pictures and video footage that the government has called “fake propaganda,” insisting there were no civilian casualties.
In the aftermath of the protests, Sharif formed two task forces: one to identify and take legal action against rioters and another to track and bring to justice suspects behind what the government describes as a “malicious campaign” to spread “concocted, baseless and inciting” online news, images and video content against the state and security forces.
On Tuesday, Sharif chaired a meeting of the task force formed to investigate and take legal action against rioters involved in the PTI sit-in. 
“Those who violated the law during the sit-ins, damaged government property and injured and martyred the officials of the law enforcement agencies should be punished as per the law,” Sharif was quoted as saying in a statement released by his office.
“The process of identifying the rioters present at the scene of the incident is also being completed quickly … After identification, all the rioters will be presented in the courts, briefing.”
The PM said weapons, cartridges, shells and other evidence left by PTI protesters had been collected from the scene and would be sent for forensics.
The PTI has denounced the two task forces created by the government, saying they were meant to target the party and its supporters.
“The task force is just another sham committee to basically violate all human rights of PTI workers and leaders,” Khan’s close aide and PTI spokesperson Sayed Zulfikar Abbas Bukhari told Arab News, speaking about the second body formed to investigate anti-state online campaigns allegedly launched by PTI followers. 
“It is further an attempt to increase scrutiny and torture of PTI workers, using the recent massacre as an excuse to try to eliminate the party.”
The Islamabad police chief has said authorities arrested nearly 1,000 supporters of Khan who were involved in last month’s protests. Speaking to reporters last Wednesday, Ali Rizvi denied that live ammunition had been used during the operation, which he said police had conducted alongside paramilitary forces. He said weapons, including automatic rifles and tear gas guns, were seized from the protest site where thousands had gathered. The site was cleared in a matter of hours.
Khan has been in prison since August 2023 and faces a slew of legal cases he says are politically motivated to keep him away from public office.

Topics: PTI protest Islamabad Protest

Pakistan, battling militancy surge, says 206 ‘terrorists’ killed in 7,984 operations between Jan-Oct

Pakistan, battling militancy surge, says 206 ‘terrorists’ killed in 7,984 operations between Jan-Oct
Updated 03 December 2024
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Pakistan, battling militancy surge, says 206 ‘terrorists’ killed in 7,984 operations between Jan-Oct

Pakistan, battling militancy surge, says 206 ‘terrorists’ killed in 7,984 operations between Jan-Oct
  • Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan provinces have been racked by militant attacks in recent months
  • Pakistan government recently approved “comprehensive operation” against separatist militant groups operating in Balochistan
Updated 03 December 2024
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s interior ministry announced on Tuesday over 200 militants had been killed in nearly 8,000 intelligence-based operations between January and October this year, as the South Asian nation battles a militancy surge. 
Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and southwestern Balochistan provinces have both been racked by militant attacks in recent months. The assaults in KP, Islamabad says, are mostly carried out by Afghan nationals and their facilitators, or by Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other militant groups who cross over into Pakistan using safe haven in Afghanistan. The Taliban government in Kabul denies the charges, saying Pakistan’s security challenges are a domestic issue.
The remote Balochistan region has also seen an increase in strikes by separatist ethnic militants this year. The province is home to key Chinese Belt and Road projects.
“206 terrorists were killed in 7984 intelligence-based operations till October this year,” the interior ministry said in a readout of a meeting chaired by Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi. 
Commenting on the rise in militancy in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Naqvi said the professional capabilities of the provincial counterterrorism departments as well as police and paramilitary Frontier Constabulary would be enhanced. 
“Everyone has to work together to improve the law-and-order situation,” Naqvi was quoted as saying. “Along with increasing capacity, the police of all provinces should be equipped with modern technology … needs of law enforcement agencies must be fulfilled on a priority basis.”
Last month, the Pakistan government said it had approved a “comprehensive military operation” against separatist militant groups operating in Balochistan. The government did not provide any details of the military operation such as when it would be launched and in which parts of the province and which security agencies would participate.
Pakistan’s military already has a huge presence in the rugged region bordering Afghanistan and Iran, where insurgent groups have been fighting for a separate homeland for decades to win a larger share of benefits from the resource-rich province.
The military has long run intelligence-based operations against the insurgent groups, the most prominent being the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), which escalated attacks in recent months on the military and nationals from longtime ally China. 
The region is home to Gwadar Port, built by China as part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a $65 billion investment in President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road infrastructure initiative to expand China’s global reach.
In addition to the recent attacks, the BLA claimed a suicide bombing last month outside the international airport in the southern port city of Karachi that killed two Chinese engineers.
The military has also carried out dozens of armed operations in KP since 2007 when the indigenous Taliban movement, the TTP, was formed.

Topics: Pakistan Army

Pakistan reports three new polio cases, raising 2024 tally to 59

Pakistan reports three new polio cases, raising 2024 tally to 59
Updated 03 December 2024
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Pakistan reports three new polio cases, raising 2024 tally to 59

Pakistan reports three new polio cases, raising 2024 tally to 59
  • New cases detached in DI Khan, Karachi Keamari and Kashmore
  • Pakistan and Afghanistan are last polio-endemic countries globally
Updated 03 December 2024
REHMAT MEHSUD

PESHAWAR: Pakistan’s polio eradication program said on Tuesday three new cases of the crippling virus had been detected in the country, bringing the nationwide tally for 2024 to 59.
Pakistan, along with neighboring Afghanistan, remains the last polio-endemic country in the world. The nation’s polio eradication campaign has hit serious problems with a spike in reported cases this year that have prompted officials to review their approach to stopping the crippling disease.
The next national polio vaccination campaign is planned for mid-December to reach more than 44 million children. Pakistan’s chief health officer said last month an estimated 500,000 children had missed polio vaccinations during a recent countrywide inoculation drive due to vaccine refusals.
“The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health has confirmed the detection of three wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases in Pakistan, bringing the number of total cases in the country this year to 59,” the National Emergency Operation Center for Polio Eradication said in a statement. 
The new cases have been confirmed in DI Khan, Karachi Keamari and Kashmore.
“DI Khan, one of the seven polio endemic districts of southern KP, has now reported eight polio cases, Karachi Keamari has three cases, while Kashmore has the first polio case this year,” the statement added. 
Of the 59 cases reported in 2024, 26 are from Balochistan province, 16 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 15 from Sindh, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad, the federal capital.
Poliovirus, which can cause crippling paralysis particularly in young children, is incurable and remains a threat to human health as long as it has not been eradicated. Immunization campaigns have succeeded in most countries and have come close in Pakistan, but persistent problems remain.
In the early 1990s, Pakistan reported around 20,000 cases annually but in 2018 the number dropped to eight cases. Six cases were reported in 2023 and only one in 2021. 
Pakistan’s polio program began in 1994 but efforts to eradicate the virus have since been undermined by vaccine misinformation and opposition from some religious hard-liners, who say immunization is a foreign ploy to sterilize Muslim children or a cover for Western spies. Militant groups also frequently attack and kill members of polio vaccine teams. 
In July 2019, a vaccination drive in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was thwarted after mass panic was created by rumors that children were fainting or vomiting after being immunized.
Public health studies in Pakistan have shown that maternal illiteracy and low parental knowledge about vaccines, together with poverty and rural residency, are also factors that commonly influence whether parents vaccinate their children against polio.

Topics: Polio cases in Pakistan

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