Discussion on LG role in achieving SDGs
The Centre for Public Policy & Governance (CPPG) hosted a policy dialogue on “Role of Local Governments in Accomplishment of SDGs”, in collaboration with the Punjab SDGs Project of the government of Punjab, Planning and Development Department and the United Nations Development Programme. The aim of the dialogue was to address the status of the local governments in Punjab in light of the Punjab Local Government Act 2013 and subsequent 2016 Ordinance. The discussion also looked at the relevance and significance of local governments with respect to SDGs and it deliberated on the extent of agreement between the provincial and local governments, especially in relation to the Provincial Finance Commission and empowerment of local governments. Participants from a variety of academic institutions, public organizations, international organizations and NGOs attended the event. Some of the represented organizations included the Subnational Development Programme of DFID, Musawi, HomeNet, USAID, Punjab Commission on the Status of Women, Human Rights Commission and The Urban Unit. Dr Saeed Shafqat, professor and director of CPPG, opened the discussion by highlighting the necessity to understand the Punjab Local Government Ordinance 2016 as a sequel to the Local Government Act of 2013 and how these legislations have impacted the managerial and financial authority of the local government bodies.–PR
HRCP concerned at rise in violence
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has strongly condemned the surge in deadly attacks in Quetta during the current month. In yesterday’s incident, six policemen were killed in a suicide attack on a police van, which occurred in tandem with another attack outside a Frontier Corps check-post that left eight personnel injured. HRCP has taken ‘grave notice of the alarming spike in violence that has shot through Quetta since the beginning of April’, adding that, ‘apart from yesterday’s brazen attack on security forces, members of the Christian and Shia Hazara communities have borne the brunt of a spate of suspected targeted killings. On 1 April, a Shia Hazara was killed and another injured when unidentified gunmen opened fire on their car. On 15 April, four Christians travelling in a rickshaw were killed in a firing incident near a church in the city. Three days later, on 18 April, a Shia Hazara shopkeeper was killed in a drive-by shooting, which police suspect was a targeted killing. On 22 April, another two Shia Hazara men were killed and a third injured in a firing incident in Quetta’s Western Bypass area. HRCP remained ‘extremely concerned over the continuing violence in Quetta—much of which systematically targets members of religious minorities—and the lack of an effective and sustained response from the state. According to a recent report issued by the National Commission for Human Rights, 509 members of the Hazara community alone were killed, and 627 injured, in terrorist attacks over the last five years. That the law enforcement agencies responsible for protecting citizens also continue to be targeted, underlines the deeper law and order problem that beleaguers the province.’–Staff Reporter
The Commission has urged the government to bring the perpetrators of these crimes swiftly to justice and to clamp down visibly on elements bent on fomenting violence against minority communities.