Human Rights Secretary Dr. Shoaib said that it is hoped that through the Minority Civic Agent Program, provision of basic facilities will be ensured at the grassroots level and by creating a District Governance Forum, all matters will be resolved amicably. He said that the local government system is important because the basic problems of the people can be solved at their doorsteps and thus the problems of the common man can be solved through the program. These views were expressed by the Secretary of Human Rights on the occasion of participation in the District Governance Forum under the Minority Civic Agent Program. The program was organized by the Youth Development Foundation in a private hotel in Lahore.
The forum was attended by the representative Department of Human Rights, government officials, representatives of civil society organizations, minority rights advocates and UN representatives of ethnic minority citizens.
Head of Youth Development Foundation Shahid Rehmat while briefing the participants said that the purpose of the forum is to introduce the District Governance Forum (DGF) and promote mutual cooperation and active engagement among the members, various stakeholders with the program of Minority Citizen Agents. He expressed the foundation’s commitment to empowering minority communities.
Abdul Atif, Director of Water and Sanitation Authority, expressed his views and said that they are trying to ensure the supply of clean water and the problem comes when the pipes etc. get rusted and due to being underground, the common man didn’t know about it. Rashid from Lahore Waste Management said that cleanliness is half faith and for this every citizen has to do his duty because no organization can move towards success alone. The representative of LWMC said that we all have to keep our environment clean and promote the model of recycling so that we can move forward like developing countries. The representative of transgender said that it is sad to say that the representation of transgender is very little while gender issues are seen everywhere. Addressing the concluding session of the forum, Gulbahaz Khan Consultant Program said that the purpose of today’s event was to create a governance forum to work in the eight union councils. A major forum will be organized in the month of March and all members will make an action plan today to find solutions to the problems. Problem solving efforts will be undertaken and a comprehensive action plan will be formulated to address service delivery issues and establish an effective co-ordination framework. All the participants appreciated the efforts of Youth Development Foundation and urged to continue such programs also in future.
