The ambassador and head of the delegation of European Commission to Pakistan, Ilkka Uusitalo, announced at a function here on Monday the allocation of 431,333 euros to support five projects in the field of human rights in the country.
The projects are to be funded under the European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR) micro-projects programme, introduced in Pakistan in 2003. This programme is designed to strengthen the capacity of civil society to allow sound and responsible NGOs to become an effective force for democratisation, conflict prevention and protection of human rights.
Elaborating, he said the five new projects have been selected in December 2005 for a total amount of 431,333 euros, bringing to over 1.2 million euro the support committed by the European Union under EIDHR since 2003.
Three projects to be implemented by Basic Education For Afghan Refugees (BEFARe), Baidarie Sialkot and Social Action Bureau for Assistance in Welfare and Organisational Networking (SABAWON), will aim at strengthening women's political empowerment, notably by training women councillors and encouraging women's participation to the electoral process, he added.
Citizen's Commission for Human Development (CCHD) has chosen to focus its intervention on access to justice for women while Family Planning Association of Pakistan (FPAP) will address violence against women through training and awareness activities on acid burning incidents. Ambassador Uusitalo stated that over the past three years, the European Commission had encouraged the applicants to this programme to focus their interventions on women's rights.
He added that the response of the civil society had been overwhelming with over 100 applications every year, showing both the extent of needs and the existing possibilities and interest to tackle the problems at grass roots level.
He added that a new call for proposals would be launched in 2006 for a total amount of 735,000 euros. The priorities of the European Commission will again be widened to include, besides the eradication of torture and violence against women and children, new areas of intervention such as women and children's trafficking, the rights of minorities, promotion of inter-religious dialogue and conflict prevention.
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