The National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) will hold a national conference on "Strengthening the Capacity of Political Parties to Engage in Local Governance" on Tuesday, July 25 at the Margalla Hotel from 9:30am to 4:00pm.
The conference marks the completion of a 21 months programme and will bring together over 100 representatives from 12 political parties who participated in the programme funded by the Department for International Development (DFID) UK in ten districts of the country.
This is for the first time in the history of Pakistan that all major political parties have worked together to address issues of local concern such as health problems due to lack of clean drinking water and a dilapidated sewage system, scarcity of qualified teachers and increasing students drop-out rate, concern about the law and order.
These and many other issues were raised for the first time by citizens speaking out at public forums jointly organised by political parties at the district level.
Local leaders of Awami National Party, Balochistan National Party (Mengal), Jamaat-i-Islami, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F), Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (S), National Party, Pakistan Muslim League, Pakistan Muslim League-F, Pakistan Muslim League (N), Pakistan Peoples Party-Parliamentarian, Pakhtoon Khwa Milli Awami Party, and Pakistan Peoples Party (Sherpao) participated in the programme. These parties worked under the umbrella of 10 District Steering Committees (DSC) to facilitate multiparty training, organise public forums and roundtables on citizen's concerns and meetings with local authorities.
The NDI has been engaged in democratic development in Pakistan for more than 15 years. Since opening an office in Islamabad in 2002, the Institute's focus has been on political party development, including promoting internal party reforms, strengthening the role of women and building the capacity of parties to engage in local governance.
Comments
Comments are closed.