Ministry of Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) should form a federal implementation watch committee like the provinces to facilitate and monitor implementation of workplace Harassment Act. These views were expressed by the participants at Review and Reflect meeting on Implementation of Law against Harassment, organized by Mehergarh here on Tuesday.
About 20 representatives of over 13 organizations, including public, private and civil society, participated where they discussed their experiences and shared the challenges being faced in handling cases and institutionalizing the mechanism in their organizations. They said that similar committees in Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are performing with varied success. Even in the absence of this Committee, the work on implementation of this Act continues with a lot of seriousness. With this committee notified, the federal capital can become a model for the rest of the country, they said while urging the CADD to look into the matter. They said that since these cases are handled in confidentiality, most people don't know about them and feel the law is not being implemented, but the presence of these important organizations is a proof that this law is actually being implemented in organizations that have progressive managements and care about the well beings of their employees.
Speaking on the occasion, Maliha Husain, Executive Director of Mehergarh, said it is encouraging to see such senior public officials, private sector representatives, educational institutions and civil society sitting together to share their experiences of implementing the workplace Harassment Act.
"Progressive managements in the organizations care about the well-being of their employees and take proper implementation of this law seriously," she said. Shumaila Zeb, Assistant Professor, SZABIST said, "A healthy workplace is vital for the growing success of any organization." It is encouraging to see that even government organizations are working so seriously to eradicate this sensitivity issue, she said. Dr Romana, Assistant Professor, COMSATS Abbottabad said, "We have learnt how to sensitize youth in our university and relate it with human rights and gender equality."