The paper examines whether the existing global health law framework was adequate to deal with COVID-19 and identifies weaknesses in the international system for responding to pandemics. It focuses particularly on the powers of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Health Regulations (2005).
The paper examines whether the existing global health law framework was adequate to deal with COVID-19 and identifies weaknesses in the international system for responding to pandemics. It focuses particularly on the powers of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Health Regulations (2005).
Rural Women in Pakistan: Status Report 2018 provides a comprehensive assessment of the social and economic conditions of rural women in Pakistan. It examines women’s roles in agriculture, employment, education, health, unpaid care work, access to resources, and decision-making. The report highlights that rural women make major contributions to household and agricultural economies but remain concentrated in low-paid, informal, and vulnerable work. It also identifies barriers such as limited access to education, healthcare, financial resources, technology, and political participation. The report recommends stronger gender-responsive policies, better data, economic opportunities, and institutional support to improve the wellbeing and empowerment of rural women.
Modern Slavery: Trafficking in Women and Girls in Pakistan examines human trafficking as a form of modern slavery in Pakistan, with particular attention to women and girls. The report identifies Pakistan as a source, transit, and destination country for trafficking and highlights forced labour, domestic servitude, sexual exploitation, forced marriage, forced begging, and bonded labour. The study argues that poverty, unemployment, gender inequality, lack of awareness, and weak enforcement of anti-trafficking laws increase vulnerability to trafficking. It draws on interviews with law-enforcement agencies, government departments, NGOs, international organizations, and trafficking survivors. The report concludes that Pakistan needs better data collection, stronger law-enforcement capacity, improved coordination between institutions, and more effective implementation of existing laws.
The report examines Pakistan’s compliance with International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions and identifies gaps in the protection of workers’ rights. It highlights issues including forced and child labour, discrimination, weak enforcement, and inadequate labour protections. The report calls for stronger laws, effective enforcement, and better institutional mechanisms to ensure workers’ rights in Pakistan.
The National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR) report examines the prolonged detention of Indian and Pakistani fishermen who unintentionally cross the poorly demarcated maritime boundary near Sir Creek. It explains how poverty, lack of GPS/navigation equipment, harsh sea conditions, and the unresolved India–Pakistan boundary dispute contribute to these arrests. Detainees often remain imprisoned even after completing their sentences because of delays in nationality verification, consular access, and repatriation. The report highlights NCHR’s intervention in 2023, which helped secure the repatriation of more than 650 Indian fishermen, contributing to 2,661 repatriations since 2014. It recommends reviving the India–Pakistan Joint Judicial Committee, creating a public database of foreign prisoners, establishing fixed repatriation procedures, and assigning government focal persons to handle cross-border detainee cases.