Pakistan

American Center for International Labor Solidarity

$440,095
To promote workers’ rights in Pakistan. The Solidarity Center will run a program of workers’ rights promotion in conjunction with local partners in both urban and rural areas of Pakistan. The partner organizations include Lawyers for Human Rights and Legal Aid, the Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child, the Pakistan Workers’ Federation, the Workers-Employers Bilateral Council of Pakistan, the Teachers’ Consortium of Pakistan, and the Pakistan Institute for Legislative Development and Training.

American Center for International Labor Solidarity

$102,738*
To improve the understanding and implementation of labor laws in Pakistan and promote youth leadership within labor unions. The Solidarity Center will hold capacity-building workshops for judges and lawyers in Sindh, develop a toolkit to improve workers’ access to justice, provide paralegal training to unions, hold a national conference on labor and the judiciary, and support the formation of a trade union youth forum.

Center for Civic Education Pakistan

$80,000
To promote youth leadership, participation, and engagement in the political life of the country and strengthen accountability of political parties through citizen-based initiatives. The Center for Civic Education Pakistan will organize leadership development courses for youth from all parts of Pakistan, conduct a national survey on youth political participation, and produce reports that monitor the performance of the government and political parties as it relates to youth participation and accountability.

Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE)

$782,787
To build the capacity of business associations to engage in democratic and economic reform initiatives. CIPE, in consultation with the Project Advisory Committee, a group of social and business leaders from around Pakistan, will focus on facilitating democratic reform efforts, providing technical assistance to associations, supporting women entrepreneurs, and increasing access to information.

Center for Peace and Civil Society (CPCS)

$55,000
To promote democratic ideas and values and strengthen the role of civil society organizations, political parties, media, and academia in politics in Sindh. CPCS will conduct a series of trainings and interactive dialogues organized around fundamental democratic principles as well as publish booklets, training manuals, and a quarterly journal.

Center for Research, Communication and Dialogue (CRCD)

$95,000 *
To build the capacity of journalists and support the development of independent media in the tribal areas of Pakistan. The CRCD, in partnership with the Tribal Union of Journalists (TUJ), will publish an online newspaper covering issues relevant to the Tribal Areas as well as publish a weekly hard copy edition of the newspaper. CRCD will also organize a series of training workshops for tribal journalists and support the development of the TUJ’s institutional infrastructure.

Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI)

$75,000
To institutionalize mechanisms of public accountability and transparency through strengthening civil society and democratic processes in two districts of Pakistan. CPDI will organize trainings for civil society activists, community dialogues, public forums on accountability, and workshops for government officials, councilors, and members of national and provincial assemblies to sensitize them to issues of access to information and transparency in the use of public funds.

Democratic Commission for Human Development (DCHD)

$48,523 *
To increase understanding among social activists and the general public in rural Pakistan of the concepts of human rights, democracy, religious freedom, tolerance, and political discourse, and to reassess and evaluate DCHD’s mission and develop a new five-year strategic plan. DCHD will publish its monthly human rights education newsletter and conduct a comprehensive review and evaluation of activities over the past 14 years.

Institute for Development Studies and Practices (IDSP)

$70,000
To cultivate a new generation of female leaders who will be prepared to take an active role in local government and civil society. The IDSP will develop the leadership capacity of young women in regards to issues of gender, development, and democracy in four districts of Balochistan.

Interactive Resource Center

$125,000
To mobilize urban youth and marginalized communities in Pakistan to take an active role in the struggle for human rights. The Interactive Resource Center will train urban youth and other groups on community-based documentary filmmaking and the use of interactive theater as well as develop a community film school and web portal for civil society organizations.

International Republican Institute (IRI)

$800,000
To help formulate legislative priorities and implementation methods and improve communications between political parties and the electorate, government and citizens, and between local officials and the national level party leadership. IRI will use public opinion research, both qualitative and quantitative, to assist parties in the national governing coalition and the provincial governing coalition in the North West Frontier Province with message development, strategy, policy, and implementation.

National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP)

$60,000*
To encourage political parties, government officials, civil society groups, and other social and political actors to include human rights, especially religious tolerance, in their political agendas. NCJP will conduct a multi-faceted project that includes advocacy on human rights and minority issues, orientation workshops for district-level NCJP members, public education meetings, district conventions on democracy and human rights, and legislative monitoring.

Omar Asghar Khan Development Foundation (OAKDF)

$75,000 *
To develop citizen leadership and promote citizen activism in five districts of the Hazara region in the Northwest Frontier Province. OAKDF will conduct a budget monitoring project to increase local government accountability, organize People’s Assemblies to promote public debate on issues of concern for citizens, and strengthen broad-based civil society coalitions by holding forums and conventions to discuss advocacy strategies.

Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF)

$145,000*
To build the capacity of local civil society organizations to better understand the media and increase cooperation between rural journalists and local civil society organizations. The PPF will conduct training programs for print and radio journalists and civil society actors in eight districts in Pakistan, support the development of networks of journalists and civil society organizations in the eight project districts, and publish its annual Pakistan Press Freedom Report.

Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF)

$95,000 *
To improve the responsiveness and accountability of local government, landowners, corporations, and other powerful interests on a wide array of issues impacting the livelihood of fisherfolk. The PFF will organize district and national level events to raise awareness of fisherfolk issues; conduct community meetings in 40 villages; establish an office in Jamshoro District; and organize training and capacity-building workshops.

Potohar Organization for Development Advocacy (PODA)

$50,000
To strengthen public participation and improve government accountability on a local level in rural Pakistan. PODA will undertake four interrelated activities: strengthening rural councilors networks promoting civic education in anticipation of the 2010 local elections, advocating for small farmers’ rights, and developing the use of interactive theater as a tool for building awareness of these issues in rural villages.

SHEHRI - Citizens for a Better Environment (SHEHRI – CBE)

$85,000 *
To strengthen the capacity of law enforcement to respond to human rights violations and improve the public accountability of the police through greater citizen-police interaction. Shehri – CBE will hold a series of workshops and trainings targeting both police and local residents in Karachi, Interior Sindh, and Islamabad; organize a two-day master trainers workshop; and launch an advocacy campaign to improve the rule of law, particularly as it pertains to police, in Pakistan.

Taangh Wasaib Organization (TWO)

$43,566
To strengthen respect for human rights among teachers and students. TWO will introduce a school-based human rights program in Sargodah District, Pakistan, produce radio programs on human rights issues, organize events and meetings to raise awareness of human rights issues, and develop publications that promote human rights.

Uks Research Centre

$65,000 *
To improve journalistic standards, expand issue-based programming and investigative journalism in radio, and promote positive portrayals of women and gender-related issues in the media. Uks will conduct a training in radio journalism, produce a 12-part radio series called Aurat ki Tarraqui mein hay Hamari Tarraqui (Progress for Women is Progress for All), and publish a handbook of best practices in gender-sensitive reporting and programming.

Women Media Centre of Pakistan (WMC)

$75,000
To improve the skills of women journalists in television reporting, camera-work, and editing, and enhance the role of women journalists in media. The WMC will conduct four ten-day training workshops for female journalists from across the country on television reporting and will organize two conferences on the role of women journalists in Pakistan.