National and International Commitments

As per its statutory mandate to report on, and advise the Government of Punjab on matters relating to women's empowerment and rights, and gender equality in connection with Pakistan's International commitments, PCSW has provided feedback, reports and policy recommendations to concerned departments for the following:

- Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)
- GSP +
- ILO Conventions
- Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action
- Sustainable Development Goals
- UPR

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Pakistan is a member of the United Nations and is a party to Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/UDHR/Pages/Introduction.aspx

Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women

In 1985, Pakistan became a party to the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women.
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/confer/nfls

ICPD, ICESCR and ICCPR

Pakistan is a signatory of the ICPD http://www.unfpa.org/icpd International Conference on Population and Development, ICESCR http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/CESCR
International Covenant on Economics, Social and Cultural Rights and ICCPR http://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/ccpr.aspx International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
These international agendas contain important clauses with respect to gender equality

Vienna Declaration

In 1993, Pakistan recognized that "women's rights are human rights" in the Vienna Declaration and Program of Action. http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/Vienna.aspx

Beijing Declaration

Pakistan became a signatory of Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action http://beijing20.unwomen.org/en/about

CEDAW

In1996, Pakistan ratified theConvention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. A presentation on the implementation of CEDAW can be found here. http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw

GSP Plus Status

Pakistan was given the GSP+ status in the Generalised Scheme of Preferences by the EU. This is a scheme of tariff preferences which makes Pakistan's trade with EU conditional to an unqualified commitment for ratification and implementation of 27 international conventions. http://ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/countries-and-regions/development/gener

National Plan of Action and National Policy on Development and Empowerment of Women

At the national level, Pakistan undertook two commitments - National Plan of Action for Women in 1998 and National Policy on the Development and Empowerment of Women 2002.