Engagement & Impact
Our Programmes
Programme Documentation · Since 2005
Programme on Women, Peace & Conflict Resolution
ASR had extensive and dynamic experience working on the peaceful resolution of conflicts and was reputed to be a pioneer in this area. Its focus on citizenship rights, divisions, borders, and people caught within conflicting divides gave it political legitimacy even among those in contestation.
Overview & Position
Premised on ownership by those impacted.
ASR’s position was that all peace processes and resolutions had to be premised on ownership and internalisation by those impacted by the conflict or by its resolution. It consistently focused on the impact of conflict on women and religious and ethnic minorities — both within the conflict and as a result of it. Conflict resolution processes that did not address, or had negative impacts on, women and other communities — or that led to further conflicts — were of particular concern.
All of ASR’s activities were linked to the Institute of Women’s Studies Lahore and the South Asian Women for Peace, both of which had a reputation for rigorous research, academic courses, and training programmes.
ASR’s peace programme had both the credibility and the experience of developing conceptual courses and systematic conflict resolution training with practical applications for peaceful conciliation and conflict prevention. Since ASR itself was involved in such processes, and the intellectual and training modules were located in ASR’s own experiments and experiences, the training had a reputation for being both relevant and dynamic.
Core Team & Geographic Reach
40 district-level activists built since 2005.
Since 2005, ASR built a core group of district-level activists from Sindh, Punjab, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and Gilgit-Baltistan, with some representation from Baluchistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. District teams consisted of four members with equal representation of women and men and with at least 10–20% representation of religious minorities. In cases where programmes were intra-provincial or across ethnic lines, equal representation was given to ethnic and linguistic differentiation.
40
District-level activists in the core group
50%
Women in every district team of four
10,000
People involved over six years
Provinces & regions covered
Four Focus Areas
Cross-identity, interconnected issues.
The issues were cross-identity: Muslims worked on minority rights, men worked on women’s rights, minorities worked on peace and conflict, and men with access to resources worked on women and property rights. This necessitated an understanding of “the other side” and was successful in getting activists involved in areas and issues that did not directly impact them.
- Women's rights
- Women's rights to land and resources, and violence against women
- Minority rights, especially the rights of women from minority communities
- Provincial rights and inter- and intra-state conflicts and peace
Activities
Participatory and inclusive at every level.
Over the preceding years, the specific activities had been to facilitate interaction and capacity building of key civil society actors, including NGOs, the media, legal practitioners, educationalists, political activists, key players in the workers’, peasants’, and fisherfolk movements, minorities, local government representatives, and community workers. The programme also provided intensive training for mid-level and grassroots activists.
At the micro/community level, the 40-member training team engaged with community workers, local-level media and legal practitioners, school teachers and students, workers, fisherfolk, peasants, local political leadership, and local government institutions. Both the micro and meso levels were brought together with interactions at the macro/national level through advocacy and lobbying processes.
In the third year, all those in the several layers of the target groups and areas were brought together in national conferences that included national and political players such as representatives of government and parliament, political leadership, and the international community.
- National and provincial consultations
- Structured inter-provincial exposure and immersion visits
- Capacity building and formal training modules on peace and conflict understanding, conflict negotiation skills, and developing peace programmes
- District-level awareness activities
- Focus group discussions and interactions
- On-site fact-finding and investigations
- "Speaking out" forums
- Media monitoring and legislative monitoring
- Lobbying and advocacy
Networks & Alliances
Coordinator of national and regional peace coalitions.
ASR was also part of several national and regional peace initiatives and was the coordinator of the People’s Peace Alliance — a network of over 500 activists — and the South Asian Women and Peace Institute. It was a core member of all government and international processes on women, peace, and security.
UN Security Council Resolution 1325
ASR’s historical role in highlighting the specific impact of conflicts on women and the urgency of including women in all peace processes was widely acknowledged. Its involvement at the regional and international level contributed to the UN addressing these concerns through what became SCR 1325. It was considered a lead organisation on the 10-year review of SCR 1325 in October 2010, and was crucial in linking local, national, and international processes. Its reputation as the only organisation in Pakistan with a consistent peacebuilding and peace training programme was also noted.
Recognition
Called upon at every level.
Because of this work, ASR was called upon at several levels for inputs, awareness-raising, orientations, training, consultations, and other forms of knowledge and experience sharing by civil society organisations, government mechanisms, parliamentary committees, and the donor community.
"ASR's reputation as the only organisation in Pakistan with a consistent peacebuilding and peace training programme was widely noted."