24th Meeting, 80th Session, Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR)

Okay. Yes, good afternoon. I call to order meeting number 30 of the 80th session of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. It is my great pleasure to welcome the distinguished delegation of Pakistan, and in particular, the head of delegation, His Excellency Mr. Barrister Akeel Malik, Minister of State for Law and Justice. who will deliver the opening statement, and the distinguished members of the delegation of Pakistan. I would also like to welcome all those observing the dialogue in person and via webcast. Before giving the floor to the delegation for the consideration of its initial report, I would like to outline the methodology we will follow for the dialogue today and tomorrow. We have prepared a sheet with the proposed speaking times for the dialogue, which will be conducted following the four clusters and led by the Committee members constituting the task force for this review. The initial questions will be posed by the country rapporteur and lead member for that cluster, Mrs. Julietta Rossi. Other members may pose follow-up questions afterwards. Other members of the task force are Mr. Lazari Bouzid for cluster 2, Mr. Michael Winfall for cluster 3, and Mr. Siri Nontasut for cluster 4. The delegation is kindly requested to speak at a reasonable pace and to provide any written material that will be read out by the delegation to the Secretariat. To facilitate this process and enable us to cover the full range of issues at hand, I would like to invite my colleagues and the distinguished delegation to speak in a concise manner, giving due attention to the time allocations. With this, I have the pleasure to give you the floor, Your Excellency, to deliver the opening statement. The delegation has 10 minutes. Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Distinguished Chair, Honourable members of the Committee. I am privileged to lead Pakistan’s delegation for the review of our second periodic report under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The report before the Committee and Pakistan’s replies to the list of issues are the product of a broad, transparent, consultative process at both the federal and the provincial level. The Ministry of Human Rights coordinated inputs from the federal and the provincial governments, national institutions, and civil society. Pakistan ratified the Covenant in 2008. Our initial report was reviewed in 2017. Much has changed since then, in Pakistan and also around the world. We approach this dialogue in a spirit of cooperation as an opportunity to take stock and benefit from the Committee's expertise. The Constitution of Pakistan provides the foundation for economic, social, and cultural rights. It guarantees the right to life and liberty, prohibits slavery, forced labor, and child labor. It guarantees free and compulsory education for children aged 5 to 16 under Article 25A, and directs the state, through the principles of policy, to secure the well-being of the people and to provide for their basic necessities, reduce inequality, and promote social justice. The superior judiciary has invoked these principles in adjudicating economic and social rights. and our replies to the list of issues and summarize some cases in which courts have applied covenant rights. Pakistan is a federal state, and following the 18th constitutional amendment, health, education, and social services are primarily provincial responsibilities. Devolution has brought decision making and service delivery closer to our citizens, but even uneven progress and resource constraint remain one of the biggest challenges. Since 2017, Pakistan has taken a range of legislative policy and institutional measures in keeping with the principles of utilizing the maximum available resources for the progressive realization of covenant rights. On social protection, the Bane-e-Zi income support program, BISP, has expanded significantly. It now reaches 12 million households. The Kafaalat stipend has been raised and indexed. To inflation, the National Socio-Economic Registry covers approximately 84% of the households, improving targeting. The BISP allocation has been increased by 20% for the current fiscal year. These are real gains, reflecting the government's commitment to advancing social protection for all. The Sehat Card program has extended health insurance coverage to millions of families, including free treatment for cancer, cardiac care, and emergencies. Public health expenditure has increased in absolute terms. Though it remains below our aspirations, expanding universal health coverage is a priority for Pakistan. The constitutional article 25A is now implemented through provincial legislation, and the Prime Minister declared a national education emergency in 2024. The out of rate out of school rate has fallen from 38% in 2023 to 28% in 2025. Around 20 million children nonetheless remain out of school. Girls and rural children are disproportionately affected and are therefore priority targets. The Zero Out of School Children campaign and non-formal education centres are part of our response. Minimum wages have also been raised across the country. Enforcement remains a challenge, particularly in the informal economy where 84% of the workers are employed. Youth unemployment stands at around 12.6%. We are strengthening labour inspection and skills development, but we do not underestimate the lack of the task. On food, water, and housing, food inflation has eased from its peak but remains volatile. The 2025 floods caused losses estimated at rupees 822 billion and affected around 4.9 million people and disrupted some 3.3 million jobs. Per capita water availability has fallen below 900 cubic meters, and access to safe drinking water remains a major challenge. On housing, we have programs for low-cost housing and are working to regularize informal settlements, minimize evictions, enhance compensation. For minorities, the National Commission for Minorities Rights Act was promulgated in 2025. to enhance protections, combat discrimination, and raise visibility of challenges that are faced by minority communities. Child marriage restraint laws have set the minimum age for both boys and girls at 18 in Islamabad, Balochistan, Punjab, Sindh, and have criminalized child, early, and forced marriages. Legislative processes continue to harmonize this important standard across the country. Pakistan has strengthened its national human rights architecture to translate covenant obligations into domestic practice. The National Commission on Human Rights has received A status accreditation by Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions, GANHRI. The National Commission on the Status of Women and the National Commission on the Rights of Child are fulfilling their vital mandates. Treaty implementation cells at both federal and provincial levels coordinate reporting, and the National Mechanism for Reporting follows up has been operationalized. Distinguished Chair, members of the committee, underlying the government's efforts is a simple proposition: social spending must be financed through economy, an economy that is growing and a tax base that is broadening. Over the past several years, the government has invested substantially in infrastructure and improving the business environment. Energy generation and transmission capacity has been expanded. and the chronic supply deficits that had constrained industry and households alike. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor has delivered roads, port, and power infrastructure that lower the cost of economic activity and connects underserved regions to national markets. Business environment reforms have reduced costs, particularly for small and medium enterprises. Revenue collection has improved through tax administration reforms and privatization has expanded the fiscal space that is available for health, education, and social protection. Yet, even as we work to increase resources and to direct them towards covenant rights, our efforts are constrained by structural and external factors. Pakistan faces structural constraints that bear directly on the realization of economic, social, and cultural rights. These include a large population of over 240 million, including more than 110 million children; fiscal pressure and debt servicing that constraints social spending; inflation has eroded purchasing power; and a security environment in which terrorist attacks that target schools, healthcare workers, government officials, and civilians. The 2025 floods were a further shock, and climate change poses an existential threat to our water, food, and livelihood systems. These constraints are compounded by factors that are beyond our control. First, Pakistan remains acutely dependent on energy imports and vulnerable to price hikes and supply volatility. Conflict and geopolitical disruption disproportionately impact Pakistan's fiscal position, industrial costs, and household purchasing power. Despite the government's private sector, the government's and private sector's major gains in renewable energy, particularly solar and hydro, we remain exposed to shocks that no domestic policy can fully absorb. Secondly, Pakistan's sovereignty, territorial integrity, and national unity remain preconditions for the discharge of our human rights obligations. We are compelled to devote scarce resources to defend our people against a hostile neighbor that has resorted to unprovoked aggression in the recent past and threatens to do so on a weekly basis. Third, foreign-sponsored terrorism emanating from Afghanistan poses a direct and severe health, education, and social protection contracts with them. Distinguished Chair and Honourable Members of the Committee, we know that the gaps between our obligations and their realization is real. I have shared Pakistan’s perspective on progress, opportunities, and challenges to contextualize our engagement with this review process. We hope that the dialogue today and tomorrow will be constructive, meaningful and helpful for the Government of Pakistan and for the rights of our people. My delegation and I look forward to dialogue and to the observations that the members of this Committee, as well as the Chair, may have to impart at the conclusion of this review. I thank you.

I thank you, Excellency, for the opening statement. I shall now give the floor to the country rapporteur. and lead member for cluster 1, Mrs. Julieta Rossi, to proceed with her questions in the cluster 1.

Thank you very much, Chair. I will begin this statement by extending a warm welcome to the distinguished delegation of Pakistan, led by His Excellency Barrister Akeel Malik. I'd also like to thank the delegation for the written information that they've shared with us in the run-up to this constructive dialogue. As country rapporteur, together with my colleagues Messrs Laxhary Boutsid, Michael Winfur, and Serey Nontasout, I will begin addressing 10 priority issues covering articles 1 to 5 of the Covenant and also addressing cross-cutting issues. The questions are based on information contained in the report of the State Party, as well as their replies to the State Party to the list of issues and information gleaned from civil society and other key stakeholders. I'll begin with some cross-cutting issues. Question 1 is a source of major concern. And it is that the majority of the rights enshrined in the Covenant are not yet incorporated in the domestic legal order of Pakistan, which means that they are only recognized as policy principles, but they are not invoked. It's not possible to invoke the provisions of the Covenant before the courts. Also, via Constitutional Amendment 27 of November 2025, guarantees of fundamental rights and the upholding thereof are overseen by the new Federal Constitutional Court. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has flagged that amendments 26 and 27, adopted without broad consultation, seriously undermine the independence of the judiciary in Pakistan by modifying the appointment, promotion, and transfer processes. In this context, we would request that the delegation explain to us how it intends promptly to fulfil the previous recommendation of this Committee of 2017 on available legal resources to invoke rights enshrined in the Covenant that have not been duly recognised in sectoral laws of the Constitution of Pakistan. We would also be grateful if the delegation could indicate how it guarantees the independence of the Federal Constitutional Court and of any judges subject to transfer, in line with the basic principles of the United Nations on the independence of the judiciary. I come now to my second issue. In line with Amendment 18 of the Constitution, it is now the provinces of Pakistan that are responsible for guaranteeing employment, social security, housing, health care and education, but they only receive 57.5% of the state’s federal tax income receipts. This affects equal access to rights irrespective of the place of residence and gives rise to major regional disparities. So poverty rates swing between 23.3% in Punjab and 47% in Balochistan. The most recent agreement of the National Financial Commission on distribution of tax resources expired in 2015, this despite the constitutional obligation to revise said distribution of tax receipts every five years. Against that backdrop, could you provide information on measures to strengthen the financial and administrative capacities of provincial governments? and coordination at the federal level? What steps have you taken towards a more equitable distribution of resources based on expenditure needs and tax income receipts, and not just on the population of each individual province? Could you also provide information on the implementation of a federal-provincial mechanism to produce annual statistics with data disaggregated by gender, age, location, disability, ethnicity, religion, and other conditions that would allow for follow-up of the progressive enjoyment and realisation of the rights enshrined in this Covenant. My third question. The Committee recognises the accreditation of Pakistan’s National Human Rights Commission with A status by GANHRI. Nonetheless, the mandates of the members of the National Human Rights Commission expired in November 2025, and no one was appointed to replace them. In 2026, the law was reformed to allow indefinite extensions of terms of service of members of this body. Could the State explain how it guarantees the prompt appointment of members of the National Human Rights Commission through a transparent, participative, and merit-based process in line with the Paris Principles? And also to ask the State Party if you intend to reform the law to guarantee the regular renewal of the membership of said Human Rights Commission. Please also indicate how you guarantee the financial independence of the Human Rights Commission if it intends, as a body, to establish a specialised unit on economic, social and cultural rights? My fourth question is on human rights defenders. I would like to draw the attention of the State Party to information that is deeply concerning that we have received as a Committee pertaining to the situation of human rights defenders and civil society organisations, particularly Baluch and Pashtun. According to the reports we have received, Under the guise of anti-terrorist operations, there have been reports of arbitrary arrests and detentions and convictions, ill-treatment, forced disappearances, extrajudicial executions, and excessive use of force, including targeting peaceful protesters who are seeking to know more about the whereabouts of disappeared family members. It is alleged that these activities ramped up as of 2023. Women human rights defenders and female journalists face additional risks linked to their gender, including online harassment, which is often prompted by amendments of 2025 to the law to prevent online crime. which provides an overly broad definition of the diffusion of false or fraudulent information. We have also received reports of a link between efforts by the Baloch people to interact with foreign companies who are operating in their land and who are seeking to appropriate their natural resources, including surrounding the Rekodiq mining project, so clashes between the Baloch people and these mining operations. Kuldiq being a subsidiary, it's alleged, of the Canadian Barrick Gold Company. It's alleged that 18,000 persons have disappeared in Balochistan since 2020. There's also been questions raised about the effectiveness and efficiency of the Enforced Disappearance Investigation Committee created in 2011, and which, to date, 15 years later, has not yet ever delivered a criminal conviction. Various different special procedures mandate holders of the UN have conveyed to the Government of Pakistan communications on this point, including on 18 February and 1 December 2025, and in July 2026. Could the delegation explain what concrete, targeted and urgent measures it intends to adopt to protect human rights defenders, men and women alike, to prevent new disappearances and acts of persecution and repression, shed light on existing cases, punish those responsible, and provide remedy and reparation to victims and their relatives, in particular to those women who have been left to head up households? Also, could the State party indicate if you intend to, and if so in what timeframe, to define as a standalone crime enforced disappearance in your criminal code and also to ratify the International Convention against Enforced Disappearances? My fifth question is on business and human rights. The Committee has taken note of the adoption by Pakistan of the National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights 2021-2026, and would ask from the delegation information about any progress made in the independent assessment of the impact of said plan, including any data on complaints against businesses and companies, the outcomes of said complaints, and any reparation obtained. Could the State party also provide the Committee with information on steps taken to put together a second such plan, with measurable targets and indicators? Please also indicate: whether any second such plan would cover land acquisition, the extractive industries, prior consultation with communities, environmental impact assessments, and the need for free, prior, and informed consent by indigenous peoples groups. Please also provide information on what measures are currently underway to adopt legislation on due diligence, with incorporating a gender perspective and guaranteeing access to effective remedy and reparation. Now some questions on climate change and mitigation thereof. Bearing in mind that Pakistan is amongst the most vulnerable countries to the adverse impacts of climate change, reflected in the floods of 2022 and 2025, I would like to ask the delegation a question about international financing, international transfer of technology, and international support for the development of capacities that you may have received to date, and under what modality. I'm talking here about such international financing, technology transfer, and support for mitigation, adaptation, and loss and damage actions. Have you obtained any such international financing in the form of subsidies? Has the State Party negotiated debt relief agreements in exchange for investment in climate action and environmental resistance? If that is the case, please provide information on the results of such agreements and their scope. I turn now to my seventh question: free determination and sovereignty over natural resources. would like to express its concern, given the absence in the State Party of a legal framework that duly recognizes given communities as indigenous or tribal peoples and the absence of legislation that requires their free, prior and informed consent before the rollout of any land exploitation, mining or infrastructure project. In Balochistan, the environmental impact assessment of the Reko Dik project classified the Baloch people as an ethnic minority, but failed to recognize them as an indigenous people group, nor to guarantee their right to free, prior and informed consent and a fair and equal distribution of the benefits of the Reko Dik project. In December 2025, various special procedures mandate holders wrote to Pakistan on this particular point, expressing their concern. This Committee is also concerned about information received about the allocation or distribution of land for commercial real estate and infrastructure projects in the Malia district and along the Rio Malia corridor in Sindh without the due safeguards in place. Could the State indicate what measures it intends to establish to create a framework that would guarantee effective consultation and free, prior, informed consent as requirements/obligations before approving projects that would affect these communities or allocate land? What criteria does the State Party currently use to recognize a community as an indigenous or tribal people, and what role does self-identification play in such a process? Now some questions about maximizing available resources. Maximizing available resources is critical for guaranteeing social rights, and I would like to emphasize that the mobilization of internal resources continues to fall woefully short and indeed has reduced in recent time. reached 10.6% of GDP for the fiscal year 2024-2025, one of the lowest such rates in the region, and it falls disproportionately on the poorer households in the country because there are broad-ranging exemptions and fiscal concessions granted to the wealthier in society. In this context, poverty has increased to 28.9%, and inequality, as measured by the Gini coefficient, has risen from 28.4 to 32.2, its highest level since 1998. Alongside all of that, public expenditure is dominated by servicing of debt interest payments. In 2026-2027, debt servicing is calculated to absorb 42.9% of the federal budget, as compared with 27% in 2016. And it will eat up almost 70% of tax receipts, which enormously reduces fiscal space and room for maneuver in the state party. Expenditure on healthcare was only 0.9% of GDP, and education only 1.95%. far short of the national target of 4%. Defence expenditure represented, to the contrary, 14.5% of federal expenditure. Could the State Party explain what actions it intends to implement to increase direct and progressive tax income, including taxes on assets and agricultural income, and to revise the current regressive fiscal benefits which give too much wiggle room in terms of tax exemptions? How does the State Party intend to guarantee that the conditions attached to the IMF programme and debt servicing do not further reduce resources available for healthcare, education, and social welfare? Do you intend to openly and transparently, and on a participatory basis, assess the impact of fiscal measures and debt on human rights? Do you intend to enter into negotiations for the purposes of debt restructuring? I turn now to some questions on equality and non-discrimination. Despite the 2017 recommendation by this Committee, Pakistan still lacks a holistic, comprehensive law tackling discrimination which covers all prohibited grounds for discrimination, including sexual orientation, gender identity, nationality, direct and indirect discrimination, multiple and intersectional discrimination, and this both in the public and private spheres. What urgent measures does the State party intend to adopt to plug this gap? In addition, we would welcome information on the current status of the Law for the Protection of the Rights of Transgender Persons of 2018, and we would also welcome an explanation from the State Party of steps taken to decriminalise homosexual relationships. We would also ask you to provide available data covering the last five years on complaints of discrimination and violence targeting the LGTBQI community, as well as any convictions in the wake of such complaints and reparations, both at the federal level and disaggregated by province. Also, if you could provide information on steps taken to gather data on access to social rights disaggregated by religion, as well as steps taken to protect religious minorities who are often exposed to discrimination and harassment. One point of particular concern is the forced return or deportation of approximately 2.7 Afghanis since 2023 in the framework of the illegal foreigner repatriation plan. as well as the irregular status of those 1.4 million refugees who have remained in Pakistan since 2025? We would welcome it if the State Party could provide information on procedures for the individual evaluation of protection risk for those facing deportation, particularly for vulnerable persons such as women and children. How do you guarantee non-refoulement and non-discriminatory access to essential services such as healthcare and education? Do you intend to adopt an asylum law and to ratify the 1951 Convention? What mechanisms exist to challenge deportation decisions, and how do you guarantee access to birth certificates for the children of refugees? My tenth and final question: gender inequality in Pakistan is deeply troubling. Pakistan ranks 143 out of 145 countries in the Gender Gap Global Index of 2026, the index of the World Economic Forum, and 144th in terms of economic participation and opportunities. Women are subject to violence, low levels of labour market participation, salary gaps, unequal distribution of unpaid care work in the home, restrictions on their mobility and security in public spaces, and unequal access to land ownership, inheritance rights, education, health care, financing, digital technology, and productive assets, as well as reduced levels of political representation. This is particularly true for rural women with disabilities. Minority women or displaced women. What concrete measures does the State intend to implement to eliminate these barriers and to promote on an accelerated basis substantive equality? Finally, could the delegation explain what actions it will adopt to extend the accelerated procedure to tackle the exclusion of women from property rights in Sindh in Balochistan and to revise the limits of the Khyber Pashtun law?

Could you please provide information reviewing the law on Muslim Personal Law of 1962 and the 1988 Evidence Law to do away with discriminatory provisions on inheritance and the value of the testimonies of women? Because of time constraints, I will leave it here on group one, and I will raise additional questions during the follow-up time. Thank you very much indeed for your attention, and I very much look forward to your clarifications and responses.

Thank you, Mrs. Rossi. The delegation now has 30 minutes to respond to the issues raised in cluster one.

Thank you very much indeed for all of the questions, but there are so many of them and delivered in such a short period of time. However, my delegation and myself will reply.

Thank you very much, and I'll start off with.

The justiciability of the covenant rights and applicability of those in the domestic legal order. So in the constitution of Pakistan, there are several guarantees that are relevant to the International Convention on the Economic and Social and Cultural Rights Covenant, more specifically and more recently since There was a mention of the 27th Amendment, but I'd like to go a little bit before that, a year before we had the 26th Amendment. And in that 26th Amendment, we actually included a constitutional right, a fundamental right, which is Article 9A, a right to clean, healthy, and sustainable environment. And that was very important given the climate change anomalies that we have been experiencing, even though we've been the lowest emitter of carbon emissions. And that's less than 0.001, so to speak, in our region and the world over. So starting off with that. But we have Article 17, which guarantees the freedom of association. We have Article 25, which is equality before the law and the equal protection of the law. Article 25A, which is the right to education. Article 28, the right to preserve a language, script, and culture. There are various other constitution provisions as well. that deal with the protection of the family, promoting social justice, advancement of the economic and social well-being of the people. And these guarantees are then supplemented by federal and provincial legislations that address education, health, labor rights, social protection, housing, food safety, disability inclusion, maternity benefits, and so on and so forth. I'm not going to go into detail with regards to the federal legislation that we have that deal with these. particular rights or then build up on these rights, whether they are provincial or the federal legislation. However, we will be providing the documentation for that, a list of federal and provincial legislations that we have that actually protects these rights as being part of our obligation under the International Covenant on the Social and Economic and Cultural Rights. Now, of course, the applicability of these rights or the international covenants and the articles therein, the applicability of those in our domestic courts or domestic legal system. Pakistan's superior courts have actually adjudicated on matters that concerns rights relevant to the covenant and which includes food security, public health, employment, dignity, equality, safe working conditions. environmental protection, family welfare and social protection, and their relevant judicial decisions, and some of which I'd actually like to mention and include as well. Of course, the list of these will be shared with you in due course as well at the end of the two-day consultation that we have and the engagement that we have with the Chair and this Honorable August Committee. But one of the cases that actually dealt with the access to surplus food, This was a judgment from the Supreme Court of Pakistan, and it's a very important judgment from the year 2020. The citation of this particular case is PLD 2020 Lahore, page 229. And this is Muhammad Ahmed Mansota and others versus Federation of Pakistan and others. We have another case as well, Getz Pharma Limited versus Federation of Pakistan, which is the citation of which is PLD 2017 Karachi 157. This concerned pharmaceutical regulation and public health. And then there are various other cases as well. The list, as earlier mentioned, will be shared with you and the details of those cases and what was the obiter dicta and what was held by the Honourable august judges of the Supreme Court. And this particular case, it concerned employment, dignity, and discrimination, and another one which dealt with the, which concerned equality, dignity, and professional rights. And there's various other recent judgments of the Supreme Court as well that have actually addressed women's inheritance, family pensions, employment opportunities for persons with disabilities, and the employment rights of the widows. The principles of the ICESCR may inform that the interpretation of the constitutional fundamental rights, domestic legal provisions, Even when the Covenant is not expressly cited in every pleading, this allows relevant international human rights obligations to serve as an interpretive guidance within the applicable constitution and the legal framework. Now, of course, another aspect was mentioned that in the 27th Amendment, there was the establishment of the Constitutional Court. This, obviously, I will then take you back maybe a year before that, because we had the 26th constitutional amendment, and within that constitutional amendment, we had already established constitutional benches within the Supreme Court. However, a year later, and taking a stock check, of course, of ensuring rule of law, as well as access to justice for our citizens, and the enormous, gigantic workload that our courts are really overburdened with. So we saw that it was still not serving its purpose. So when, obviously, and this is the Parliament, and the Parliament is supreme in these constitutional amendments, obviously, it's a two-third majority that is required to give effect to any constitutional amendments. The wisdom of the the broad-based consensus or the broader consensus of the parliament was that we will establish the Federal Constitutional Court so as to ease the burden on the Supreme Court, because we had appeals, appeals in cases where people were actually imprisoned and serving their sentences for 20 years or even more, and they were still waiting for their appeals to be heard by the Supreme Court, and they were not being listed for adjudication or hearing. And there are several cases, I'm happy to share the example of those particular cases as well at the end or the conclusion of this review, where people had actually suffered and there was miscarriage of justice in many of those cases because then at the appellate forums, they were found to be not guilty. and their convictions were overturned. So with all of that time, 14, 15, 20 years, just because of the fact that their applications were not taken up by the court or they were not listed for hearing, they had to suffer and they had to remain incarcerated. Hence, the idea behind Federal Constitutional Court was, a, on issues that concern the constitutional, the fundamental rights or the constitutional articles should be interpreted as it happens in other parts of the world as well. So, of course, our Parliament, being supreme, decided that by two-thirds majority on a broad-based consensus that we had, we established the Federal Constitutional Court. Now, on the independence of justice, because this is interlinked and intertwined with the exact same question that was posed by the Honourable Member, Signora Rossi. The constitution provides the framework for the separation of powers, and we actually ensured this at the time of these constitutional amendments as well. Amongst the legislature, executive, judiciary, recognizing judiciary is an independent organ of the state. Because we do have this concept of separation of powers, the judiciary is separate, the executive is separate, and the legislature is separate. And based on this principle of the separation of powers, Judicial independence is supported by constitutional provisions governing judicial appointments, judicial administration, supervision of subordinate courts, and accountability within the judiciary as well. The key constitutional provisions that we amended at that particular time so as to ensure that there was judicial independence, as well as not just within the judiciary as well when they function, but equally at the time when they're appointed as well. We have Article 175A that deals with the constitutional framework of the judicial appointments themselves. Then we have Article 203, which is the High Court's supervisory role over the subordinate courts. Then we have Article 209, which basically establishes and outlays the functions of the Supreme Judicial Council. At the subordinate judiciary level, the recruitment, professional development are undertaken through the prescribed legal and institutional procedures, including qualification requirements, examination, assessments, interviews as applicable. Judicial officers, they receive pre-service and continuing professional training throughout their judicial career through the judicial academies. Judicial administration, performance, discipline matters are addressed by the competent constitutional and judicial authorities in accordance with the applicable legal framework. But even at the time of the appointment of these judges, they are actually decided by the Supreme Judicial Council, which is a body, Judicial Commission of Pakistan, which is basically as per our constitution, which includes majority of the judges from both the Constitution as well as the Supreme Court and the Chief Justice of Pakistan as well, and they decide by majority. And we have the civil society represented there as well. We have the Bar Council represented there as well. And we have the opposition represented there as well. So overall, if you look at the appointment of the judges, then obviously, you know, since the appointment of the judges, the judges function independently. As for The National Commission of Human Rights, I'd like to, I mean, of course, we will certainly be sharing the details of the training of the judges and pursuant to our obligations under the International Covenant of what we have actually imparted with from the years 2018 till 2024 through the Federal Judicial Academy, through the Punjab Judicial Academy, through the Sindh Judicial Academy, through the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Judicial Academy, Bulgarian Judicial Academy, and all the programs that we have conducted for these honorable judges and how many participants we had. So we have a very detailed numbers and data of all these programs that we have conducted through the judicial training programs. Now, with regards to the National Commission of Human Rights, Of course, I will be sharing details on the Paris Principles as well, as have been duly noted by Senor Rossi, the honourable member of this committee. The Government of Pakistan remains committed to strengthening the institutional independence and effective functioning of the National Commission of Human Rights in accordance with the Paris Principles, and the National Commission of Human Rights actually operates as an autonomous institution independent of the government in the discharge of its mandate and submits its annual financial and performance reports to the Parliament, ensuring transparency and accountability. With regards to their budget, that has increased significantly over the past couple of years. So the government has enhanced financial support to strengthen the Commission's operational capacity. The NCHR's budget increased from 70.8 million rupees in financial year 2021 to 2022, from 70.8 million. Now, in the year 2024 to 2025, it had gone up to 183 million, which is a significant 200% increase. On the rest of how the commission itself operates and the appointment of its members and the chairman, of course, we have a law that specifically deals with it. I will be sharing more details on it, but I think just so that we can address most of the points that have been raised in the 10 questions by Senior Rossi as well, I'd like to invite Mr. Abdul Khaleq Sheikh, who's our Secretary of Ministry of Human Rights, who will be covering some of the questions as well. that have been raised? Thank you.

Thank you very much. I'll first respond to the question related to human rights defenders. Before I say anything, I want to draw your attention to history of Pakistan. Pakistan came into existence through a political movement. a constitutional political movement. And Pakistan has seen a number of movements ever since its inception, labor movements, lawyers movements, students movements, and a number of political movements against military takeovers. And there's a rich history of protests, organized movements, political alliances. and movements by different sections of society against anything they find wrong. And it is simply impossible for any regime in Pakistan to go back completely on all these traditions of rich political history. The position right now in Pakistan is that the dissent is protected. But the violence is prosecuted, and every power being exercised by a state is subject to review, either sometimes administrative review, and mostly, almost in all cases, through judicial review. After this history, it is in this backdrop that the Constitution of Pakistan in 1973 adopted incorporated very useful provisions for defending human rights, fundamental rights, and human rights defenders. Article 19 of the Constitution on freedom of speech, Article 19A on right to information, Article 17 on freedom of association, and Article 16 on freedom of assembly. Now, responding to the part of the question that whether the covenant articles to which we are signatory, and subsequently those principles being adopted in some way, even in different parts of the history and the constitution, how far those have been actually incorporated in domestic legislation, and how that domestic legislation is being actually invoked for defending for protecting human rights defenders. So, very recently, we have set up a protection of journalists and media professionals commission after the act was passed, and it has become operational. It is looking into complaints, and it is in coordination with the journalists and working on the remedies for them. Besides this, There's another commission in Sindh. Some certain provinces have also adopted these measures. For instance, in Sindh, we have Commission on Protection of Journalists, which has been established since 2022. And it has, as per the figures that I have, from 2023 to 2025, they have taken up 41 complaints already. So it's pretty operational and functional. Then in Pakistan, we have Social Media Regulatory Authority, Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority Code, press clubs. And there's a culture of establishing journalists associations, what we call them, local press clubs. So in the districts, headquarters, in subdivisions, and even in smaller towns, you'll find press clubs. where they, from where they raise voice if there's any injustice or any gag against the journalist. And in Pakistan, there are more than 100,000 civil society organizations registered and 112 international organizations registered under Pakistani laws. Then we have bar councils, very active. And there is right to access information law also. For enforced disappearances, let me highlight the legal and institutional safeguards and measures as have been asked in the question. So enforced disappearances are neither permitted nor justified under any law or policy in Pakistan, and are recognized as violation of fundamental rights. While acknowledging the complexity of the issue, and its association with terrorism and internal security challenges, the government of Pakistan remains resolutely committed to ensuring that all security and counter-terrorism measures are implemented strictly in accordance with constitutional safeguards. Now, there's a part of question about having specific legislation for criminalizing this offense. Already, the Pakistan Penal Code includes provisions related to unlawful deprivation of liberty, which apply to cases of enforced disappearances, particularly those in Pakistan Penal Code from section 359 to 365. Then we have National Human Rights Commission in Pakistan. The head of the delegation just mentioned how it functions in Pakistan. And it looks into complaints also. And there is this commission of enforced disappearances, which conducts inquiries, and it has already disposed of 87% of cases. 10,997 cases were received by this commission, out of which 1,462 are under investigation. but as many as 9,535 have been already disposed of, which is 87%. And about the online restrictions, the perceived restrictions, there was reference to a law which is probably Peca, Pakistan Electronic Crimes Act 16, which was amended in 2025. Now this actually law, again, is not to suppress freedom of expression. It is to protect innocent citizens. And if you look at the complaints handled by National Cyber Crime Agency, which has been set up recently. Before this, these cases were looked into by federal investigation agency. Now we have this specialized agency. Most of the cases, for instance, NCCIA received 157,000 complaints in 2025, and most of those were for blackmail, fraud, impersonation, abuse of women and children. So actually, this is a law against cybercrime which protects the right of its victims. And there is a screening process. So out of 157,000, only 30,000 made it to inquiries because they have this initial probe whether those complaints are serious enough that the resources should be committed to. And out of those 30,000, only 2,256 cases were registered. And this low conversion rate from complaint to inquiry and to cases, actually, is not a system failure, but actually it is a filter working against any unjustified complaints. And under the PACA laws, sections 33 and 34 gives powers to judges. So most of the powers exercised by cyber crime investigation agency are subject to authorization by judges. And for the false implications, there are ample safeguards, particularly those related to forensic verification, which means that if a device is owned by somebody or it doesn't mean that authorship belongs to that person. And there are safeguards against entrapment, which is prohibited. And then there are remedies for any kind of complaints which require review. Now, so these were the main things about human rights defenders. belonging to social media. Even now, if you have a cursory look at the YouTube channels, you find so many people broadcasting vlogs, which so many people in the government may not be happy, but they continue. So there's so much tolerance also. Thank you very much.

Thank you. And within this time now, I'd like to invite Dr. Arif to share some information and shed light on the financial capacity of the provinces within the sort of broader sphere of the information that has been requested by the right honorable member of this committee. Thank you.

First, I would like to invite the attention of the Committee, to the pertinent question that whether the taxation system and financial capacities are equitable for the people as enshrined in this covenant, yes, of course. Pakistan is a federal democracy, and if we look at the constitutional scheme between the federal government and the provincial governments, which are four units, there is two types of tax collection system and distribution of finances. One is governed by the federal government through the National Finance Commission, and the second one is own resources generated by the provincial governments. So first come to the NFC award. So it was introduced in 2007. to make it more equitable, the population is not the only criteria. Rather, the constitution under this NFC award provides the equitable distribution of the finances to make the baseline of poverty as well. Like in terms of population, the Balochistan have less share, but under this regime, The poverty line is also considered as one of the baselines to have more resources. The distribution is like that. Punjab has 51.74% from National Finance Commission. It directly goes from the federal funds. Then Sindh has 24.5%. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has 14.62%, plus additional 1% because of merged districts of Federally Administered Tribal Areas, now those are part of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Then Balochistan has 9.09% share. Now we come to the other aspects. that what types of taxes provinces themselves can collect and to create the revenue for their own expenditures and for the benefits of the people at large. These are several types of taxations, like sales tax on services. They can impose up to 17%, depends on the provincial legislation how they have to impose it, otherwise normally currently 17%. sales tax on services imposed by the provincial governments. Then agriculture income tax, AIT, can also be imposed by the provinces. And the third type of taxation is property and real estate taxes, including stamp duties and duties on transfer of properties that is purely subject of the provincial governments. Similarly, motor vehicle taxation are with the provincial governments. They can collect the revenue, and they can similarly Incur the expenditures for the benefits of the people in equitable terms according to the provincial legislation. Then, provincial levies and non-tax revenues are also part of the provincial government regimes. They are fully authorized to collect that. And additionally, during the financial management negotiation taken up with the IMF by the Government of Pakistan, some additional tax revenue targets have also been set for the provinces. If we have a glance, the KPK has to collect 45 billion additional tax revenue through their own resources that constitutes 10.2%. Then Punjab, that has been given a big target because of the mega population, the largest populous province of the federation. It constitutes 175 billion Pakistani rupees, which constitutes around 39.9%. Then Sindh, it has been given $200 billion, and which constitutes 45.6%. The bigger target indicates that Sindh has the, it's also Karachi, the port city, so that's why probably it has been given a bigger target of 200 billion Pakistani rupees, which constitutes 44.5%. And now the other important aspect is that how these tax revenue and tax composition, corporate taxation, tax evasion, and tax are having the impact on equitable redistribution as well as on the social protection. The FBR, if we look on the data, the federal tax collecting body, which we call the FBR, net tax collected in financial year 2023, that was 9,299 billion. It has been increased in the financial year 2024 and 2025 by 2,000 billion, which constitutes 11,744 billion. Then, year-on-year growth in net tax collection in financial year 2024 and 2025, approximately 26.3% increase had been recorded. within these three years. Then revised financial year 2024-25 collection target was set as 11,900 billion. Then tax to GDP ratio is approximately, previously it was 8.8% and now it has been increased to 10.3%. during the financial year 2024 and 2025. The credit goes to the financial management and tax collection regimes, particularly when digital regime was introduced for the tax collection at federal level as well as at the provincial level. So it brought a rapid change, and the developing countries like Pakistan, if they indicate 26 0.3% tax collection increase, it is marvelous and significant progress on the part of Pakistan, we believe, and the international bodies also recognize this, including IMF. So such distributions and the government's revenue mobilization efforts from part of a broader fiscal framework intended to support macroeconomic stability and provide resources for public expenditure. Strengthening tax administration, improving documentation of economic activity, and enhancing compliance remain relevant to increasing the resources available for social and development priorities. The committee's assessment, which was framed to have mid-term and short-term targets, that committee focused on fairness and compasses the composition of direct and indirect taxes, the effective tax burden across income groups, the contribution of personal income tax paid by the richest 10 percent, and the fiscal implications of tax evasion, tax avoidance, and tax concessions. These dimensions are important for evaluating the progress of the tax system and in contribution to the realization of economic, social, and cultural rights. The reported revenue and direct tax figures provide indicators of the development of tax collection, while the distributional incidence of taxation and the fiscal cost of the exemptions must be assessed in relation to the relevant tax categories and purchases. So that's where public expenditures have also been increased, because the tax revenue was there. And the other aspect of this tax management system was that to reduce the deficit depending on the internal debts and to reducing the circular debt, rather depending on the external debt services. So, due to these effective and robust mechanisms of the tax collection and particularly redistribution of these funds for the public good, brought changes in terms of development, and it is also indicative that now, during the current financial years, the outlay of public sector development project increased to 1,000 billions, which was 10 years ago, it was around 4,000 billion. So it is again a drastic change, and we are moving ahead towards the development, bringing the social equitability in the country.

Your Excellency, we have passed the time allocated for answers, replies to cluster one. What I suggest is that we shall now proceed with follow-up questions, if any, under cluster one, following which you have a short two-minute break to adjust for all your answers, end of cluster 1. So I shall now give the floor to follow-up questions. Yes, Mr. Siri? Yes, Mrs. Rossi, yes, please. You have the floor.

Thank you very much for the information that you have shared with us thus far in your replies to the questions in cluster one. I want to re-ask one of my questions, perhaps reformulating it, and so a question about the Commission on Enforced Disappearances in Pakistan. There are perceptions, and on the basis of the reports that we have received, It seems that this Disappeared Persons Commission is relatively ineffective and inefficient. There are alternative numbers vis-à-vis the quantity of disappeared persons in Pakistan, and also information about this commission’s inability to resolve cases. But my question, leaving that to one side for the time being, is: this whole matter of the fact that the Commission on Enforced Disappearances has not referred a single case to the courts for prosecution and conviction? At least that's our understanding. Has that, in fact, occurred? Because according to information we've received, it never has. Now turning to my other follow-up questions, my first one will be on anti-corruption endeavours. Now, in the corruption perception index for 2025 from Transparency International, Pakistan ranked 137 out of 182 countries. And so it is still below the previous levels at which it was in 2002. So things are getting worse in terms of corruption. You are sinking down the rankings in Transparency International's index. So I'd like to ask what measures you have enacted to ensure a merit-based and transparent appointment of persons to the National Accounting Office, or Audit Office? And also, if I could ask you some information about any convictions for cases of corruption amongst the judiciary over the last five years. If I could ask questions about steps taken to revise the 2017 law. which has proven to be very deficient in various areas, particularly when it comes to autonomy of complaints, protection from reprisals for those flagging corruption, etc., and for taking the proportionate measures in response. A second set of questions on women's political participation. According to information that we have received and consulted, they hold about 22% of seats in the National Assembly as of December 2025. A proportion which is relatively low and which doesn't seem to have varied at all since 2000, the level of women's participation and number of seats they hold in Parliament has always been around 20%. So how does the state party apply provision 206 of the electoral law to ensure that women make up 50% of the names on the candidate lists? And also, if you could explain what represents the low level of women who stand as candidates but also to, not just to the National Assembly, but also to other elected posts. Also with regard to women's participation in decision-making posts in the judiciary and the executive, numbers are low. So what explains that in your view? What are you doing to turn that around? On persons with disabilities, how do you use data from the 2023 census on disabilities to design specific public policies on service provision and delivery on an inclusive basis for persons with disabilities? I'm thinking in particular in terms of the needs of women and girls with disabilities and how you design policies targeted for them. Also, to ask whether you have disaggregated data on the basis of ethnic origin that you could share with us on the population of Pakistan. Now on internally displaced persons, or IDPs. Again, according to information received by the Committee, the floods in 2025 triggered the displacement of approximately 3 million persons in Pakistan. There are other internal displacement waves that have taken place in other zones and regions of the country, not just those triggered by the floods of 2025. In response thereto, have you adopted a holistic legal framework? particularly given the context of climate change and internal conflict? So have you adopted a framework to ensure access by displaced persons to basic resources and protection thereof? This was, of course, a recommendation made by the Committee in 2017, and we're not sure it's yet being acted upon. I'll leave it there for the time being. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Ms. Roussy. Yes, Mr. Nontasut, you have the floor.

Thank you, Chairman, and I welcome the Pakistani delegation. I only have one question pertaining to fiscal space of Pakistan. The country reporter has asked already about the way in which the country will navigate high debt. I just looked up the numbers and found that the debt-to-GDP stands roughly about 70%, with public investment to GDP standing at 14.38%. This is a cross-cutting issue because in other cluster, we will be raising the question about the availability, sufficiency of public investment in those areas, particularly in health and education. So the question is, when you have high borrowing cost and you have high debt ceiling, how are you going to navigate this situation? Perhaps we discussed about the restructuring of debt with international lenders. We talk about Paris Club. So we would like to ask about your trajectory on this matter, and how are you going to reprioritize education and health in your public spending? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Nourdessouy. Yes, Mr. Bienvenu, you have now the floor.

Yeah, also a warm welcome from my side to the delegation, and I have two questions. The first one, Relates to business and human rights, you have adopted a national action plan, I think in 2021, if I'm right, and, uh, I would like to get some insights, how does it work, yeah, particularly. You mentioned, uh, Minister Malik, that you have, uh, 86% or so in informal sector. So controlling an informal sector of that size is not easy for business and human rights. So how do you do this? How labor inspectors can really work in this area? I think it's very problematic and, uh, understandable because informal sectors are normally those who are not formal and not so easy to control. Secondly, I would be interested, uh, if you have any exchange with those buying, for example, textiles and clothing from Pakistan about their willingness to pay more or their willingness to support you in, uh, implementing this. There's a network of national action plans on business and human rights. So how is your collaboration on that side? That is my first question. The second is related to what just said on the, um debt situation, because I will be later working on health, yeah? And just to add these figures, yeah? I find out when you were here in 2017, you spent 2.79% of your GDP on your budgets on health, yeah? And now the latest figures I found from '23 is 2. 2.52%. So it's basically the same level you have maintained. There was an increase in between, but it has gone down. And given this debt situation, he was already mentioning, so how much physical space you really have for this? And is there any opportunity you can raise it also? I know there is negotiations with the IMF and others on these matters, yeah? So maybe an investigation here from our committee can help you. in this type of negotiations, just to find out how you can deal with this and how you can make priorities. You mentioned some of the areas on social spending you have been able to increase on social payments, 20% you were saying, but in other areas like health, it's basically flat. So what is your perspective on that? Thanks.

Thank you, Mr. Winful. Next, I'll give the floor to Mr. Fjodorov Askim.

Thank you very much for giving me the floor, Chair. I, in my turn, would like to ask a question to the delegation, not just vis-à-vis your stance with regard to the potential ratification of the Optional Protocol to our Convention. But I'll go beyond that. It seems that your position is extended to other conventions, with the exception of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, in which instance you have ratified the optional protocols. But with regard to all other human rights treaties or conventions, you have not ratified the optional protocol. That holds true also for this convention. for the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. I will ask a very specific question: what is your stance vis-à-vis the ratification of the Optional Protocol to our Covenant, but also, more broadly than that, what is your stance vis-à-vis the potential ratification of optional protocols to other human rights treaties to which you are a party? I would also like to ask the State Party on its position and whether it intends in the near future to consider acceding to the International Convention on the protection of the rights of migrant workers and the members of their families, as well as acceding to the Convention on the Protection against Enforced Disappearance? Do you intend to accede to those two instruments? My final question is about the system that the State has adopted for follow-up to and implementation of recommendations from treaty bodies. How do you follow up on those recommendations that you as a State party receive from the treaty bodies and other human rights mechanisms? Do you have a system in place to keep track of the enactment of those recommendations, etc.? Thank you very much.

Thank you, Mr. Vasken. Following after the follow-up questions, I I propose that we break for two minutes only, but will you please remain in the committee room so that you may have time to adjust and plan how we proceed for the rest of the answers, for the remaining of the answers. Okay, so we shall now resume with the replies to both the follow-up questions and the questions raised in the cluster one. Thank you.

Thank you very much. I'd like to invite Mr. Essam Shammim to share information on the queries raised with regards to the

business and human rights. So, floor is yours.

Thank you, sir, and I thank the rapporteur for the question on business and human rights. Pakistan adopted the first national action plan on business and human rights in South Asia in 2021, following a national baseline assessment that began in 2018. We were the first in our region to take that step, and we mention it because being first carried an obligation to show results rather than intentions. So on progress and impact, we can give the committee a figure rather than an impression. The progress report of May 2026 records more than 60% of the plan's 69 action points delivered or being delivered, and it was prepared through a desk review and consultations in the provincial capitals. If I may say what that record actually contains, because that is the fairer test. Mapping studies are finished on all four fundamental labor rights and on the digital economy, freelance and gig work, on modern slavery, and on strengthening civil remedies for discrimination, each with recommendations attached. A human rights due diligence roadmap for government functionaries was issued in 2024. Terms of reference have been approved for a multi-stakeholder working group, drawing on six public sector bodies, six private sector actors, the National Commission for Human Rights, and two civil society and development partners. The plan has produced evidence, not only machinery. On impact, four things changed that had not existed before. Human rights due diligence became mandatory for large employers under the Punjab Labor Code of 2026 in the province holding our largest labor market. The due diligence checklist issued in November 2025 went to every state-owned enterprise, so the state applies to its own undertakings what it asks of private business. Gender pay gap disclosure became binding on listed companies in April 2024. And Pakistan ratified the forced labor protocol in force since March this year. On company related reparations, remedy runs through four channels, and each has produced results. The courts. The Supreme Court in 2023 required environmental impact assessment before small scale mining licenses are granted. And the Lahore High Court has held that long serving daily wage workers are entitled to permanence, fair wages, and the right to join unions. The labor courts With regards to the labour courts, Punjab has eight with two benches of its appellate tribunal, Sindh eight, KP six, serving seven districts, Balochistan five. And moving on to the ombudspersons, 823 cases registered with the federal ombudsperson in the year to June 2024. And the federal ombudsperson disposed of 90% of its cases in 2023 in an average of 45 days. The rapporteur's question on land acquisition and the extractive sector goes to where our framework is newest. Article 9A of the Constitution, added in 2024, gives an express constitutional basis to challenge business activity that damages the environment, and it was our own Supreme Court that made environmental assessment a precondition of a mining license, rather than a formality after it. Environmental impact assessment in Pakistan carries a public hearing requirement, which is the existing route by which an affected community is heard. The plan goes further in design. Proposed Action 31 commits to a regulatory model requiring human rights due diligence before approval is given to large-scale projects posing significant risk to communities, framed by the risk the project carries, not by the market it sells to. The roadmap carries the same principle into the environmental assessment process itself. On legislation and the gender perspective, both together. Due diligence is already a statutory obligation in Punjab, and since draft code follows. Feasibility work is underway on national legislation and on the implications of the European Due Diligence Directive for our exporters. The gender perspective is not in addition to that work. Non-discrimination is one of the eight priority areas of the plan itself. In practice, it means binding pay gap disclosure, a woman director required on every listed board. Gender disaggregated reporting through the Security and Exchange Commission's Environmental, Social, and Governance portal. The harassment legislation extended in 2022 to reach gig, domestic, home-based, and freelance workers so that the domestic worker may now bring a complaint before the federal ombudsperson. Gender budget tagging at federal level and a national study of sectors with significant gender disparity due by the end of this year. The Ministry of Human Rights has also proposed that companies establish internal equal opportunity committees to take complaints on pay gaps and discriminatory hiring. On a second plan, the present plans period ends this year, and the progress report of May 2026 is precisely the instrument on which its successor is being designed. We came to this committee with a framework. We returned with an implementation record against it, and we intend to return next time with results measured against the successor. Now, moving on to the follow-up question. On what we've learned from the plan, two things, and the second is the member's own question. The first is that research had to come before regulation. We did not have a reliable picture of the gig economy, of modern slavery, or of how discrimination is remedied in practice. And the mapping studies were the plan's real output in its first phase. The second is that guidance alone does not reach any informal economy. That is precisely why the obligation was legislated rather than recommended, which brings me to how we reach that sector, because it is the right question. We do not reach it by inspection alone. You cannot inspect an employment relationship that exists nowhere on paper. You reach it by bringing the worker inside the law first. The Punjab Labour Code of 2026 does exactly that. It covers domestic, home-based, agriculture, gig, and platform workers, requires online registration of every establishment, and makes written employment agreements mandatory for domestic, home-based, and platform workers. Home-based worker legislation now exists in all four provinces, and since Domestic Workers Welfare Act of 2025 is in force. In the brick kilns, where the problem is sharpest, Punjab has documented over 210,000 workers, documentation being the first act of protection. A written contract turns an informal worker into an enforceable claim. Lastly, on the textile and garment sector, our engagement with business runs through the chambers of commerce, which sit on the National Steering Committee, and through the trade associations. The Ministry of Human Rights own survey of some 300 participants was drawn from the chambers, the provincial commerce departments, and the trade associations. And the Federal of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry has established responsible business help desks to advise member firms. That sector also trades under GSP+. in which 27 international conventions are attached. So for exporters, these obligations are already commercial as well as legal. I would add that much of this work is carried out with the European Union support through the HAKUK Pakistan II project, in which business and human rights is one of the four pillars. Thank you, sir.

Thank you very much. And very quickly, I'd just like to add as well, since the honorable member of this committee, Mr. Windfield had asked, and with the business and human rights, this is actually second revised plan that we have. The first one that we had was from 2021 until 2026, and we've actually now going for a revised plan. And very briefly, if I could just mention, since in September, i was at a regional conference in Bangkok.

So the first one being Thailand in the region for bringing about the business and human rights, and of course, extensive work has been done, and then it was Pakistan after that. We've actually shared our knowledge and expertise with Nepal, as well as now we're sharing this with Egypt as well. So should you wish, perhaps by then, we'll also have a copy of our business

and human rights plan so we can share that with you as well.

So now I'd like to invite Nayab Ali for the information that has been requested on the transgender rights. and other associated elements on that. Thank you.

Thank you, Head of Delegation, for giving me the floor. And thank you, Your Excellency, Madam Rapporteur, for acknowledging the progress made by Pakistan in terms of transgender persons' protection of rights. Transgender definition under the Transgender Act 2018 does not only cover transgender, but also use it an umbrella term include transgender, eunuch, intersex, and any person whose gender identity differs from the sex assigned at the time of birth. Government has continued to undertake measures for the protection of welfare of transgender persons. Under Section 6A of the 2018 Act, Ministry of Human Rights established Pakistan's first Transgender Protection Center in Islamabad, providing temporary shelter, rehabilitation, medical assistance, psychological counseling, legal assistance, and referral services. The center has provided services to 2,740 transgender persons. Punjab has established dedicated police Tahafuz Marakaz for the protection and assistance of transgender persons. Following the establishment of the initial facility in Rawalpindi, 37 additional police Tahafuz Marakaz were established throughout the province, through which 11,607 transgender person has been facilitated. Punjab has also established dedicated council for the transgender person in Khidmat Marakaz, separate educational facilities in Lahore, Multan. Victim support officers and transgender focal person at district level, special sexual offenses investigation units have also been established throughout the province with transgender victims receiving priority in relevant cases. Sindh police has established 31 dedicated desk and notified 31 focal person across the province for the transgender community. Special police desk has been established in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, while a dedicated assistant inspector general gender is posted in the central police officer to assist women, children, and transgender person. Anti-harassment committee have also been established within relevant department and institution, separate rooms for the transgender prisoners has been allocated in prison in 12 district, and protection center for elderly transgender person have also been established. In Balochistan, Our transgender desk has been nominated in office of the ombudsperson, while district human rights committees and district monitoring committees are also functioning to address human rights and registration related matters. A dedicated helpline 1089 has also been established for prompt redressal of grievances of women and transgender persons. Ministry of Human Rights has developed guidelines for police and also taken capacity building initiative for law enforcement officials concerning the Transgender Person Protection of Right Act 2018 and Rules of 2020. The government has established institutional mechanisms through which transgender persons can report complaints concerning violence, harassment, and other unlawful treatment. The Transgender Protection Center also maintains a complaint redressal mechanism and refers cases to relevant authorities. Police department has separately recorded cases involving transgender persons. Police personnel are sensitized to the rights and protection needs of transgender persons, including the appropriate handling of complaints relating to violence, harassment, and other offenses. The relevant law enforcement authorities are required to register and investigate complaints in accordance with the applicable legal framework and to take appropriate action against persons found involved in criminal offenses. The available police data reflect the registration and processing of cases involving transgender persons. During the reporting period, 368 cases were registered, of which 231 cases, approximately 33 persons were challaned, while 137 cases remained under investigation. These cases involved 810 accused persons, of whom 411 were arrested. The data reflect that cases involving transgender persons are being registered and processed through established police investigation and criminal justice procedures, including arrest and submission of challan where appropriate. Thank you.

Thank you very much. I would now like to invite our Permanent Representative, His Excellency Mr. Tayran Rabi, who will actually be sharing information as requested from the honourable members of this Committee regarding the repatriation of Afghan refugees, also the signing of the Optional Protocol and climate change. The floor is yours.

Thank you. Thank you, Minister Shah, for giving me the floor. Very briefly, I think, apart from the points highlighted by our head of delegation, very briefly on two aspects also, on the enforced disappearance and the communication we received on Balochistan and the reply that we furnished. First of all, on enforced disappearance, a question was asked. Two points that I wish to underscore: one is existing constitutional provisions that provide a guardrail against enforced disappearance, and of course, under these provisions, the individual has the right or the family has the right. The Commission of Inquiry itself, a question was raised whether it has referred the cases for the judicial scrutiny. The first of all, the Commission of Inquiry itself has worked efficiently to the extent that it had till August 2026 disposed of 9,501 cases 9,535 cases against 10,973 cases that it received. So this was around 85% of disposal rate. The second point about this is the ease of registration and ease of access. the Commission. The Commission can be accessed online through the Commission’s website, and the Commission is bound to register all cases. It’s not that there is a process whereby the Commission has the power not to register any case or sort of shortlist cases that are to be registered. It cannot do so. It has to register all cases. So, that is the ease of access. Then, another aspect about the Commission, why it has not referred to judiciary, is its own legal authority that it enjoys. It can summon law enforcement agencies, which it has done in most of the cases, which has led to the disposal of these cases. So, in effect, it is a quasi-judicial, if not a fully judicial process in itself. And accordingly, once the individuals are repatriated, of course, they or their families or those cases which are not registered, they have recourse to the law. So this is as much as we would speak on the Commission on Enforced Disappearance. As regards the International Convention, we believe in the Relevant provision of ICCPR, CAT, and other human rights, and our own constitutional provisions do provide a sufficient framework. However, if the parliament so wishes, it can sort of legislate on the matter further. The Optional Protocol, Pakistan remains committed to implementing all its obligations under ICESR. While we are not part of the optional protocol, we have established domestic complaint and remedial mechanism to facilitate access to justice and ensure the protection of the rights of persons under the Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights Convention. These mechanisms include judicial, institutional, national human rights commissions, ombudspersons, special tribunals, and so on and so forth. Our domestic legal institutional framework, together with judicial development, aimed at safeguarding economic, social, and cultural right, provide mechanism for protection. Now coming to Afghan refugees and some of the returnees, we are into the third year of this Afghan foreign repatriation, illegal foreigners repatriation plan, and it was promulgated on 1st November. So exactly, we are now at its third anniversary. So accordingly, it is about the undocumented foreign nationals, not just the Afghans. However, since November 2023, 2.6 million Afghan nationals have been repatriated in safe, dignified, and voluntary manner, and another 89,000 Afghan nationals have been resettled to third country. And I have the country-wise break-up, mostly have gone to Germany, UK, and Canada, and Australia, and the US. Another important aspect, I think there was a direct question on our safeguard for the vulnerable communities within those returnees. So there is a safeguard mechanism where the individuals, vulnerable communities, or vulnerable groups in the returnees are scrutinized. And overall, 16,000 individuals This was a figure of one month early, so I'm sure it probably has increased now, but 16,000 individuals were identified and were given exemption from repatriation on humanitarian grounds, and these included women, children, elderly, and so forth. We have taken measures to prevent harassment and maltreatment. There is a 24/7 complaint cell. easily accessible to these Afghan individuals who are being repatriated. Let me also underscore that this policy of ours is about the undocumented Afghan, or those who are not legally allowed to stay in the country. And this does not affect those who have either a regular visa or have refugee status duly registered by the the UNHCR. They have a certain higher threshold of returning whereby the due process is followed in terms of our obligations with respect to UN human rights, UN High Commissioner for Refugees and his office. As regards the Climate change, this was a very important question about the climate facility. The article 2.1, you know, it sets the standard of the maximum available resources that are to be dispensed in economic, social, cultural rights through international assistance and cooperation. So, the assessment of our climate in the context of upholding economic, social, cultural rights despite climate change has to be two-dimensional: how much we have done so within our resources and how much the resources were actually made available. And actually, the resources made available, I'm afraid, present a grim picture. Basically, there are four kinds of funding which we can sort of say. One was the Geneva Climate Conference in 2022-23 after the devastating 2022 floods. The amount which was pledged And the amount which eventually was disbursed, there's a huge gap between it. So the gap around 15 to 20% of what was pledged eventually was dispersed. So this one issue has to be mind with respect to the Geneva Conference. The second is the Green Climate Fund. And the Green Climate Fund, again, amount of roughly 332 million, of which only 6.1 million was disbursed. Similarly, the Green Environment Fund facility, which calculated around 80 million, and this is US dollars. So out of 80 million US dollars, only 41.1 million, some estimates, and these were then not just related to climate fund, but basically covering biodiversity, land degradation, and areas which are ancillary to climate change and not directly related to it, but nonetheless, this is what the figures from the Green Environment Facility is. IMF Resilience and Stability Program, which is a larger program for fiscal stability, has provisions from climate reform, but then that Really, you can't, basically, they are not the direct climate funding, and so on about the World Bank portfolio as well. But again, the amount, two issues to be highlighted. One is the amount pledged and the amount dispersed. This is one difference. The second difference is that, and this is systemic, which is faced by many development and climate vulnerable countries. is that whether these amounts are grants or whether these amounts are loans. So in some of the cases, these amounts offered are in terms of loan, even though they may be concessional loans, but the loans they are, which we have to return. So I think this is a very important aspect that we would wish to draw the attention of our distinguished colleagues from the from the Treaty Body. One final point from me about – there was a question about the letter written by the special procedures mandate holders on Balochistan, we have furnished the reply. This was December 2025. We received one communication and we replied it in February 2026. It is available in OHCHR records and can be shared. But basically, what I wish to underscore from this letter was that, and this, we would like to draw your attention to this aspect, that in 2011, There was an international tribunal award of $5.97 billion for this Rekodak project. A sort of a penalty was imposed on Pakistan and the Balochistan government, and this needs to be seen in how this investment justice takes place, because the project itself was of 300 million and the penalty was 5.97 billion. And eventually, the government finally in four or five years later did allocate the project of which 25% stakes were for the Balochistan government. But nonetheless, the mining remains a provincial subject, and this was highlighted. And then this whole process, whole situation has to be analyzed in the context of the terrorism, particularly the external sourced, external financed terrorism that this province of ours grapples with. And I think I have covered maybe all issues. Thank you.

Yes, so we'll stop here for today as regards cluster 1. If there are any outstanding issues, of course, the delegation may take it up tomorrow morning. We shall now turn to cluster 2, and I shall give the floor to to Cluster Leader Mr. Lazari Bouzid for questions under Cluster 2.

Chair, I would like first to extend my warm welcoming to the high-level delegation of Pakistan. I am responsible for Cluster 2, that is Article 6, 7, 8, and 9. I begin with Article 6. In paragraph 57 of the State report, it is revealed that the most recent initiative taken by Pakistan is the formalization of the informal sector. A bill on the subject has been vetted and approved by the provincial cabinet. My question is, has the bill been adopted by the provincial parliaments? and can we know some of its main points? In paragraph 60 of the State report, it is noted that measures were taken to make it mandatory to pay wages to workers of the factories through banks. What was the impact of this measure in practice, and did you notice any attempts to evade its application? In paragraph 61 of the State report, it is mentioned that the Government is presently working on strengthening labour protection laws to address especially three issues, namely child labour, forced labour, and trafficking of persons. What are the main findings of these efforts, and what measures have been taken by the Government to implement them in the field, in practice? In paragraph 62 of the State report, it is mentioned that the Ministry of Human Rights launched in 2021 a national plan on business and human rights, which aims at preventing human rights violations resulting from business activity and addresses income and wealth inequality, wage inequality, and gender disparity. What are the most important lessons learned from the implementation of this plan, and what are the main shortcomings which were revealed? The minimum wage rate in Pakistan is left to the provincial government, which means that there is no national or federal minimum wage. Does the State Party envisage a unified minimum wage which apply in the whole country? In paragraph 74 of the State report, it is stated that in Punjab, occupational safety and health rules are under preparation. Would you like please provide information on the fate of those rules and whether are applied in the practice? In paragraph 75 of the State Report, it is revealed that the Government of Pakistan has since 2014 embarked upon an ambitious plan to reform the entire labour administration system under an umbrella programme called Strengthening National Capacity for International Standards Competence in Pakistan, jointly designed by the Government of Pakistan and the ILO. What are the practical results of this programme and especially its positive impact on the labour administration, apart from what is mentioned in paragraph 76 of the State report? According to paragraph 52 of your reply to the list of issues, The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics is currently compiling information on the Labour Force Survey, LFS, 2024-2025. Would you like please provide information on the main results of the survey? In paragraph 44 of your reply to ILO list of issues, you reveal that the National Vocational and Technical Training Commission has since 2018 and under the Prime Minister's youth development program, have led to the training of 2,459 young people. What is the percentage of those trained young people who were able to get a job? In a book published in 2022 entitled Pakistan and Human Rights, edited by Steven Der Jas, it is stated in page 59, "Bounded labor is one of the most widespread forms of modern slavery, despite national legislation and Pakistan's international human rights commitment. Labor, bonded labor continues to pervade agriculture and is also found in informal sector of the economy, most notably brick making. The book stresses that civil actor actors including private construction companies, public agencies, and government departments, and ordinary citizens are complicit in sustaining the practice by purchasing bricks produced under debt ******* and forced labor. The book argues that such reframing of the problem is also called for because the legal prohibition of labor and litigations have not yielded lasting results. What is your reaction to these claims? Concerning Article 7, in paragraph 58 of the reply to the list of issues, it is stated that the overview of labor inspections shows a significant increase in inspections activities across the provinces in 2023. However, when looking at the statistics We notice that the number of inspections are much lower in Sindh comparing to other provinces, since they are 16,67 in Sindh, whereas in Punjab are 50,000, and in KP are 75,290, and in Balochistan are 11,213. What are the reasons behind this state of affairs? In paragraph 64 of your reply to the list of issues, you note that employers are required to pay salaries through banks in order to ensure compliance with the minimum wage regulations. How do you evaluate the application of these important measures in practice? Article 8. According to Balochistan Industrial Relations Bill of 2021, all workers have complete rights to participate in trade unions, except for those belonging to the armed forces, police, and essential services. Would you like please clarify the notion of essential services, and which authority has the power to determine those essential services? What is the state of association and trade union rights within special economic zones? Did Chief Justices use Article 184, paragraph 3 of the Constitution on sui moti jurisdiction on work-related issues? Would you like please provide us with some examples. Sind Bakha Tehreek Karachi, an NGO, observes in a report submitted to our Committee in January 2024 that union organizer Ms. Irfan Jabbar, working with Bangles workers in Hyderabad reported there are no resources available to women workers or their unions to facilitate their registration. To her, the state instead uses social protection laws to pitch for international loans and NGO financing instead of investing in their capacity to implement these laws. What is your reply to these claims? According to NGO Sind Bijau Tehreek, the state has a whole array of labor laws. However, we see large areas where workers' rights are floated with impunity. To this NGO, the trend in violation of workers include unchecked hiring of children and array of contracting labor laws contradicting labor laws, both contemporary and colonial era, that do not have uniform age of juvenility and therefore sanction employment of children. Informal hiring, whereas companies evade obligations under labor laws and hire under table to avoid payment of old age benefits, social security. Arbitrary rolling back of pensions and and provident funds of formal workers, as in the case of 10,000 PTCL workers; pervasive use of contract search system to hire contingent workers to avoid social security payments and rigging on health and safety measures; discouragement of union through management-run pocket unions. settling of cases to prevent wrongful deaths, lawsuits that perpetuates lack of safety measures for workers. How do you reply to these heavy claims? In a recent report of Amnesty International, it is documented that Sanitation workers in Pakistan are subjected to unjust treatment and discrimination, and harsh conditions of work, and the State must ensure robust protection for those workers, both in law and practice, against institutionalized religious and caste-based discrimination. What is your reaction to these assertions? In its report for 2024, Amnesty International reveals that the minimum wage in Pakistan is $133 per month, while living wage is $374. Does the state intend to raise the guaranteed minimum wage to a level that meets the basic needs of the worker? Concerning finally, article 9, according to report of NGO Sindh Baku Tehreek, Karachi, submitted in 2004, Sindh passed a law in 2018 to provide social security income to informal women workers who work in their homes doing a variety of jobs on a piece rate basis. The rates are low and exploitative, and women workers do not get minimum wages or any of the protections of labor laws, and their union rights are also compromised as they use their homes for work and isolated from one another. Despite the passage of this law in 2018, the provincial government has not provided social security income to any woman workers. State-imposed administration and procedural hurdles prevent implementation. While the state cites passage of laws as a guarantee of workers' rights, what they fail to confess is that they do not institutionalize implementing infrastructure, such as legal aid or resources to register and unconstitutionally require rules of business to be implemented. What is your reaction to these claims? Since the past a law including women agricultural workers as protected workers, but like the home-based law, this too does not have an implementing infrastructure. It also does not account for the diversity of farming and livestock management agreements women have with agricultures and land owners that include share cropping and wage labor. Hence, this too is one of those laws that look good on the books but have not provided women agriculture, at least with relief. Again, what is your reaction to this assertion? And thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Abuzid for the questions under cluster two. You now have 30 minutes to respond. We'll break for two minutes, one minute to enable you to make all necessary arrangements. Thank you. Yes, thank you. So we now proceed with the replies to the questions put in the cluster two. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Honorable Chair, I'd like to invite Ms. Nayab Ali for responding the queries with regards to child labor.

And thank you, Your Excellency, for putting effort for posing such important questions. Pakistan has undertaken legislative, regulatory, and administrative measures to prevent child labor, strengthen labor inspection and enforcement, improve occupational safety and health, and support children transitioning from hazardous work to education. These measures are supported by constitutional protection, provincial labour legislation, targeted inspection campaigns, prosecution of violation, child labour action plan, and rehabilitation program. The provincial government, which has responsibility for labour legislation and policy following the 18th Constitutional Amendment, are implementing measures with their respective jurisdiction. Constitution of Pakistan provide foundation for protecting workers' right and preventing exploitative employment practices, which are clearly mentioned in Article 11, 17, 18, 25, 37E. Following the 18th Constitutional Amendment, provincial governments are responsible for formulating labor legislation and labor policies, including measures concerning child labor, workplace safety, enforcement of labor standards. The Children Pledging of Labor Amendment Act 2022 enhanced punishment for pledging child labor, strengthening and legal response to practice that expose children to exploitation. Other provincial measures include the Punjab Labour Code 2026, was enacted by Punjab Assembly on 4 February 2026. It consolidate and rationalize labour legislation and provide a comprehensive framework for workers' right, safe, and healthy work condition. Prevention of occupational disease and regulation of employment relationship, including third party and contract employment. The same Industrial Relations Act 2013 regulate the formation of trade unions and seek to improve relation between employers and worker. The same child labor action plan developed with international partner is being implemented district by district, beginning with Sojawen. The proposed same labor code would set the minimum employment age at the 16 and expand prohibited hazardous occupations from 38 to 47. The Child Labor Action Plan 2025 of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, drafted in collaboration with International Labour Organization, was notified on 18 November 2025. It provides for enhanced inspection, prevention of hazardous child work, and free, compulsory, and good quality education until at least age 16. Implementation is to be coordinated through the KP Coordination Committee on Child Labor, which includes representation of relevant stakeholder. Now, particularly your question toward the labor inspection and enforcement in Punjab. Punjab has strengthened its labor inspection system through increased institutional capacity, digital inspection mechanisms, targeted campaigns, and specialized trainings for inspectors. The Labor and Human Resource Department has 266 working labor inspectors, including 45 female inspectors, against 266 sanctioned posts. Geotag labor inspection management system, child labor inspection management system, and case processing management system has been operationalized for inspection. Case management and monitoring Inspectors has also received training to lodge and pursue cases with the law enforcement agencies and courts. Now I want to give you some data. Punjab reported labor inspection figures from the period of 2021 to 2026 are follows. In 2025, Punjab has Punjab labor inspection, we conducted 395,000 inspection in which the violation was 168,000, in which the fine of 48.35 million rupees has been imposed. 2026 till date, there was around 300,000 inspections were taken place and On the violations of labor laws, there were 36.26 million fine were imposed. These figure demonstrates the scale of inspection and enforcement activity undertaken by department. Digital monitoring system and training of inspectors support the identification of violation, follow-up action, and prosecution. And now coming towards the third part of your question, occupational safety and health measures. Punjab Labor and Human Resource Department has initiated targeted occupational safety and health measure inspection campaigns, awareness programs, and enforcement measures, particularly in hazardous sectors. The department is developing online occupational safety and health profiles. of hazardous sectors to facilitate the identification and monitoring of workers engaged in hazardous occupation and support evidence-based enforcement interventions. Digital inspection mechanism has also been upgraded through the incorporation of occupational safety and health monitoring modules and strengthen risk-based inspection approaches. Punjab Occupational Safety and Health Rules 2025 has also been notified on 24th October 2025 to support the implementation of applicable occupational safety and health framework. The Director General of Labor Welfare issued OSH inspection checklist to all divisional directors of labor welfare in Punjab on 25th March, 2025 under the Punjab Occupational Safety and Health Act 2019. A circular on workplace safety and health was issued to employers across Punjab on 28 January, 2026. Continued capacity building covers occupational safety, health inspection procedure, case preparation and prosecutions, it is included in the inspector's training, which is related to labor inspection. These may strengthen the institutional capacity to identify hazardous working condition, improve compliance and support of enforcement of workplace safety standards. Now, the next province, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The labor department of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa undertake inspection and enforcement under the KP Prohibition of Employment of Children Act 2015. The figures, we have conducted 10,567 inspection upon which 600,000 fine has been imposed. On the last The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has also enacted provincial legislation prohibiting bonded labor, reinforcing the legal framework against exploitative labor practices. Thank you, Chairperson.

Thank you very much. Now, very quickly, if I could just invite Mr. Esson. to cover the queries that were raised on the bonded labour and other associated questions.

Thank you. Thank you, sir. The distinguished member has asked a great deal, and I will take it in an order that lets the answers build. He first asked about the Bureau of Statistics survey, and it is the right place to begin because everything else rests on it. The Labour Force Survey of 2024-25, released in November last year, is Pakistan's first conducted under the 19th International Conference of Labour Statisticians standard, a more rigorous instrument than its predecessors. It gives us a labour force of 83.1 million, of whom 77.2 million are employed. Unemployment is 7.1%, 6% for men, 10.5 for women, and 12.9 for young people. Agriculture still employs a third of all workers, and 80.8% of the employed are in formal work. That last figure is the central fact of our labor market, and it is what the member's question on formalization goes to. On formalization, our approach has been to bring the worker outside the law rather than to wait for the enterprise to come out of the shadows. The Punjab Labour Code of 2026 covers domestic, home-based, agriculture, gig, and platform workers, requires online registration of every establishment, and makes written employment agreements mandatory for domestic, home-based, and platform workers. Home-based worker legislation now exists in all four provinces, and since Domestic Workers Welfare Act 2025 is in force, since home-based workers have already formed 15 unions and two federations. Alongside that, the wider economy is formalizing. Enterprise account ownership rose from 16% in 2015 to 64% in 2023, and the tax-to-GDP ratio from 8.9% to 11.1% in two years. That connects directly to your question on wages through bank accounts, where the significance is not the convenience, but the enforceability. A wage paid in cash leaves no record, and therefore no claim. A wage paid into an account is traceable, and a traceable wage is an enforceable one. Our digital payments infrastructure, RAST, now has some 45 million users. It's what made that requirement realistic rather than aspirational. On labor protection laws against forced labor and trafficking, the framework is this. Article 11 of the constitution prohibits slavery and all forms of forced labor. The Bonded Labor System Abolition Act of 1992 does not merely prohibit the practice, it abolishes the system, and Section 6 extinguishes the bonded debt itself, bars any suit to recover it, and requires property taken against it to be restored. Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have since enacted their own acts. in 2015. The Prevention of Trafficking in Persons Act 2018 carries up to seven years imprisonment and a fine of up to INR 1 million. And in March this year, the ILO Forced Labor Protocol entered into force for Pakistan, our first ILO ratification in 19 years. The results are measurable. Under the trafficking legislation last year, 1,014 investigations, 1,015 prosecutions, and 282 convictions. The member is right that the problem persists nonetheless, particularly in agriculture and the brick kilns, and our own National Commission for Human Rights inquired into exactly that. It found that 79% of kiln workers have entered through an urgent loan, and 90% had no written contract. That is the most useful finding we have because it locates the problem in the advance rather than in the kiln. And it explains why registration, written contracts, and minimum wages now carry as much of the response as prosecution does. Punjab has documented over 210,000 kiln workers. District vigilance committees are established in every district of Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Islamabad. In Punjab alone, they held 526 meetings and resolved every one of the 67 complaints they received. And the step that had long been missing is now being taken. Labour inspectors identified 2,916 forced labour victims last year and referred 2,697 cases, against none of the year before. On your question about the structure behind Centre's women agriculture workers legislation, the structure is being built around registration, because registration is what makes every other entitlement operable. Centre has allocated 500 million rupees to register those workers and has fixed minimum wages for agriculture workers, who had never had them at all. The rules of March this year carry equal wages, maternity facilities, the right to form unions, and old age coverage. It's early, and we would rather the committee judged it at the next review against the registration figures than take our word for it now. The member asked how we define essential services. The Pakistan Essential Services Act of 1952 allows the federal government, by notification under the act, to declare a service essential to the life of the community for a fixed period, and an extension requires a reference to the government at least two months before the expiry. The basis in this case of electricity or other essential elements such as water pumping, cold chain, all depend on it, and a sustained interruption would endanger life, personal safety, and health. What I would put alongside it is that such a declaration is justicible in Pakistan and has been tested. An earlier declaration of January 2025 was challenged by the All Pakistan Waqda Hydroelectric Workers Union before the National Industrial Relations Commission, and its operation was suspended nationally on the union's own petition. Finally, on lessons and shortcomings, two lessons. Research had to come before regulation, as mentioned before. We did not have a reliable picture of the gig economy or of modern slavery, and the mapping studies were the plan's real output in its first phase, and I'm talking about the National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights. And voluntary guidance does not reach an informal economy, which is why the due diligence obligation was legislated in Punjab rather than recommended. The shortcoming is the one the member identifies on wage inequality and gender disparity. Pay gap disclosure is binding on listed companies, on the positive side. And a national study of the sectors with the greatest gender disparity is due by the end of this year. Closing the distance between what the law provides and where most women actually work is the task of the next phase, and we would ask to be measured against it. Thank you, Chair.

Thank you very much. Before I cover the trade union rights and other associated issues that were raised in the inquiries, I’m going to ask very briefly Dr. Muhammad Arif Sahab if you could cover the agricultural workers and their rights and other matters associated with it. Thank you.

Well, head of delegation, I would just quickly review the importance of that Since the Women Agriculture Workers Act, and it was a report by an NGO as referred by the honourable committee member that the law is in the books but not in the ground. I would just quickly review that it is very much on the ground. And if we see the entire environment of South Asia, where women, particularly the rural women, are part of the unpaid care economy, but I think it is the initiative taken by the Government of Pakistan, particularly the Sindh province, that they have set a line that now the informal unpaid care workers should be part of the legal framework and far about that act. And on ground, yes, this was there was a challenge because this act is transitioning from a historic legislative milestone into an actively enforced reality on the ground. It took some time to frame the rules, though rigorous institutional backing, structural financing, and grassroots empowerment Sindh is dismantling long-standing vulnerabilities for women in agriculture, livestock, and fisheries. I here highlight three core areas of effective implementation. One is the operationalization of the legal framework and rules. Now the government has successfully bridged the gap between legislation and execution. The Government of Sindh has officially approved and notified the comprehensive rules of business for this act. The legal formalization has activated the long-awaited institutional machinery required to enforce labor standards, provide safe working environments, and mandate equal pay for equal work in the agrarian economy, as it was committed in the Constitution of Pakistan that Pakistan believes in an egalitarian society where equality before law and equity and equality are the milestones. So this very legislation fulfills those commitments. of the Constitution. Then, rights are only strong as the social safety net supporting them. To operationalize the economic protections of the Act, the Social Protection Authority has launched the Benazir Women Agricultural Worker Support Program. Backed by a dedicated provincial endowment fund of 500 billion rupees, this program has initiated the rollout of the Digital Benazir Women Agriculture Worker Card. Now they can have the direct cash transfer from the provincial funds, not from the Benazir Income Support Program. This initiative directly registers rural women at the union council level, that is the very basic unit, linking them directly to state social security benefits. targeted agriculture subsidies, and formal digital banking. This is a revolutionary leap away from exploitative informal cash economies toward total financial inclusion. Grassroots unionization has also been encouraged Perhaps the most profound indicator of this law's successes is the rise of formal female-led labor organizations in the field. Under this legislative umbrella, female cotton pickers and farm workers are successfully forming independent trade unions. I will just quote one example: the registration and mobilization of the Momal Cotton Picking Mazdoor Union, "mazdoor" means labor. stands as a shining precedent that now women are also forming the trade unions. Before that, this law, it was unprecedented. Then armed with the legal backing of this act, these unions have entered formal collective bargaining discussions in several districts, organized peaceful labor actions by these female-led unions have successfully compelled local landowners to respect and implement the official minimum wage. This represents a historic shift in the rural balance of power, and particularly this law has also reinforced the 2019 Act of Enforcement of Women Property Rights Act. Now approximately 29% women are the landowners in the rural areas of Sindh. So, while structural challenges in vast rural terrains persist, the effective implementation of since Women Agriculture Workers Act proves that change is actively underway by granting legal recognition, direct financial backing, and the power of unionization, which is core of this covenant as well. This Covenant emphasizes on the unionization, which is very much reflected through this legislation. We are ensuring that the women who feed our nation are finally afforded the dignity, security, and human rights they deserve under the Covenant with full backing of the Government of Pakistan. Thank you so much.

Thank you very much. Of course, with regards to the issues that were raised on trade unions, the right to strike, collective bargaining, I'd like to add, Pakistan recognizes the importance of the freedom of association, workers' representation, the collective bargaining, and protecting the labor rights, and promoting harmonious industrial relations. And the legal institutional framework that governs the industrial relations provides for the formation on registration of these trade unions. We've taken various legislative steps at the federal and the provincial level, where It includes not just the legislation itself, but of course the administrative and the capacity building measures to facilitate workers' organizations and expand their access to trade union registration and strengthening the collective bargaining across sector of the economy. The government undertook measures to strengthen the implementation of the labor rights and improve industrial relations. In 2023, the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource development facilitated technical guidance and workshops that supported provincial labor reforms. These reforms have contributed to efforts to streamline trade union registration and strengthen the administration of industrial relations. The National Industrial Relations Commission, NIRC, has undertaken awareness raising initiatives that concerns the trade unions rights and registrations. And at the provincial level, we've got the labor departments, workers federations that also promote awareness of the workers' organizational rights and provide opportunities for engagement on labor-related matters. The Industrial Relations Act of 2012 that established the framework for industrial relations in the Islamabad Capital Territory and trans-provincial establishments, while provincial industrial relations legislation governs matters within the province's jurisdiction. The applicable framework here provides for the registration operation of workers' organizations subject to the relevant statutory requirements. Now, just to sort of give you an idea of the increased registration membership of the trade unions that we've had, in Islamabad, we have 15 registered trade unions, and in Punjab, we have 1,326 registered trade registered workers unions and federations. In Sind, we've got the registered trade unions that have increased from 3,960 in 2023 to 4,109 in 2025. And these num- the number of the registrar offices have also increased from two to three. In KPK, which is Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a total of 1014 trade unions have been registered in the recent years. The reported membership has actually increased from 2047 to 3125 in 2023, with 1643 members registered by mid-2024. In Balochistan, equally, the reported number of trade unions have increased from 347 in 2020 to 400 in 2024, while the membership increased from 45,000 in 2022 to 47,000 in 2024. The trade union representation has also expanded into various other sectors, such as fisheries and transportation. In Gilgit-Baltistan, we have six registered trade unions representing approximately 600 members. Azad Jammu and Kashmir reported trade union membership has actually increased from 55 in 2022 to 168 in 2023 and stood at 134 in 2024. The entire purpose of sharing these numbers with you and the data with you is not just to share these numbers for the sake of sharing these numbers, but of course, so as to present to you and to address that the membership has increased and the rights of the trade unions, the collective bargaining, the right to strike, all of these, the rights of the trade unions and the workers are duly protected in our domestic laws and legislations in line with the International Covenant and the rights starting from Article 6 all the way up until Article 9. Now, within the provincial measures, the administrative and the legislative measures that have been taken, With regards to the registered worker unions and federations, 395 of those are actually collective bargaining agents. In SINH as well, we've got the proposed in labour court that would reduce the registration threshold for a third or subsequent unit from 20% of workers to 5% of the workers or 20 workers, whichever is less.

Equally.

We have in KPK, the Industrial Relations Act of 2010, sectoral trade unions are not explicitly prohibited, and in practice, these unions actually predominantly operate under the enterprise level and engage directly with the employer representative establishment for collective bargaining and the negotiations of these collective bargaining agreements. Overall, we've just recently had the amendment to the legislation on the Industrial Relations Act to address the legal and procedural issues that affect the trade union registration, industrial relations within the Islamabad Capital Territory and trans-provincial establishment. So the focus has been on the proposed amendment that concerns the definition of a trans-provincial establishment. The proposed revision seeks to address situations in which the classification of an establishment as trans-provincial may impede trade union registration in the provincial level. So overall, of course, I could share more, but I think one of the last points before I invite the next member of the delegation would be the Punjab Labour Code of 2026 that provides for the right to strike within the framework governing workers' rights and industrial relations. And these are applicable industrial relations legislation. This provides the context for collective representation, negotiation, and the resolution of the industrial disputes. At the federal level, I've already shared the proposed But in Punjab, of course, we've got the provincial legislation as well and mechanisms that do address and duly undertake and address the international covenants articles as well. The additional decisions have also addressed the matters concerning trade union rights and workers' organization representatives, and we've had various judgments as well. on these, and these initiatives actually contribute to the promotion of workers' rights under the International Covenant of the Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, particularly Article 8 and 2, sub-article 2, and support the development of effective mechanisms for workers' representation, collective negotiation, and the resolution of internal disputes. I'd now like to invite Mr. Khalid Sheikh, who's the Secretary for Ministry of Human Rights, to sort of cover maybe perhaps issues that had been left from the cluster one, as well as this cluster as well.

Thank you very much. Three minutes left, so I'll try to respond to a couple of questions from previous cluster. One was about the mechanism, how do we follow up on the recommendations of treaty bodies? So we have this what we call NMRF, National Mechanism for Implementation, Reporting, and Follow-up. So under this system, we have a national human rights task force also. headed by a federal minister, and we have provincial task forces, and we have district human rights committees. So under this NMRF, we have support from what we call TICs, Treaty Implementation Cells at the provincial level. So this now works through coordination between the provinces, ownership by the federal minister, And then coordination through federal secretary and line ministries at the federal level, and reporting from the provinces. So if I just summarize this, I would say it's one treaty, one national count, and four provinces reporting in. And there is a umbrella ministry, what we call Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination, which actually involves consultation on issues where we need consensus. Now, besides this, there was another question about land consent and resources. So if you look at the Constitution of Pakistan, it actually specifically covers this right to property. Under Article 23, every citizen has right to acquire, hold, and dispose of property. Article 24 is about protection of property, and Article 9 is about life and liberty. And the courts have also expanded these rights through a judgment called Shaila Zia judgment, 1994. But the main law, other than the Constitution of Pakistan, is Land Acquisition Act of 1894. Why it is useful in this context, as the question was asked? Because under this law, under Section 4, the government has to give acquisition notice to the owner, and under Section 5, owners can be heard for their objections, and the government can only do this by declaring a purpose which is requirement under section 6. After this, once this is done, there can be award by the collector and market value is to be assessed, and then there is premium of 50% allowance over and above, and there is compulsory acquisition. And this is not without remedies. If there is any infringement or objection, there are remedies under section 18 through the courts and appeal to high court. So I would say that there is notice, there is hearing, only then there is award, and that award is also subject to appeal. I will close this part with this that national resources are actually shared jointly under the Constitution of Pakistan. For instance, under Article 172, sub-article 3, oil and gas is jointly owned by provinces and the federation, and generally, mines and minerals belong to the provinces. And then there are legislative enactments from the provinces also. All the time is over, but a related aspect was about recording, which has been covered by Excellency a permanent representative also, but just I'll share the figure that how this share between the provinces and federation works. Like in this Rekodiq project, 50% share is with Beric company, and the federation has just 25% share, and the province has remaining 25% share, which is equal to the share of federation. And it has a number of initiatives which actually benefit the province. For instance, most of the entire unskilled labor has to come from the province and local areas. And there are projects of CSR also within this. And we have figures that how many schools have been reopened there and hospitals being constructed. And most important, portable drinking water over there. So this is how this scheme of things works in Pakistan. Thank you very much.

Thank you. And if I could just quickly add very briefly, we are cognizant and mindful of the fact that there are various other questions and follow-ups that still remain unaddressed. Don't think that we have sidelined them. We have taken due note of those, including NAVTEC, including the minimum wage, including points with regards to the financial debt to GDP ratio, and the adoption of framework with regards to the IDPs since floods, and the minimum wage, as well as the Enforced Disappearances Commission, including the number of cases. specifically now with regards to the Transparency International reporting mechanisms and the corruption and the corruption cases against judiciary, and most importantly, women political participation and women judges as well. So we've taken due note of all of these questions, so we will be answering them.

If we are unable to do them today, we will certainly be doing them tomorrow.

Thank you, Your Excellency, and I thank the delegation for the response to the questions raised under cluster two. I shall now open the floor for any follow-up question in Cluster 2. Yes, Ms. Perez.

Good afternoon. Thank you very much indeed. Thank you to our My dear Chair, for giving me the floor, I would like to extend a very warm welcome to the delegation from Pakistan to this constructive dialogue. I'd like to ask two questions. In only five years, the number of young people who are not studying, nor do they work, or are in training moved from 42.6% in 2020 to 80 in 2025. Although this is a level which throws up significant challenges, we would like to know about some of the details about the measures you've taken to bring about a significant drop, and we hope that the efforts will continue in the coming years. The second point I wanted to raise is as follows: in paragraph 54 of your replies to the list of issues, you highlight that there is a law for women workers in the agricultural sector from 2018. This is a very significant law. bearing in mind that the total number of female workers, 67.9%, are working in the agricultural sector. And I would like to kindly request that you provide us with the details on the implementation of this law, particularly bearing in mind subsequent issues on the right to food, et cetera, and that will be in the next cluster. Thank you very much indeed.

Thank you, Mrs. Perez. I shall now give the floor to Mr. Nazari-Bouzid for his follow-up questions.

Thank you. Thanks, Chair. First of all, I would like to thank the delegation for its detailed replies to my questions. I would like to hear more on the two points. First, about sanitation workers. Do they have a trade union? And what is the government going to do or has done to this category of workers? Because stakeholders in international sphere, they concentrate on this category exactly. And secondly, it's about the question of the minimum wage. As we know, it is now on the provinces. Is there any, the government is thinking about, is it thinking about a national minimum wage for the whole country and not to leave this subject to each provincial government and parliament. Thanks.

Thank you, Mr. Bouzid. I now give the floor to Mrs. Giulietta Rossi for follow-up questions.

Thank you very much, Chairman, and thank you once again to the delegation for the information furnished under cluster 1, and also the remaining pending issues as well. I wanted to say the following: you have made reference to care. I would very much like to stress what has been said, that is that the participation of women in the labour market is quite quite reduced, the figures of 22.7 compared to 67% for men, and one of the limiting factors of women's participation is that they are overburdened when it comes to care tasks and domestic tasks. And thus, I would like to know whether you are implementing or you plan to implement actions to recognize, redistribute and reduce unpaid work. And this could be through investments in childcare services, care for the elderly and persons with disabilities. I'd also like to know what protection you have when it comes to maternity leave, and what is the regime you have for parental licenses? This would be something that would contribute to women having more opportunities to go to the workplace. Secondly now, on harassment in the workplace, could you provide us with data as to the number of complaints, investigation committees and the outcomes of the actions under the law for the protection from harassment in the workplace from 2010? And lastly, on the right to social security, could you provide us with information about the social benefit system for persons with disabilities? Could you tell us about the scope, what concepts it encompasses, and is expenditure linked to disability included therein? Now I had another question, and this is something I mentioned earlier. Are there any type of benefits or pensions for families who lost their loved ones because of an enforced disappearance or extrajudicial execution? Because many of these families have been cared for now by women in very complex, economically complex situations. So my question is, if you've thought about, if you've planned to implement any measures, could you give us information on that? Thank you very much indeed.

Thank you, Mrs. Rossi. I now give the floor to Mr. Fuero Vascon for his follow-up questions.

Thank you very much. I hadn't planned to ask a question. However, the question raised by my colleague Mr. Bouzid has prompted me to raise a number of additional questions on minimum wage, or dignified wage, in actual fact. I'd like to know whether the State is aware about the economic impact that these discrepancies can lead to in terms of minimum wage? This may not only affect opportunities in some areas of the country and disincentivise things, but is there a territorial movement, mobility, based on the decisions taken at the sub-national level? And as an additional question, let me ask whether that, in addition to establishing wages at the provincial level, are there other labour rights or other labour standards which are defined at the subnational level? Or is the wage the only thing that differs from its definition at the subnational level? So just to rephrase that question: In addition to the wages, are there other labour standards that may be affected by decisions that are taken at the subnational level? Thank you very much.

Thank you, Mr. Vazken. I shall at this stage give the floor to Mr. Michael Winful for his questions as cluster leader for questions in the cluster three. This would provide ample opportunity overnight to the delegation to prepare all, not only the outstanding answers under the previous clusters, but also the questions that will be raised by Mr. Win Foo in the cluster three.

And that would mean we do not have any opportunity to...

Thank you.

Okay, so I feel already guilty for destroying your evening. and putting more questions to your plate on answers we expect. I will pose questions concerning cluster 3, which are the articles 10, 11, and 12, and I have also some prepared. Thanks for sending us the report and the reply to answers, which is very helpful. Maybe I start by saying we, I can, or we can welcome Pakistan's Bureau of Statistics, um, collection and compilation of information regarding socioeconomic indicators, including health, education, labor, housing, water, sanitation, which we have observed, particularly in your report also to the SDG implementation, and also the evidence-based work. My, the person sitting in front of me, I can't see your name, like, uh, has already, uh, presented to us on, on labor issues. So I think that is extremely important to follow up, uh, uh, really the implementation of covenant rights. I just want to flag this at the beginning. When it comes now to Article 10, protection of the family and the children, I would like to stay by- start by saying the Committee welcomes the federal government's amendment to the 2025 of the Child Marriage Restraint Act, um, from 2029, 1929, raising the lawful age of marriage to 18, both for males and females, um, but yet it remains concerned that, uh, given number of 19 million children bribes, especially in the parts of Sindh, Punjab, and Balochistan exists, yeah. And we welcome also, I welcome also the enactment of the Domestic Violence Act, um, but still there's a big number of women having experienced domestic abuses, and I will come back to this, and, uh, I also Uh, want to acknowledge the first conviction for martial rape in the Sindh province on January 24 by the Karachi Sessions Court following the amendment of the Pakistani Penal Code. So I think that's extremely important, uh, positive developments. The questions now relate to all the, the to be implemented issues, yeah? I start with the paragraphs 100 and 126, 26 paragraphs of your state report, you are describing the measures for in preventing and addressing harmful practices and violence against women and girls, and I would like to ask to give us an idea how much implementation works, yeah, particularly including honor killings, rape, acid attacks, abductions, early and forced marriage, domestic violence, and, um, the continuation of the practice of child marriage, particularly its reported increase in numbers after the floods, uh, in 2022 under Sharia law and other personal family laws. Please expand whether trends of reduction in acid crimes have continued, and, uh, please also explain to us that beside the, uh, Child Marriage Restraint Act, You have also acts in force in KP, Jammu, Kashmir, and Gilgit-Balistan, who sets the minimum age of marriage still at 16. So what is the relationship between these two different ordinances, in a way? And we have also noted that there are pending proceedings before the Federal Sharia Court from June 2026. which might be challenging the 18-year rules which you have just set? Maybe you can give us an update on this. It would be very interesting. What is the status of progress to pass specific legislation throughout all provinces coherently with appropriate criminal penalties to address forced conversion and forced conversion through marriage? That would be a question of interest. Some questions concerning Um, gender-based violence, um, what is the state parties' envision in order to establish coherent legislative across all provinces, uh, regarding martial rape? Does it plan to have similar units like the Gender Protection Unit, which you have in the Islamabad Police Service, uh, throughout the countries with adequate psychological services? Uh, still, the- the, uh, very- you have a very low conviction rape. rate for rape, 0.5, we could read, it's very low. So how to deal with this, how to want to improve this, that would be very interesting. And what are the impact and findings of gender-based violence courts and the Federal Judicial Academy nationwide sensitization program of judges, and which includes the subject of international human rights conventions and the role of judges in the implementation for these issues? So how much you could achieve in this sensitization that would be of interest of us, yeah? And how much does the State Party plan to ensure adequate resource and funding for the full implementation of the Anti-Rape Act from 2021 and the implementation of the Federal Sexual Violence Response Framework? If it comes to child and forced marriage, I would like to ask about the effectiveness of prosecution, practical access to justice, and compensation. Maybe we could read that the oversight of courtrooms would be good because often people are continued to be prosecuted in courtrooms, so how to deal with these problems? And what is information about specific measures to take to protect women and girls from religious minority communities? Are there any plans to align Muslim and other minority family laws to deal with this issue of child marriage adequately? How is the number of shelter homes and women crisis center that has developed, is it sufficiently financed? And what are the support services for victims, including child-centric protection and so far? And the last question under Article 10 is, Please provide information in the replies to your list of issues on the measures taken to increase childbirth registration as outlined in your paragraphs 28 and 29. Please provide information whether further progress has been achieved concerning this, because it might lead to exclusion from these children from economic, social, and cultural rights, including with regards to the access to social security benefits. When I come to Article 11, Uh, I would like to recognize the success of the Benazir, uh, program, uh, for, uh, let's say, food assistance or social assistance you mentioned also in your opening speech, and, uh, it shows also strong evidence in your first evaluation, which you did in May 2026. So, congratulations to this, and we also take note of the National Agri-Trade and Food Safety Authority Ordinance. which established the National Agri-Trade and Food Safety Authority, but this needs to be evaluated maybe next time, how much you have come. Nevertheless, I would like to say the situation in Pakistan is complex, and you mentioned particularly humanitarian and other development challenges, and particularly the climate shocks in your presentation. We- we can note that with despite some progress in food security in the Benazir Nashuma program, uh, over the last decade, 40% of the children under five are stunted, yeah, which is a very high rate, yeah, and nationally, around one fourth of households- households experience moderate or severe food insecurity, marked by regional differences, particularly high in Sindh and Balochistan, and the Committee regrets that It has to be informed that holding centers for deported Afghan refugees might lack basic necessities, cleaning water, sanitation, adequate food, and so forth. Please give us an information on this. So, please, more details on the prevalence of malnutrition and hunger would be extremely interested for us, or particularly also in the flood-affected districts. What are the key reasons for still widespread portion of high poverty? with persistently high levels of child stunting and wasting and malnutrition. And we took note of the State's Party's National Pakistan Disaster Risk Reduction Strategy, which is quite new also. And the Committee would like to inquire what concrete steps has been taken so far based on that strategy for the next years, especially regarding the situation of small farmers, tenant farmers. agricultural laborers in times of climate shocks, water scarcity, and increased drought, uh, particularly also in the Panjshab region. Which brings me to the issue of climate adaptation, yeah? As you mentioned, the, I think nothing else, no specific incident worldwide has had 32 million affected person like the 2022 flood. You were heavily affected, and you are one of the countries most affected by climate change. So, can you give us an update on your national adaptation priorities? How you address the increasing heat waves, which tend to make, in some parts of Pakistan, in the long run, unlivable or maybe very complicated, yeah? And could you give us an impact on the flood from 2022? How, if you had been able to reinstall houses of the affected persons and access to land and productive resources, how many people had left the region and persons has been displaced? Also in that respect, maybe you can report about access to water and sanitation, which has been affected dramatically, while we know that there's also other challenges for water security, which is affecting your freshwater resources, groundwater depletion, and inadequate access to drinking water. So do you have any policy in place really to strengthen water, sanitation, and hygiene infrastructure and public health preparedness? particularly in flood-prone and water-stressed areas, um, and, uh, yeah, uh, what in governance structure you have also for this? I come shortly to the right to housing, uh, the- we have recognized that you have a new national housing policy 2026, and would like to kindly ask the state party how it counts for the formalization of informal settlements and the need for low-income workers most vulnerable and marginalized in society. Um, also, maybe you can report about the effects, uh, made by your state to rebuild, um, houses after the floods, particularly in the Sindh area, uh, where many people has been affected. Could you provide us information on cases also on forced eviction and house demolitions linked to large infrastructure programs, for example, along the Karachi Nullah, alleged taking place? And in the context, yeah, the Committee notes with concern the recent ongoing demolition of informal settlements in Islamabad, so what, uh, you can report on this. And we received information that grave, uh, raised grave concern about the housing and security situation of Afghan refugees, which reported information of repeated demolition of dwellings in the city of Islamabad and Karachi. So maybe you can give us some information on this. Um, yeah. Uh When it comes to the, um, uh, what outcomes and impacts of the livelihood and most vulnerable marginalized to programs like the State Bank of Pakistan policy for promotion of low-cost housing and low-cost housing project, that would be interesting for me as well. I now come to the right, uh, to physical and mental health, the last article in my list. And, um, the committee welcomes the emergency measures of rescue and relief taken by the state party really after 2020, after the flood. Um, we are concerned, um, or maybe the questions I have is remains deeply concerned on the continuous very low level of public funding allocated to the health sector. I mentioned already this figure in advance. Uh, linked to this is, um, the, uh, missing of doctors, particularly in rural areas, um, in the Balochistan, for example, where there's the number, uh, of, um, uh, medical doctors per 10,000 inhabitants very low, uh, 9, uh, 12.8% only. And the committee takes note of the implementation of the illegal foreigners repatriation plan. and is concerned about reports to a significant obstacle experienced of all Afghan nationals to this. It remains concerned about high maternal and infant mortality rates, even if you have specified that there have been improvements, particularly in Balochistan, and is concerned about reports of female genetic mutilation and cutting being practically based in secrecy of private residences. Um, I would like to come to the last, uh, questions. Um, how do you want to address the low proportion of- yeah. Um, please provide information on specific measures to deal with disease outbreaks such as malaria, dengue, and, uh, water diarrhea. Um, the state party is being fifth most vulnerable country to climate change, so what is your cooling place, for example, concerning heat in the adaptation plan? I would be interested in this. And please provide us information on the mental health policy of the State Party, specific measures on the impact of the accessibility and availability of adequate mental health service through the country. Uh, we would like to get information on the measures taken, uh, to review the drug policies and laws from human rights perspective and evidence-based approaches. We heard that a large number of drug addicted persons are treated, uh, badly also in prisons, and the number have increased dramatically. So we would be interested in getting how you want to, uh, to improve this drug prevention and treatment services for disadvantaged population, particularly also for women, children, and prisoners, yeah? So that would be of interest for us. So I have spent two or three more minutes more than I was given. A lot of work for you to do, but thanks for providing answers to these questions, yeah? Thanks a lot.

Thank you, Mr. Winful. With this, we have reached the end of this afternoon session. It remains for me to wish you all a pleasant evening, although there's plenty on your plates for tonight. So we resume tomorrow morning at 10:00. The first meeting is closed. Your Excellency, for tomorrow. Good morning.