Parliamentary Delegation from South Sudan

January 20, 2025 Delegation Visit, EXCHANGE PROGRAMS, OTHERS

Parliamentary Delegation from South Sudan eulogizes PIPS as centre of excellence

A parliamentary delegation from Transitional National Legislative Assembly of South Sudan visited PIPS on January, 20 2025 led by the Deputy Speaker Hon Kornelio Kon Ngu.
PIPS Executive Director, Mr. Asim Khan Goraya welcomed the distinguished members and introduced them with senior officers of the institute. He informed the delegates that the Pakistan Institute for Parliamentary Services was established in December 2008 through an Act of the Parliament. He added that PIPS is a premier institution dedicated to strengthening the parliamentary system in Pakistan while providing research, training, and advisory support to parliamentarians, legislative staff, and parliamentary committees, to enhance their capacity to perform legislative, oversight, and representative functions effectively.
Mr. Muhammad Rashid Mafzool Zaka, Director General Research (PIPS) provided a historical overview of PIPS in brief. He informed the delegates that the institute started off with only 4 officers and with the passage of time it evolved to becoming a leading think tank institute in terms of parliamentary research in the country and globally recognised as top tier parliamentary research and training institute by UK Post. He informed about the core values of the institute and explained the composition of Board of Governors and its functioning. He stated that every year in February, the board of governors in its meeting devises a comprehensive working plan that entail the financial details and specific key performance indicators KPIs that the institute aims to achieve throughout next financial year.
At the end of the meeting, the distinguished members praised the PIPS leadership for their expertise and shared a desire to establish an institute on the pattern of PIPS in South Sudan. They requested the PIPS Executive Director to arrange for an agreement/MoU with an aim to provide necessary training to members of parliament of National Parliament of South Sudan in parliamentary business and capacity building. The Executive Director also shared willingness to working with the parliamentary members of the South Sudan and assured that the proposal for MoU will be given a due consideration. The session concluded with vote of thanks and presentation of PIPS mementoes and publications to the six member parliamentary delegation from the South Sudanese Transitional National Legislative Assembly.

On the direction of the Chairman Senate/President PIPS Board of Governors, the Pakistan Institute for Parliamentary Services (PIPS), has implemented a comprehensive set of measures aimed at ensuring fiscal discipline, operational efficiency, and responsible utilization of public resources, on the same lines as notified and adopted by the Senate and National Assembly Secretariats.

Under the new measures, the Institute has adopted a four-day working week (Monday to Thursday), while introducing a hybrid working model whereby 50% of staff will perform duties from the office and 50% will work remotely on a rotational basis. Employees working from home will remain fully accessible through digital communication platforms and may be required to report to the office on short notice, ensuring uninterrupted institutional functioning.

Significant steps have also been taken to promote energy conservation. These include a target of achieving up to 70% reduction in energy consumption through minimizing unnecessary use of electricity and ensuring that official meetings, trainings, and events are scheduled during daylight hours. Foreign tours are banned and international meetings are being held virtually.

In the transport section, PIPS has introduced strict measures to curtail expenditure and 70% official vehicles have been grounded as part of this initiative.

As part of broader austerity efforts, 20% reduction has been imposed on the non-ERE budget for the fourth quarter of the current financial year. The officers drawing a monthly salary of PKR 300,000 or more, shall surrendered two days salary or 5% to 30% salary on gross as per Federal Government decision.

The Institute has also discontinued all non-essential procurements with immediate effect. Official functions such as dinners and receptions will not be hosted, except in the case of visiting foreign delegations, and even then, strictly in accordance with austerity protocols.

These measures have been implemented with immediate effect and will remain in force until further orders.

Under the guidance of President PIPS Board of Governors, Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani, PIPS remains fully committed to maintaining its core functions of parliamentary support, capacity building, and research while contributing proactively to national austerity and sustainability goals.

Parliamentary Delegation from South Sudan

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