Islamabad, September 25th, 2017. Pakistan Institute for Parliamentary Services (PIPS) in collaboration with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) organized a two-day long capacity building event for the Honourable Chairpersons and Officers of the Provincial Assembly of Balochistan. The objective of the event was to share best parliamentary practices of the Committees’ system and to create awareness about the challenges faced by political leadership in the backdrop of changing geo-political scenario. Honourable Speaker of the Provincial Assembly of Balochistan – Ms. Raheela Hameed Khan Durrani inaugurated the workshop. In her address to the participants she highlighted the importance of such initiatives especially in the Provincial Assembly of Balochistan, where Committees only became functional in the recent past. The Executive Director PIPS – Mr. Zafarullah Khan and Mr. Quraysh Khattak – Parliamentary Officer from UNDP warmly welcomed the Honourable participants. The Executive Director PIPS gave an overview of the Parliamentary Committees – as a mechanism for resolving conflicts. It was followed by an interactive session of Honourable Federal Minister for States and Frontier Regions, Lt. Gen. (R) Abdul Qadir Baloch, who spoke about the Strategic Issues and Challenges faced by Pakistan and their impact on Balochistan. He candidly answered some burning questions during Q & A session. The former Federal Minister for Law and renowned lawyer, Mr. Ahmer Bilal Sufi also spoke on the occasion, emphasized the need for Legislative Reforms in “Contract Management” in Balochistan. Last session of the day took place at the Senate Secretariat, where the Honourable Chairman of the Senate of Pakistan, Mian Raza Rabbani addressed the participants and shared best practices of the Senate of Pakistan. The day ended with the visit of the delegate to the “Galli-e-Dastoor” and tribute of the members at the “Monument of Unsung Heroes of Democracy”.
On day two, an exclusive session was facilitated by the Special Secretary of the National Assembly – Mr. Qamar Sohail Lodhi on the topic of “Best Practices of Parliamentary Committees in Pakistan”. Later, the participants visited the National Assembly of Pakistan on the invitation of the Honourable Speaker, the President PIPS Board of Governors, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq. During an interactive session with the delegate, Honourable Speaker shared some of the initiatives that had been taken at the National Assembly to strengthen the Secretariat leadership and to empower the committees.
At the end of the event, the Honourable Members of the delegate thanked Executive Director PIPS and desired to have more exchange programmes in future. Mr. Zafarullah Khan, Executive Director PIPS, presented Vote of Thanks to all Members attending the workshop.