August 28, 2002	Wednesday	Jamadi-us-Saani 18,1423

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ISLAMABAD, Aug 27: The National Commission on Status of Women (NCSW) is running its affairs without any basic rules since its inception on July 17, 2000, official sources told Dawn on Tuesday.

The commission was established by the government with objectives such as emancipation of women, providing women with equal opportunities and socio-economic conditions and elimination of all forms of discrimination against women.

The sources said the commission was also given the task to review women related laws, policies and other measures taken by the successive governments, monitoring of institutional mechanisms for the implementation and undertaking of research and interaction with civil society organizations and the general public.

The federal government failed to formulate the basic rules required for smooth functioning of the commission, although more than two years have passed, the sources added.

When contacted, the present chairperson of the NCSW, Justice Majida Rizvi (retired), said the first two heads of the commission were given the charge in addition to their primary duties. “The first head of the commission was an NWFP minister and the second one was the secretary for the Pakistan Law Commission,” the chairperson added.

“We also lack full time professional and administrative staff to look after the routine affairs of the commission such as research and drafting of rules,” Mrs Majida said. She said during a recent meeting in Quetta, the commission finalized a set of fundamental rules and would forward them to the Chief Executive Secretariat for final approval.

“I hope that with the incorporation of guidelines the commission will be in a better place to achieve its objectives,” she said.