PESHAWAR: Adviser to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Governor on Information and Public Relations Samar Haroon Bilour has stressed the need for effective institutional coordination, information sharing and a joint strategy to strengthen human rights protection across the province.
In a statement issued by her office on Thursday, she said efforts were under way to connect human rights-related institutions through a common digital portal and strengthen the complaint redress mechanism.
Bilour said various government institutions were working within their respective legal mandates to protect human rights. However, the absence of an effective coordination and information-sharing system could delay complaint resolution and lead to duplication of efforts.
She said the proposed portal would address these challenges by streamlining the complaint redress process and improving coordination among the relevant institutions.
Clarifying the scope of the initiative, Bilour said no new parallel institution would be established. Instead, existing institutions would be linked through a shared digital system.
The portal would provide a unified platform for registering human rights-related complaints, referring them to the relevant authorities, monitoring progress and maintaining records of final outcomes. All participating institutions would continue to operate within their respective legal mandates, she added.
The adviser said the Social Welfare Department, police, ombudsman offices and other institutions dealing with human rights would be connected to the portal to ensure timely referral of complaints and effective monitoring of their progress.
She also called for expediting practical measures to establish an efficient complaint referral mechanism and ensure the secure exchange of information among the participating institutions.
Highlighting the importance of district-level coordination, Bilour said Additional Deputy Commissioners (Relief and Human Rights) in every district should play an active role in referring human rights-related complaints to the relevant institutions.
She also stressed the need to establish human rights help desks at the offices of district police officers to facilitate complaint registration and improve citizens’ access to the relevant authorities.
Bilour said the initiative would be implemented with the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) under the European Union-funded Huqooq-e-Pakistan (Rights of Pakistan) programme. She added that the initiative would not impose any additional financial burden on provincial resources.
She directed the concerned institutions to submit a detailed briefing within one month outlining progress on the development of the portal and the concrete steps taken towards its implementation, enabling a review of the initiative’s progress.
Published in Dawn, October 30th, 2026
