Shaukat Yousufzai, Honoured as ‘Champion of Change’ by RINSTRA

The gold medal “Champion of Change” was presented by Amir Jahangir, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of RINSTRA at a ceremony held in Peshawar. The event was organized by RINSTRA for the launch of Pakistan’s first Pashto web seires “Gudai”. Zahir Shah Shirazi, Editor in Chief Nawa-e-Pakistan was also honoured with the Champion of Change Gold Medal for his journalistic commitment and services to the citizens of Khyber Pakthunkhwa and beyond. 

Speaking on the occassion, Amir Jahangir said, “We are pleased to recognize Shaukat Yousufzai’s services towards the people of this province and Pakistan. He is a true champion of change, who has done so much with selfless service and dedication.” He further said, “however this gold medal also puts the burden of responsibility on the shoulders of Shaukat Yousufzai, as the minister of Culture and Labor, to ensure that the proposed Child Marriage Bill is enacted in the province.” He is now the custodian of the right of children below 18 years of age.

Shaukat Yousufzai, Minister for Culture and Labor, Government of Khayber Pakthunkhwa, in his acceptance speech said that, “this is a great honour and responsibility and I am humbled by this Award. The government of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf has a commitment to ensure change in the way citizens are treated throughout the province.” He further said, “we are ensuring Citizens are the most important stakeholder in the society and the purpose of governance should be to serve the citizens. We are making sure rights of all citizens at all levels and all ages are safeguarded accorindgly”.

The ceremony was organized for the launch of “GUDAI”, a short form web-series which speaks about the issue of child marriage in the Pakistani society. The series is written and directed by Bakht Rawan Bakht, a renowned Pashto writer. The series introduces new and emerging artists from the Pushto Community like Manadar Sadiq , Bibi Shereena, Shabana Azmi, Roma and Adnan Bakht. The series is setting a new milestone for the Pashtu content enthusiasts, both for the content creators and consumers.

Child marriage is a real issue in Pakistan”, since the 18^th Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan 1973, it has been the responsibility and prerogative of each province to legislate on the subject of marriageable age. Unfortunately, legislators, have not been able to agree on the minimum age of girls for marriage across Pakistan, Gudai will address the Child Marriage issue in the local context for the potential 35 million native Pashto speaking viewers in Pakistan.

The Child Marriage (Restraint) Act of 1929 which pre-dates Pakistan was one of the first pieces of legislation that sought to identify and set a minimum age for marriage. This Act is one of those few laws on the statute books that were introduced by Muhammad Ali Jinnah while he was a member of the British India Legislative Assembly. Originally, the flooring was set at age 14 which was later raised to age 16 for girls and 18 for boys via Muslim Family Law Ordinance (“MFLO”) in 1961. However, under the new bill passed in Pakistani Senate, the minimum age of marriage for female was increased to 18.

In 2019, the KPK government after years of deliberations by stakeholders that the draft of a proposed law has been finalized and it would replace the CMRA 1929. However, the proposed bill is yet to be brought before the assembly for enactment as a law.

Pakistan is committed to eliminating early age marriage by 2030 in line with the Target 5.3 of the Sustainable Development Goals. Pakistan ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 1996. Pakistan is also a member of the South Asian Initiative to End Violence Against Children (SAIEVAC), which adopted a regional action plan to end child marriage between 2015 and 2018. Under SAIEVAC, Pakistan joined the Kathmandu Call to Action to End Child Marriage in Asia (2014).

According to UNICEF report, around 21% of the girls in Pakistan are married before the age of 18 the lowest rate among South Asian nations.

RINSTRA is the outcome of the thought leadership of Dice Foundation USA’s Creative Arts and Media Initiative (DICE CAM). It is part of Dice Foundation’s National Innovation Basket (NIB) program, which aims to create media as a corner stones of Pakistan’s growth strategy.

RINSTRA is Pakistan’s first short-form digital media platform for on-demand streaming and for creation of user generated original content on iRINSTRA. The organization provides entrepreneurship opportunities to emerging and established content creators and film makers in Pakistan and beyond. RINSTRA gives content creators access to a large Pakistani community around the globe, and ithas been able to create a unique platform that offers dramas and films, while enabling users to generate their own content on the same platform. It also has a feature for Content Competition where, more than 100 academic institutions in Pakistan are competing on various thematic areas. The Fest feature of the application has provided some of the leading Film Festivals to partner with RINSTRA for digital viewing of their films and documentaries. This has created an unprecedented experience for viewers in the country.