Where there is a Will, there is a Way!

Sarwar Bibi, a 46-year-old mother of eight who has never been to school, broke the cultural barriers when she contested and won the 2015 local government elections on a women’s reserved seat in Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The extent of her achievement is best explained by the fact that the community elders had barred women from even casting their votes in many preceding elections in the district.

This problem of women’s disenfranchisement, however, is not limited to the semi-tribal Dera Ismail Khan. The Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) reports that in the 2008 general elections, the last ones for which complete data are available, not even a single ballot paper was stamped at 564 female polling stations throughout the country; of these, a hugely disproportionate 85% were situated in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Article 25 of the 1973 Constitution guarantees equal rights to all citizens of Pakistan, irrespective of their gender. The constitutional guarantee notwithstanding, several socio-political and administrative issues have resulted in persistent low female voter turnout in some regions of the country. Also, Pakistan has a disturbing history of excluding women from the electoral process; the country currently has 38.8 million registered male voters compared with only 32. 2 million registered female voters.

With this in view, Hamdam Development Organization (HDO), a Dera Ismail Khan-based NGO supported by USAID Citizens’ Voice Project, launched a campaign to mobilize women to participate in the 2015 local government elections. To achieve the project objectives, besides other activities, HDO identified 50 youth volunteers and trained them to mobilize women voters and candidates.

Salma Rehman, one of the 50 youth volunteers, identified Sarwar Bibi of Basti Darbar village as a potential candidate based on the latter’s commitment to the well-being of the women of her area. Salma approached Sarwar Bibi and told her about the women’s reserved seats in the ensuing local government elections. Sarwar Bibi took keen interest in the opportunity being presented to her and decided to contest on a women’s reserved seat in the village council. Salma extended her full support in completing and submitting the nomination forms and finally Salma Bibi was elected unopposed.

“August 29, when I took oath as a member of the village council in District Auditorium Hall, Dera Ismail Khan, was the most memorable day of my life since I could finally see my dreams coming true,” Sarwar Bibi proudly recalls. The first meeting of the village council is yet to be convened, but Sarwar Bibi has already found other avenues to support her community.

She approached the Southern Area Development Project (SADP) and motivated the officials to release funds for the repair of the only dispensary in her village, as well as rehabilitate the drainage system and construct a paved road to the dispensary. “Now the community members can easily reach the dispensary while the drainage system helps to keep their environment clean,” Sarwar Bibi says.

Observing her enthusiasm, the SADP has chosen Sarwar Bibi as member of a committee working for the betterment of the community. She is now determined to get support for a carpeted road from the main road to the village girls’ school. Sarwar Bibi has not let her poverty and lack of education come in the way of her dreams. She thanks USAID for providing support to the local organizations through Citizens’ Voice Project.