ISLAMABAD: The Free and Fair Election Network (Fafen), an independent think-tank, has appointed around 25 transgender persons to work for the organization as election observers.
According to the organization, the job of the transgender persons, as election observers, is to observe and note down any violation of rights or act of discrimination against the vulnerable sections of society at polling stations in the upcoming general elections on July 25.
Any direct violations and observations would immediately be conveyed to presiding officers while survey forms would be filled by the electoral observers to report incidents of political and electoral violence. The form will then be submitted to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) at the end of the day.
The Fafen also held training workshop focused on building capacity of the election observers so that vulnerable groups could take part in the electoral process without difficulty and exercise their right to vote independently.
Project manager of Fafen said, “Fafen has nearly 19,000 members who will be monitoring the election this year. Out of these 19,000 members, we have trained around 125 transgender persons selected from across Pakistan to monitor and enhance the capacity of citizens belonging to vulnerable groups.”
“We think the transgender community deserves more opportunity and this training aims to support them,” he said, adding that the aim of the training is to mainstream the rights of transgender persons so that they can be active citizens of society.
“The 25 transgender persons appointed as electoral observers from Karachi are part of our experimental project to highlight the experiences of transgender persons in the upcoming elections,” he added.
