Parliamentary Development
Parliamentary strengthening and development has been a flagship programme area of PILDAT. Based on an in-depth needs assessment of Pakistan’s legislatures as well as legislators in 2001, PILDAT designed and delivered a programme of parliamentary and legislative strengthening by conceptualising and providing technical and policy development in legislatures and capability building of legislators and legislative staff through issues-based Briefings, Training Workshops; Roundtable Discussions, and Legislative Study Visits, etc.
Key Areas
Under our Parliamentary development initiative, following are the key areas of PILDAT work:
- Reforms in Legislative Processes such as in Budget Process
- Legislative Briefs & Analyses for the benefit and capability-building of National & Provincial Legislators on a wide range of issues ranging from economics and finance, defence and national security, water, conflict resolution, regional and foreign relations, inter-provincial harmony, etc.
- Liaison with Parliamentary Committees on building capacities of oversight and advocating policy reforms
- Facilitation and formulation of issue-based multi-party caucuses in Legislatures including but not limited to Youth, Women, Inter-faith harmony, health, education, water and decentralisation, etc.
- PILDAT also sensitises citizens and civil society organisations to lobby effectively with legislators on policy related issues to facilitate better network between the public and public representatives.
- Use of Parliamentary Diplomacy through Parliamentary/legislative Dialogues in countries including Afghanistan, Canada, Denmark, India, Indonesia, Germany, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, UK & USA.
Approaches & Methodology of our Work
PILDAT is a dynamic organisation and continues to evaluate, calibrate and adapt its approaches and methodologies to reach the desired goals in our work. Following are some of the key approaches to our work:
- Objective, fact-based and non-partisan Research and Analysis focussed on reforms
- Working with ALL stakeholders including Governments, Parliament & Provincial Legislatures, Political Parties, Judiciary, Media and Citizens
- Audit of political engagement through surveys & needs-assessments
- Advocacy for reforms
Our Services
Following key services are provided by PILDAT:
- Capacity Building of Parliamentarians and Legislators
- Capacity Building of Parliamentary Committees
- Capacity Building of Parliamentary Staff
- Planning and Executing of International Study Visits of Parliamentarians and Parliamentary Staff
- Planning and executing international parliamentary dialogues
- Inter-provincial exchange visits of MPAs
- Facilitation in forming parliamentary caucuses
- Advocacy for reforms
Projects Under Parliamentary Development
Following major projects were conceptualised and delivered successfully by PILDAT in the area from 2002-2017:
- Pakistan Legislative Capacity Building Project
- Young Parliamentarians Forum
- Workshop for Parliamentarians on Federal Budget Process and Poverty Reduction
- Workshop on WTO Regime
- Strengthening National & Provincial Legislative Governance in Pakistan
- Roundtable Discussion between Canadian Legislators & Pakistani Legislators
- Capacity Building Programme of Legislators on Labour Issues
- Briefing Paper & Briefing Session on Kashmir Issue, Briefing Paper on Public Funding of Political Parties
- Capacity Building Programme of Legislators & PWF
- Visit of US Parliamentarians to Pakistan
- Strengthening Legislative Structures & Procedures
- Support to Cross-Party Parliamentary Group on Women Issues
- Strengthening the Effectiveness of Women Parliamentarians in Pakistan
- Study Visit of Selected Young Pakistani MPs to India
- Conference on Federalism & Provincial Autonomy
- Joint Workshops on Pakistan & Afghan Parliamentarians in Pakistan
- Consultative Sessions and Background Paper on the Revival of Students Union in Pakistan
- Supporting New Pakistan Parliament Project (Grass Roots Democracy)
- Study Visit of Young Parliamentarians of Pakistan to India
- Orientation of Members of National Assembly and Provincial Assembly on Conflict Resolution
- Parliamentary & Political Parties Strengthening Programme in Pakistan
- Briefing to Parliamentarians on Microfinance
- Publication of Briefing Papers and Workshops on Democracy and Good Governance
- Capacity Building of Legislators on Labour Issues
- Consultations on Narcotics Control Policy
- Promoting Immunization Programme and related policies among Parliamentarians and District Nazims
- Reducing tension over Inter-Provincial Water Disputes through better understanding of the Issues and Solutions
- AF-Indo-Pak Parliamentary Dialogues
- Briefing session on How to effectively participate in Parliamentary Budget Debate
- Parliamentary & Political Parties Strengthening Programme in Pakistan-Phase II
- Roundtable Discussions on Reforming Parliamentary Budget Process
- Raising Awareness among Parliamentarians to enhance effectiveness of Anti-Polio Drive
- Improving Parliamentary Performance in Pakistan-IP3
- Pakistan-India Parliamentarians Dialogues
- Democracy and Governance Programme
- US-Pakistan Legislator-to-Legislator Forum
- Pakistan-India Legislators and Public Officials Dialogue on Governance and Democracy
- More effective Right-To-Information (RTI) at Federal and Provincial level (Sindh and Punjab) and Reforms in Police and Legal Aid System
Our Partners
Following are some of the key development partners who have supported PILDAT’s initiatives in the field of Parliamentary Development:
- British High Commission – BHC
- Canadian High Commission
- Danish International Development Agency – DANIDA
- Department for International Development – DFID
- Development Alternatives Inc. – DAI
- Forum of Federations – FOF
- Foundation for the Future – FFF
- Friedrich Ebert Stiftung – FES
- Geneva Centre for Democratic Control of Armed Forces – DCAF
- International Foundation for Electoral Systems – IFES
- National Endowment for Democracy – NED
- No Piece Without Justice – NPWJ
- United Nations Democratic Fund – UNDEF
- United Nations Development Programme – UNDP
- United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization – UNESCO
- United Nations International Children Fund – UNICEF
- United States Institute of Peace – USIP
- World Bank
- United States Agency for International Development – USAID
