INTRODUCTION:

Pakistan is signatory to many rights related international instruments and covenants. However, there is still a huge need to translate Pakistan’s international commitments into actual real life practices, more so in Public Sector arena. To begin with, many public sector institutions themselves have to do a lot to conform to the government international commitments.

Among the most important agreed to rights instruments are the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ESCR), the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (CPR), the 1989 Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC). Among the rights explicitly protected by these various declarations and covenants are the rights to life, access to and enjoyment of a decent standard of living, adequate health facilities and well being, protection from disease, access to adequate food (Food Security) and access to safe water and sanitation.

Inferring from the above, the objectives of the Western Himalaya Research and Development Organization will be to promote the realisation of following rights instruments in the public sector arena as agreed to by Government of Pakistan:

• Development of Research Network
• Universal Declaration of Human Rights
• Convention on Rights of Child
• Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women
• International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)
• International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR)