Initiated as a voluntary women’s collective in Pakistan in 1975, Shirkat Gah (SG) has evolved into a leading women’s rights organisation that operates out of offices in Lahore, Karachi and Peshawar, and six field stations across all four provinces of Pakistan.
Shirkat Gah works in 44 districts across Pakistan. The organisation acts in concert with other Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) as key allies championing gender equality and social justice. Shirkat Gah has fully engaged with and led processes concerning obligations and reporting under, in particular, the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the Beijing Platform for Action, the International Conference on Population and Development, particular goals of the Millennium Development Goals and Universal Periodic Review.
Nationally and internationally, Shirkat Gah partners with academia and research institutions as well as civil society groups. The organisation is represented in many international bodies (e.g. IUCN (World Conservation Union), functions as the Asia Region Coordination Office for the international solidarity network, Women Living under Muslim Laws (WLUML), and sits on the steering committees of several initiatives to further gender equality.