SUJAG SANSAR

Introduction:

Sujag Sansar Organization: Sujag= conscious= Sansar=world. Thus Sujag Sansar stands for a conscious and aware world.  Sujag team since its formation in January 2005,  is struggling with communities to curb extremists and conservative tendencies among the communities who lagged behind and did not catch up with the fast progressing world. SSO encourages and promotes good old values of unmatched hospitality and togetherness of the Sindhi culture and strongly stands against the outdated and cruel practice of honor killings, child marriages, forced marriages and other kinds of violence against women and gender discrimination.  SSO aspire free speech and resists forces that impose their ideologies on the passive and oppressed segments of the local society.

SSO is located in a small rural town of Johi, in Sindh and after starting work with the support of few volunteers now has spread its outreach to entire Sindh and is recognized as  human right defender organization at locally, nationally and internationally

SSO-CATAPULT Campaign against Child Marriages

Sujag Sansar started project titled “help end child marriages in Pakistan” with the support of Catapult organization, an online funding platform in 2013.  The efforts was started in those area of Dadu District where SSO during its previous work on child marriages could not reached out.

Through this project, key stakeholders i.e. performers of marriages rituals, faith leaders, journalists, village communities and others were involved in awareness, advocacy activities. IEC material, print and electronic as well as social media were engaged and utilized for creating momentum against child marriages. Theater tool proved very effective tool in creating awareness in rural community with limited literacy.  The village committees were formed and mobilized to play their part in preventing child marriages in their area and coordinating and reporting planned child marriages to concerned government departments and media.

Achievements

• The key stakeholders aware and motivated to play their part in checking child marriages
• After attending training and other project activities, marriages ritual performs locally called Nikahkhawns refused and are refusing performing child marriages ritual
• Journalist reported, is reporting and will continue to report child marriages cases after attending workshop with journalist arranged under this project.
• Aware parents through this project avoid marriages of their children
• The trained and motivated village committees persuade the parents not arrange their marriages who despite awareness still insist marrying their children on various pretexts and if did not desist the committee report  such planed marriages to media are human right cell at district level
• SSO campaign through media and meeting with elected representatives  contributed in passage of the law against child marriages by Sindh Assembly