UNODC established One-Stop Women and Juvenile Facilitation Center in Gujranwala! Supported by the Government of Norway

ISLAMABAD: 11 Jan 2023 -The UNODC Country Office in Pakistan opens a Women & Juvenile Facilitation Center (W&JFC) in Gujranwala in collaboration with Punjab Police, with the financial support of the Government of Norway. The Women and Juvenile Facilitation Centre (WJFC) is the second facility of its kind established by UNODC in Punjab after successful operations of its forerunner Centre in Gujrat since 2019. The WJFC is modelled as per international standards, providing comprehensive services and compassionate environment to women and juvenile victims of violence for reporting, recording and investigation of crimes.

In order to officially operationalize the Center, an inauguration ceremony was held at Saddar Police Station, Gujranwala today. Officials from the Royal Embassy of Norway, H.E Per Albert Ilsaas, Ambassador of Norway to Pakistan; Anja Myrtveit, Second Secretary Development Program; Per Martin Bjartan, Police Liaison Officer; Bilal Majeed, Program Advisor Development and Dr. Jeremy Milsom, Representative, UNODC Country Office Pakistan along with many senior official from UNODC and Police Department attended the ceremony hosted by the Police Administration Gujranwala.

The inauguration of the WJFC marked an important milestone as part of a multi-year Government of Norway funded program “Enhanced Capacity of Criminal Justice Actors in Punjab” implemented by UNODC in collaboration with the Government of Punjab. The Program aimed to improve the organizational response of Criminal Justice Institutions toward the victims of crimes and violence and ensure better justice outcome, particularly in the cases of violence against women, girls, and juvenile.

Mr. Munir Ahmad Marath, Regional Police Officer Gujranwala, welcomed the guests and extended gratitude to UNODC (COPAK) and Government of Norway for its gracious support and appreciated the Centre as a historic move in Gujranwala region towards protecting the vulnerable victims in need of help.

He informed “the Center provides all necessary support and assistance under one roof, including medico-legal, first aid, psycho-social and legal assistance to the victims and complainants of domestic, gender-based violence and child abuse, and also provides two separate rooms for women and juvenile for arbitrary detentions and safe custody”

Speaking at the occasion, H.E Per Albert Ilsaas, Ambassador of Norway to Pakistan underscored the need for upholding the rights of women, girls and children, particularly addressing crimes of violence that are increasing at alarming rate in Pakistan.

Dr. Jeremy Milsom, Representative, UNODC Country Office Pakistan highlighted UNODC’s continued support towards enhancing the capacity of Criminal Justice sector in Punjab through multiple reform interventions, including training of more than 2,000 officials in Advance Investigation, Crime Scene Management and provision of Mobile Crime Scene Units Handling of GBV and Juvenile Cases and enhancing Police-Prosecution Coordination; establishing E-learning Centers in Gujrat, Gujranwala and PTC Lahore, and a Research Unit at Center for Professional Development for Prosecutors (CPD) in Lahore. In addition, multiple smart classrooms, investigation and interrogation rooms and digital libraries at different policing facilities and training centers for advance learning have also been established.

Dr Milsom thanked H.E. Per Ilsaas and the Government of Norway for their financial support and the Government of Punjab towards strengthening and improving the organizational response of the Criminal Justice System to support the vulnerable groups of women, girls and juvenile victims of violence, and the WJFC is an important breakthrough to serve this end.