Muzaffarabad (22 January 2019) Press for Peace (PFP) welcomes the statement of UN Secretary-General about Kashmir. The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday hoped that India and Pakistan will engage in a “meaningful dialogue” to resolve their issues. The PFP thanked the UN Secretary-General for his commendable services and efforts to offer the good offices the world body in relation to the dialogue between the two countries. Guterres, earlier said during a press encounter at the UN headquarters in New York that he hoped the two countries will be able to engage in a meaningful dialogue. The UN chief was responding to a question on his repeated urging of dialogue between the two South Asian neighbors.
 In relation to the human rights situation, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has produced recently a very detailed report. So, the UN has clearly done its job in that regard, Guterres said.  The Secretary-General Guterres appreciates the continued commitment of opposing sides to finding a negotiated and peaceful solution to the long-standing issues of the world including Kashmir, Nagorno-Karabakh, and other conflicts.  The PFP particularly welcomed the UNSC's recent steps in asking opposition parties in conflicts around the world to take concrete measures to prepare their populations for peace.

Muzaffarabad , 31st December 2018 : Press for Peace- a Jammu and Kashmir (J & K) based peace organization has condemned the incident of cross-border shelling and targeting of civilians across the restive Line-of-Control (LoC) in Neelum Valley of Jammu and Kashmir. A woman was killed and several other people, including two police constables and a minor were injured on Monday as Indian forces resorted to unprovoked mortar shelling on villagers from border posts. The target of ammunition was Athmuqam, the district headquarters of the picturesque Neelum Valley, located some 80 kilometres northeast of Muzaffarabad.

The Press for Peace (PFP) has called for an immediate cessation of incidents of cross-border shelling in the heavily-militarised region. The Neelum Valley is comparatively a quiet and non-violent area along the LoC, where such incidents of violence rarely happen. While the border villages on Indian side of the LoC are known as bot-bed of violence, the Neelum Valley is famed for its natural beauty as a place of tourist attraction. 

According to media reports, the civilian life was on halt for several hours of the day as local people including hundreds of school children remained stranded inside their houses and school buildings and trade could not continue for the rest of the day. There was an atmosphere of fear and anger as local journalists made frantic calls to mainstream Pakistani and international media organisations to describe the alarming situation. The Line of Control (LoC) is a military-controlled de-facto border on Indian and Pakistani side of the divided state. The villages along the LoC face the brunt of heavy cross-border shelling between the rival troops from India and Pakistan.

Rural communities are the heart of everything Press For Peace (PFP) does, mainly when it comes to women development and empowerment initiatives. Poverty, illiteracy, lack of opportunities, social and cultural adversities etc. are few factors which hamper women to play an equitable and progressive role in developing societies. Enhancing women abilities and raising their voice at the policy level is an essence of our ‘gender development project’ which revolves around social and economic development of women.

The aim of this project is to provide basic vocational training for women to improve their livelihood. The project encourages rural women to engage in social entrepreneurial activities, which boosts their confidence and enhances their business skills. Through this project, we also focus on educating women about good parenting practices and healthy lifestyles. A lot of activities around this project focus on the mobilization of rural women at the social, political and economic level.

The vocational training project in Bagh specializes in developing necessary skills for women from a disadvantaged background. The project activities are developed to equip them with social and professional skills to improve their lives. For instance, the project provides vocational training for women of rural communities by educating basic skills of tailoring, embroidery etc. 

Press For Peace (PFP) has developed a 6-month training curriculum which develops women vocational skills and also incorporates civil rights education to raise awareness among women about healthy lifestyle, good parenting, conflict resolution, community cohesion, peacebuilding, and other concepts. Press for Peace (PFP) in collaboration of Hope for Life organization, has established a number of ‘Girls Vocational centers’ (GVCs) in far-flung areas of Bagh, Azad Kashmir.

A unique cost-effective and participatory approach has been adopted to execute this project where mobile vocational centers are set-up in various areas on a need basis. After the successful completion of the courses trainee women are encouraged and mentored to start their own businesses for their livelihood, thus, the project has transformed the lives of many needy but enthusiastic women of rural communities.