Session held for empowering women lawyers on consumer protection

In a bid to empower female lawyers’ on the legal framework of consumer protection and food fortification, TheNetwork for Consumer Protection in collaboration with the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) arranged a daylong orientation session in Rawalpindi. Facilitated by Farzana Aziz, the newly elected Rawalpindi bar Joint Secretary, over two dozen active female lawyers participated in the event. Nadeen Iqbal, CEO, TheNetwork, stated that for a comprehensive food fortification in the country a mixed approach of using three provincial laws – food fortification, consumer protection, and right to information – are needed to be used for consumer complaint redress and judicial review of regulatory mechanisms. He said while consumer protection law has a focus at deceptive marketing, food fortification provides for the implementation of standards for food fortification and periodic laboratory testing, the right to information law can be used by lawyers to gather evidence to consolidate their cases if food standards are not complied. The consumer can also lodge a complaint related to the violation of food standards. Furthermore, any person can make an application in writing to the Food Safety Officer (an official of food authority) asking him to purchase a sample of the food item to get it analysed. It is the responsibility of the food safety officer to take action in case of a standard’s violation, he said. He further said that lawyers have a crucial and dynamic role in assisting the consumers in getting justice. Lawyers are the key agents for the purpose consumer empowerment to recognize and exercise rights that protect their wellbeing. Faiz Rasool, Head of Programs, GAIN, addressing the legal fraternity said that the current nutrition crisis cannot be tackled by using a single approach but needed a multi-pronged strategy. He stated “We need to use multiple approaches as ten years ago a single serving of food such as spinach had enough nutrients to fulfil a person’s daily requirements but today we would need more than 80 servings to receive similar nutritional value from food, as the nutritional value of food itself has dropped drastically. Additionally, cooking and other food handling measures further reduce the nutritional value of food. He said that Lawyers have a vital role to play and want to work in collaboration with lawyers to help improve the nutritional status of our country. He appreciated the efforts of TheNetwork in empowering female lawyers on the food regulatory framework. Dr. Maria Ahmad Qureshi, a public health expert, shared the current nutritional situation of Pakistan. Quoting figures from National Nutritional Survey 2018 she said that 40% or 12 million children under the age of five are stunted whereas 29% are underweight and 17.7% are affected by wasting due to malnutrition. She said that micronutrient deficiencies are also predominant with more than 50% children affected by vitamin A deficiency, 62% by vitamin D deficiency along with various other essential vitamins and minerals. Nearly 28.6% of children are facing Iron deficiency and 18.6% are victims of zinc deficiency. Children living in rural areas need more attention as they were more malnourished compared to children residing in urban areas. A large number of women 79.7% are afflicted by vitamin D deficiency with 27% are victims of vitamin A deficiency. She said that fortification of staple foods such as wheat, milk oil & ghee and salt to increase their nutritional value is the most cost-effective and globally tested strategy to reduce micronutrient deficiencies. In Rawalpindi bar there are more than 4,000 members. Over 500 of them are female lawyers. Farzana Aziz, Joint Secretary High Court, Rawalpindi, chief guest, of the event thanked TheNetwork for organizing the activity which will help and empower them in understanding the perspective of consumer protection. She said that in the end we all are consumers and can get our due rights by using relevant forums and laws. She appreciated the efforts of TheNetwork. She further said that the lawyer community is your partner in the fight against malnutrition and will fully support the initiatives of TheNetwork in eradicating malnutrition. At the end of the ceremony, certificates were distributed among the participants.