- The Aurat Foundation, established in 1987, is a women’s rights and advocacy organization with a particular focus on women’s political participation. The Foundation works in collaboration with civil society organizations and outreaches to all of the districts. It also has a network of information focal points for women at the community level.
In 1999-2000, in response to the government’s decision to distribute land to the peasants, the Foundation initiated a signature campaign that asked for: the inclusion of women in government’s land distribution schemes; the enforcement of inheritance laws and registration of property in the name of women; legislation to ensure that women’s share in all properties and assets acquired by spouses after marriage be legally recognized and secured; and the redistribution of available arable land to landless peasants ensuring that half the recipients be women or have joint title deeds with men (14). http://www.af.org.pk/mainpage.htm

- Pattan Tarraqiati Tanzeem works on women’s land rights with the river based communities of south Punjab. The organization was particularly involved with the rehabilitation of flood affected people following the flood of 1992. In this regard, the Pattan Tarragiati Tanzeem managed to get official funds for the repair of flood destroyed homes to be given jointly to male and female heads of households (14).

- Roots for Equity, established in 1997, is an organization working in raising awareness about women’s land rights in the villages of Sindh. It has conducted research on globalization and its impact on women, especially female workers in sunflower farms in Sindh region (14).

A new local government system was installed in 2001 with the aim of decentralizing governance. The system has three levels of local government: i. district/zila ii. tehsil/town and iii. union. There are 117 districts including 4 city districts, 358 tehsils, 62 towns in City Districts and 6 139 unions.

Zila, Tehsil/Town and Union Councils approve bye-laws and local taxes proposed by the respective administrations. They also approve long term and short term development plans and budgetary proposals (23).

Union councils are often known as village councils in rural areas. Headed by a union nazim/mayor, each union council has 13 elected members or councillors: four male and two female members; two male and two female representatives of the labour; and a minority member (24).

- The Poverty Alleviation Action Fund (PAAF), sponsored by the Government and funded by the World Bank and other donors, targets vulnerable rural and urban communities, with an emphasis on the empowerment of women. PAAF focuses on improving the lives of women by ensuring that community projects and loans respond to their priorities. As of 2005, PAAF was working with 56 partner organizations in 96 districts. Over 100 000 community members and staff of partner organizations have participated in trainings facilitated by the PAAF (25).

- The Institute of Rural Management (IRM) of the National Rural Support Programme (NRSP) serves as the training wing of all the Rural Support Programmes (RSPs). The outreach of the Institute extends to almost 76 Districts. The IRM carries out training programmes which include natural resource management, vocational and occupational training and community management skills training. IRM training programmes are also conducted for the staff of the Rural Support Programmes RSPs, of government departments and for elected government officials (26).