Government of Pakistan is currently under a number of reporting obligations such Universal Periodic Review, UN core Human Rights Conventions and GSP+. Whilst these obligations are independent, there is a degree of overlap in terms of the subject matter being reported on. There is currently a mechanism in place, in the form of Treaty Implementation Cells (TICs), which aims to enable the federal and provincial governments to effectively implement ratified conventions and to report regularly on the progress being made.
In accordance with the above, TICs have been established in each of the four provinces. These TICs are constituted of provincial Line Departments, with one such Line Department heading each TIC. Currently these bodies work under the Ministry of Commerce and conduct a monitoring, oversight and coordination role in relation to treaty implementation and reporting requirements.
The general Terms of Reference for the provincial TICs focus on (i) the formulation of effective mechanisms for the implementation of the ratified conventions; (ii) the development of protocols for provincial Line Departments to document the implementation progress; (iii) the provision of support and guidance to the relevant Line Departments to formulate standardised reporting templates and to generate reports; (iv) the coordination with the respective Line Departments to collect and compile reporting data; and (v) the formation of a liaison mechanism with the relevant Federal Ministries (Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Law, Foreign Office) for reporting and monitoring.