Despite some government measures, vulnerable groups in Pakistan including women, children and religious, ethnic and tribal minorities struggle to access information and assert their rights in a patriarchal society. In March 2009, Crown Agents was chosen by the European Commission under the Multi-Annual Indicative Programme (MIP) 2007-10 with the aim of designing a full Formulation Mission.
Over the course of four weeks, the Crown Agents team aimed to validate the proposals produced by the Identification Mission; establish in detail the exact aims, outputs, methods and scope of the programme and secure stakeholder support for the programme's objectives. In order to meet this aim, the team conducted an extensive review of available literature, made a number of field visits to Lahore, Karachi and Rawalpindi and held numerous interviews with representatives from the government, the judiciary, donors, the media and civil society groups.
The final comprehensive design had a strong emphasis on improving awareness amongst the vulnerable, strengthening civil society capacity and increasing the ability of formal justice providers.