The Advocacy, Research, Training & Services (ARTS) Foundation is a non-profit civil society organization in Pakistan, established in 2008. It aims to empower marginalized groups, including women, girls, and youth, through advocacy, research, training, and service delivery. The foundation works to promote fundamental rights, influence policy, and create community-based organizations by providing services such as capacity building, legal support, and emergency relief.
Core activities and goals
Empowerment: Focuses on empowering women, girls, youth, and children in rural and marginalized areas.
Advocacy and rights: Promotes and protects fundamental rights through advocacy, lobbying, and creating awareness about constitutional rights.
Community building: Supports and strengthens local community groups and networks.
Capacity building: Provides training, and capacity building for individuals and organizations, including vocational and life skills training for women.
Research: Conducts research to provide evidence and arguments to support its cause and initiatives.
Service delivery: Offers direct services, such as establishing “Safe Spaces” for women and girls, assisting with access to national identity cards and social safety nets, and providing emergency response.
Key initiatives
Safe Spaces: Established “Safe Spaces” to help women, girls, and children overcome trauma and address violence-related issues.
Access to rights: Works to increase access to essential services like National Identity Cards, voter registration, and social protection programs.
Emergency response: Engages in emergency response, such as flood response and COVID-19 support efforts.
Vocational training: Implements projects to provide vocational and life skills training to women, connecting them to micro-finance and service providers to help them start businesses.