Nighat Aziz is an advisor at the Pakistani-German Facilitation and Reintegration Centre (PGFRC) and the central contact person for women and persons in need. Together with the centre's partner organisations, she addresses their specific requirements.

The woman who recently asked Nighat Aziz for support had lived abroad with her family for more than 20 years. "But because of the Corona pandemic, the husband lost his job and the family suddenly became destitute." With her three children, the woman returned to Pakistan and turned to the PGFRC. Aziz, who focuses on counselling women and people in need, supported her reintegration in Pakistan. She referred the returnee to organisations that, among other things, provided her with psychosocial support. At the PGFRC, the woman learned how to write a CV and master job interviews. Through the Hashoo Foundation, she also took part in a training course on how to start a business.

Independence as a big challenge

"Education and training both are crucial to the reintegration into Pakistani society after returning home," says Aziz. Before becoming an advisor at the PGFRC, she worked in human resource development and career counselling for almost 15 years. She also introduced rules against sexual harassment in a large hospital in Islamabad and trained more than 3,000 staff members on the issue. She knows that it is a great challenge for women in Pakistan to be socially and economically independent.

In Aziz's experience, female returnees have a special need for support, especially in the area of mental health. According to the advisor, the women first have to come to terms with their experiences. Many of them had difficulties settling in Germany or another country they migrated to. This feeling can be so overwhelming that the women make drastic decisions: "In one case, a woman had applied for asylum in Germany to escape domestic violence in Pakistan. But she found life there so difficult that she eventually returned to her husband."