November 2, 2020 – Islamabad: Street Vendors, have remained an integral part of the urban economy around the world. In this context, PIDE organized a webinar in which a number of experts spoke about the context in which the street vending legislation is being developed in Pakistan. Experts included Zia Banday, Development Consultant & Initiator of Street Vendors Protection Project; Ahmed Bashir, Author of Street Vendors’ Protection Bill from Ahmed Bashir & Associates Law Firm; Umer Gilani from Law & Policy Chambers Firm; and Naveed Abbasi President, Khokha Association Islamabad. Experts and advocates talked about the need for comprehensive legislation. Vice Chancellor PIDE Dr. Nadeem-ul-Haque moderated the session. SAPM Dr. Sania Nishtar had been invited to keynote the webinar. Addressing the keynote, Dr. Nishtar said, “We had an initial consultation on the subject in March 2020 following which COVID-19 overtook everything but now we are resuming this dialogue. PASSD will work very closely with PIDE to bring this legislative bill for the protection of street vendors and to channel this bill in the government system.” She also termed this as a very important area for empowering the urban poor.