The ministry is headed by Khalil Francis, the Minister for Human Rights, while A.D Khowaja serves as the Federal Secretary.

Then, with a limited budget, the ministry worked on a case-by-case basis only seeking help from donor agencies to expand its activity.

According to an assessment by the United States Department of State the ministry was however not perceived as effective by human rights observers which noted specifically that the Pakistani government had failed to take follow-up action on the 1997 report of the Commission of Inquiry for Women.

Shortly after his appointment minister Alam Gillani had also announced that a task force consisting of journalists, civil society activists and social workers would be formed on district and divisional levels to address human rights violations cases and also that separate courts for human rights would also be established at district levels.

[6] Furthermore, the ministry had announced that it is preparing a new law which will form the basis for work to shed light in the fate of potentially thousands of citizens who have gone missing, and according to human rights activists, may have been taken away by security and intelligence services during Pakistan's seven-year War on Terror.