Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif reaffirmed his commitment to gender equality on Saturday said that women’s empowerment could only be achieved by providing equal access to education, the development of skills and employment opportunities.
“It is our mission and an unwavering commitment to guarantee the emancipation of the country’s female population,” he said in his speech here in an event of the International Women’s Day, marked worldwide in 8th Marche to celebrate women’s achievements and call their rights.
Prominent women of various fields, including Cabinet members, legislators, businessmen and activists, joined the event in the Prime Minister’s Chamber, which was organized by the Ministry of Human Rights and the National Women’s State Commission (NCSW) in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
The Prime Minister, on the occasion, launched the first gender parity report of the capital prepared by NCSW and UNFPA, which identifies challenges and recommends solutions in key areas such as education, health, governance, political representation and justice.
Prime Minister Sharif said his government would collaborate with the provinces for collective action to promote the integration of women into programs that contribute to the national economy.
He announced to establish a endowment for working women in an attempt to support working women and help them compete with contemporary challenges.
He described the empowerment package of prime minister’s women as a “revolutionary step to eliminate discrimination against women” in areas of employment and to make special provisions to provide facilities with men with men.
“Our population of women of fifty percent can become a productive workforce if a level game field is given,” he said.
To facilitate working women, he stressed that the nursery centers were established in public and private departments in Islamabad, with a plan to further expand the scope of the facilities.
The prime minister regretted that a large number of women highly qualified in the country stop professional careers in their struggle to balance work and families, which resulted in a great loss of qualified human resources.
“My message to educated [women] The segment is to present and join hospitals, banks and other professions of their experience to contribute positively to the national economy, ”he said.
Prime Minister Sharif paid tribute to the country’s female champions, who played a prominent role in the configuration of the female empowerment landscape.
In This Regard, I have particularly named the leading Women of Pakistan Movement Fatima Jinnah and Begm Raa’na Liaquat Ali Khan, Benazir Bhutto As The First Woman Prime Minist of Pakistan and The Muslim World, Begm Nusrat Bhutto and Begm Kulsum Nawaz As Icons of Resistance Against Dictorship, Social Workers Bilquis Edhi and Dr Ruth Pfau, Lawyer Astma Jahangir, the youngest IT expert in the country, Arfa Karim, former president of the National Assembly, Dr. Fehmid Judge of the Supreme Court, Ayesha Malik.
“These ‘daughters of the nation’ are a notable symbol of the empowerment of women who left their mark on their respective fields,” he said.
Shehbaz Sharif recalled the steps taken for the emancipation of women during the first holdings of their party in power, including the establishment of the first anti-violence centers of Punjab for women, an improved fee of women in the joints of the government departments, the increase in stipendy for the students of the girls and the final child labor in the bricks of the bricks of the bricks in the bricks of the bricks. In schools.
The Minister of Law, Justice and Human Right, Azam Nazeer, Tarar, said that in line with the directive of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the ministries and departments had been commissioned last year to guarantee women’s policies. The initiative, he said, successfully led to a greater proportion of the representation of women in the departmental boards.
He pointed out that Pakistan held 145 of 146 countries in the global gender gap index, together with Afghanistan, which “did not reflect a real image and was contrary to earthly reality.” He asked the relevant organizations to review the classification and expressed the preparation of the government to share the required data.
The UN resident coordinator, Mohamed Yahya, said the UN promised to support Pakistan to achieve the 2030 sustainable development objectives related to the gender action plan.
He said that gender equality should be recognized not as a specific issue of women, but as a human problem. The launch of the Islamabad gender parity report is significant to identify the challenges that need more attention, he added.
The president of the Special Committee on Gender, Dr. Nafisa Shah said that the representation of women in several government agencies and departments remained below the target reference point of 33 percent. She described that her representation was essential for effective governance and a formulation of soft policies.
President NCSW Umme-E-Laila spoke about the situation of Pakistan’s gender parity, saying that women were breaking barriers in multiple sectors. As empowerment steps, he highlighted the launch of pink buses for traveled women exclusively and the ‘Women on Wheels’ project that provided women’s skills for their easy and independent mobility.
President of the Pakistan Security Stock Exchange Commission (SECP) AKIF SAEED said that under the prime minister’s women’s empowerment package, the SECP had the task of nominating private companies that had implemented family policies in their workplace. He said that companies would serve as models to follow in promoting a safe work environment.
The prime minister awarded the family awards to 10 best private companies, including Alpha Beta Core solutions, Arfa Karim Technology Incubator, Aviation Mro, Blink Capital, Funverks Global, Gift Educational, Kistpay, Laiba Enterprises, Ladies Fund Energy and Li & Fung Pakistan.
The awards were based on an online survey and a scoring matrix prepared by SECP in collaboration with the UN women and the Pakistan Business Council. More than 230 companies participated in the survey launched in 2024, of which 10 were preselected through a transparent process.
