Pledge for parity: International Women’s Day sends city into overdrive

CM Pervez Khattak says hostel for working women to be handed over to social welfare department

PESHAWAR:

At least 19 events were held in the city in connection with International Women’s Day on Tuesday. A majority of these sessions were organised by NGOs and political parties.

A ceremony was organised for International Women’s Day at the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly. Lawmakers cut a cake to commemorate the occasion and set pigeons free to mark women’s struggle for freedom.

According to a handout, Chief Minister Pervez Khattak addressed a gathering at CM’s Secretariat to mark the occasion.



“In order to protect the rights of women, a women’s empowerment policy has been approved,” the handout quoted him as saying.



He added a hostel will be set up for working women in the province. “The social welfare department will be given access to this hostel on June 30,” the document cited Khattak as saying.

Talking points

A session was organised at Archives Hall by parents of students who lost their lives in the Army Public School attack on December 16, 2014. The event was organised in collaboration with a large number of NGOs and organisations working for women’s rights.

Awami National Party and Qaumi Watan Party also held similar sessions across the city.



A seminar was held at Peshawar Press Club to commemorate International Women’s Day. The event was organised by Blue Veins, an NGO, in collaboration of Aurat Foundation and USAID. A large number of women who worked at civil courts and Peshawar High Court attended the seminar. Syed Mukhtar Bacha, the provincial president of National Party, Tribal NGOs Consortium Chairperson Zar Ali Khan, Sikh elder Radesh Singh Tony and Fata representative Toor Gul Chamkani attended the session.

A heated discussion was held regarding discriminatory laws, indifference shown towards women in various government and private institutions, and the media’s policies in this regard. Speakers urged parliamentarians to revisit all existing laws and ensure they are at par with global standards and human rights.

According to the speakers, laws have been manipulated by the rulers in the past, leaving women at a disadvantage.

Women in FATA

Chamkani said changes were needed in the existing [governance] system in the tribal belt; there was a need to provide an impetus for women to excel in their respective fields.

“How can we expect women in tribal areas to fight for their rights when men in Fata are living like slaves?”

However, Chamkani said the situation was changing in recent times as many girls from Fata are getting an education.

“[Girls from Fata] are gradually becoming aware of their legal and constitutional rights,” he said. “Unless reforms are introduced in the existing system in Fata – as it has in the rest of the country – we cannot expect widespread change.”

Published in The Express Tribune, March 9^th, 2016.