Call for gender-responsive policies for climate action

Lok Virsa holds 15th Annual Rural Women Conference in federal capital

ISLAMABAD:

Speakers at the 15th Annual Rural Women Conference urged the government to structure gender responsive policies to meet the challenges posed by climate change.

They spoke at the 15th Annual Rural Women Conference organised by Potohar Organization for Development Advocacy – Pakistan (PODA) with a focus on “Rural Women’s Leadership in Disaster Risk Reduction and Good Governance”.

Speaking on the occasion, Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal said that Pakistan is planning to hold an international donor conference to get resources to expedite the reconstruction work in flood-hit areas of the country as it is beyond our resources.

During his address to a big gathering of rural women representing over 120 districts of Pakistan present at Lok Virsa in the federal capital, the federal planning minister also said that Pakistan bore the brunt of careless life style of the Western countries due to which Pakistan has been among the countries who would be impacted severely by climate change. Iqbal also applauded the role of the civil society for playing their role in rehabilitation process. He assured the audience that gender perspective would be included in the rehabilitation plan.

Earlier, addressing the rural women representing four provinces and regions of Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, the Federal Minister for Human Rights Mian Riaz Hussain Pirzada said, “Although we belong to a society where women are respected, however due to growing intolerance and various other factors I will be presenting domestic violence’s bill in the National Assembly as it was scheduled in Thursday’s assembly agenda.”

Reiterating European Union Delegation to Pakistan’s commitment to support women’s rights and empowerment, Sven Ruesch, Director Programmes, European Union Delegation to Pakistan said, “85% of all new EU programmes will have a strong focus on contributing to improve gender-equality.

Overall women’s participation in decision-making process at home and community level is low. If we want this to change, your voices need to heard loud and clear to claim your rights but also get a fair share of the wealth.”

Meanwhile, welcoming the rural women and lauding the effort of PODA-Pakistan to organise the conference in the times of floods and political turmoil, Nilofer Bakhtiar, Chairperson National Commission on the Status of Women highlighted the miseries of the women of flood-hit areas, especially of Sindh where flood waters would months to recede. She stressed on the need to empower and support rural women to build their resilience to reverse the impacts of natural calamities in an effective manner.

Dr Shahida Rehmani, MNA and Secretary Women Parliamentary Caucus (WPC) and Dr Zarina Salamat, Chairperson, PODA highlighted the need to recognise the role of rural women while acknowledging their diverse and impactful roles and contributions in the society. Dr Zarina said that the policymakers should devise practical solutions to focus on the education needs of the children of the flood-hit areas.

Earlier, welcoming the participants, Reema Aftab, Director General, Inclusive Registration, National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) said CNIC is primary and basic requirement for women to play their role in the society to access social benefits and their rights.

PODA is a social organisation working for the social, economic and political rights of rural women since 2004. The three-day Annual Rural Women Conference, which started on Thursday, will be concluded tomorrow [Saturday] on award ceremony. Primary partners of the 3-day conference are: European Union Delegation to Pakistan, Election Commission of Pakistan, NADRA, Lok Virsa, National Endowment for Democracy.

It should be relevant to mention here that Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai is in Pakistan to focus world attention on the flood-hit areas and is currently visiting Sindh urging the world to focus on the education needs of the children of the areas devastated by the current unprecedented flood.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 14^th, 2022.