A live painting competition under the theme of ‘Women Move Mountains’ marked the opening of the two-week-long Pakistan Mountain Festival (PMF) on Thursday at the Fatima Jinnah Women University.
According to a statement, as many as 36 students enthusiastically participated in the live painting competition.
The participants painted mountain women’s struggle in combating real-life challenges under changing weather conditions, their role in mountain ecosystem conservation, and the cultural heritage of the northern parts of Pakistan, read the statement.
They depicted the impact of climate change on life in the mountains.
The festival is an annual flagship event of the Development Communications Network (Devcom-Pakistan) to commemorate the International Mountains Day which falls on December 11.
Speaking on the occasion, Devcom-Pakistan Executive Director and founder of Pakistan Mountain Festival Munir Ahmed said mountain women play a key role in environmental protection and social and economic development in mountain areas. They are often the primary managers of mountain resources, guardians of biodiversity, keepers of traditional knowledge, custodians of local culture and experts in traditional medicine, he said. Somehow, mountain women’s potential and contribution to conservation is undermined, he added.
He said mountain women’s climate resilience shall be the focus to empower them to face emerging challenges. Increasing climate variability, lack of investment in mountain agriculture and rural development has often pushed men to migrate elsewhere in search of alternative livelihoods, he said, adding that women have therefore taken on many tasks formerly done by men, yet mountain women are often invisible due to a lack of decision-making power and unequal access to resources.
To bring about real change toward sustainable development, it is important to engage in gender transformative change, he said. We need to empower mountain women so they can participate more effectively in decision-making processes and have more control over productive resources, he added.
The founder said by sharing excellence, opportunities and capacity development in mountains, the day can promote gender equality and therefore contribute to improving social justice, livelihoods and resilience.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 2nd, 2022.
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