Punjab and UN Hold Gender Equality Policy Dialogue

A policy dialogue on ‘Gender Equality Today for a Sustainable Tomorrow’ that was organized jointly by the South Punjab Secretariat, the Gender Mainstreaming Standing Committee Punjab Assembly, and UN agencies was recently held in Multan.

The agencies included the United Nations Women (UN Women), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Several women working in various fields participated in the dialogue and the Additional Chief Secretary South Punjab, Capt. (Retd.) Saqib Zafar, attended it as the chief guest.

Secretary Board of Revenue South Punjab, Zaheer Abbas; Secretary Primary Healthcare, Tanveer Iqbal Tabassum; Additional Secretary Specialized Healthcare, Amjad Shoaib; UN Women Pakistan Representative, Sharmila Rasool; and the UNICEF’s representative, Dr. Tahir Manzoor, addressed the policy dialogue.

The UNFPA’s representative participated via video link.

The Additional Chief Secretary South Punjab said that the importance of the role of women in the development of any country cannot be denied and stressed the need for all the stakeholders to cooperate to establish gender equality in Pakistan.

Capt. (R) Zafar added that women in South Punjab’s rural areas and agricultural sector are hardworking, and assured of the provision of their fundamental rights. He added that full support would be provided to the organizations working for the rights of women in the region.

Chairperson Gender Mainstream Standing Committee, MPA Uzma Kardar, said that the Punjab Assembly has passed dozens of laws for the rights of women but it is necessary to have a policy for their implementation.

She highlighted that every citizen has the basic right to health, education, security of life, clean drinking water, and food.

MPA Kardar also commented that it is high time that the women of South Punjab should be involved in policymaking, and added that the recommendations based on the policy dialogue will be forwarded to the government.

Additional Secretary Specialized Health Care South Punjab raised an important issue and said that while open merit and talent allows women to avail of 70 percent of the seats in medical colleges, 80 percent of female doctors do not work professionally after getting their MBBS degrees.

He added that only 20 percent of female doctors join their field, and the situation wastes a lot of national resources. Furthermore, recommendations should be made for the policy dialogue for reforms in the admission of male and female students in medical colleges, he said.