Member National Assembly Syeda Nosheen Iftikhar has expressed the need for better legislation, laws and sensitization to address women-related issues. 

She was speaking at a session titled “Women at the Center of Development Agenda” held during the Third Regional Seminar for the Asia-Pacific Region Parliaments on Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The two-day event is jointly organized by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the National Assembly of Pakistan.

Nosheen said Asia-Pacific region countries had made significant progress in creating legal and policy frameworks that support gender equality. Women, she added, were required at the decision-making level because they were not less committed than their male counterparts in terms of performing their duties with responsibility, hard work and dedication.

She said that regional governments had achieved progress in women's empowerment in areas such as social protection programmes, increased economic empowerment, increased participation in public life, and improved health outcomes.

"Women's literacy has also improved in the region, although gaps still exist in leadership, employment, health, and education. We still have a long way to go and address the rural-urban divide," she said.

The global proportion of women parliamentarians, Nosheen said, had increased by 0.6 percentage points to reach 26.1% according to the IPU’s latest report Women in Parliament in 2021.

She said the right of women to participate in political and democratic decision-making processes is enshrined in international treaties such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Beijing Declaration and the Platform for Action.

Nosheen said that many challenges continued to hamper progress on the Goal-05: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. Many women continued to be restricted in their ability to engage in economic and social activities outside of the home due to discriminatory norms and practices, mobility restrictions, and heavy household responsibilities, she added.

This hindered their chances of achieving financial security, autonomy in decision-making, and personal development, she said.

She said no country had made economic and social progress without empowering its women and added that China and Bangladesh offered good examples of how women had developed their societies.

Federal Ombudsman, Chairperson, Kashmala Tariq said women had turned the economies of many countries. Developing countries could achieve the same by providing equal opportunities to women and urged the IPU to ensure the inclusion of women in its resolutions and more and more representation in all spheres.

"The world has changed. Now right is might, not might is right," she said.

The Parliament of Pakistan, she said realised the importance of the participation of women parliamentarians in the legislative process. It was keen to legislate to promote and protect women's rights and address the obstacles faced by women in the country, she added.

The representatives from Iran and Maldives also agreed on the effective role of parliament to empower women.

The session focused on the importance of establishing mechanisms and procedures to mainstream the SDGs in parliament’s work in a comprehensive manner.

The session also focused on understanding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and women and identified the root causes of discrimination that curtailed women’s rights.

The National Assembly of Pakistan presented a case study on its cross-party Women’s Parliamentary Caucus, which has become an international good practice, replicated in over a dozen other parliaments as well as in provincial and regional legislatures.

 Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk