ISLAMABAD, Aug 12 (APP): Speaker National Assembly, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq on Monday said the path to sustainable and inclusive development sans women empowerment and gender equality was elusive whereas the Parliament of Pakistan had championed critical legislation barring gender violence and supporting women empowerment in the country.
In his keynote address at the inaugural session of the two-day meeting of the Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development (AFPPD) on ‘Gender Empowerment and Green Economy’, the Speaker underscored that the presence of high-level dignitaries depicted great leadership and partnership of regional parliamentarians in achieving gender equality and women empowerment goals.
As many as 15 Asian countries’ parliamentarians and others from Pakistan, diplomatic community, high level political figures, government officials, international non-governmental organisations (INGOs), members of international donor organisations, and academia participated the event.
Speaker National Assembly, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq lauded PM’s aide Romina Khurshid Alam for her tireless efforts in organizing the international meeting with a very timely and pertinent agenda synchronized with the national sustainable development goals.
The parliament of Pakistan has played a crucial role in ensuring well guided legislation on gender equality, reproductive health, and established women caucus, youth parliamentarians committee, and other parliamentary forums for inclusive engagement of all stakeholders in policy making initiatives, he added.
“The Parliament of Pakistan became the first public building for securing net metering license to promote green economy and renewables. The Speaker National Assembly’s residence and the Parliament building were first converted over solar energy when there was no public building with solar power in the country,” he mentioned.
Pakistan, he said, had prepared billions of rupees project for solarization of Balochistan that would not only help reduce power leakages, but also ensure renewable energy rollout in the biggest province of the country by territory.
“Climate Change is a present reality affecting our day-to-day life. We are disproportionately affected due to increased intensity of disasters and violence against gender in the aftermath of climate catastrophes. The 2022 floods alone rendered $30billion in infrastructure losses and numerous precious lives lost in the devastation deluge,” Speaker Ayaz Sadiq said.
He underlined that women lack equal access to resources like land and finance despite generating 80% of the food globally, whereas the Parliament of Pakistan was mulling over a dedicated committee to look after women rights and development status across the country.
“Women have equal representation in parliamentary bodies where they are slightly performing well. However, there is zero tolerance against objectional language against women and any other parliamentarian in the legislature,” he said.
He added that green economy was the pathway to economic justice and societal resilience and women were the stewards of environment and green initiatives at household levels. “We will use parliament’s forum for youth and gender empowerment,” he vowed.
In her welcome remarks, Prime Minister’s Coordinator for Climate Change and Environmental Coordination, Romina Khurshid Alam said the forum was a unique opportunity to redefine the region’s approach towards sustainable development.
Green development, she said was a transformation which was not possible without addressing societal inequalities mainly gender imbalance and women discrimination.
“It’s imperative to recognize women’s dual role as the most impacted due to climate change and the main driver of sustainable development. We will have to move towards more equitable and sustainable society,” she added.
Romina Khurshid highlighted that Pakistan has developed a new reformed agenda under its green vision with out of the box initiatives like Living Indus Initiative and Recharge Pakistan.
Recharge Pakistan, she said, involved women through training and employing for managing wetlands. “Pakistan is working on managing GLOFs, integrated resource management, climate smart agriculture that are generating millions of jobs particularly for women in the rural areas,” she added.
The legacy of late Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto for the AFPPD forum held in Cairo 1994 served as a proactive policy for Pakistan, she added. “When women are empowered then communities are more resilient. It’s our duty to legislate and ensure opportunities for women in green economy. Our government is working to provide education for women to benefit green economy. Pakistan is committed to play active role in this regional dialogue,” she said.
Secretary General, AFPPD, Dr Jetn Siranthranont and Member of the Parliament, Thailand in his special remarks said the Assembly of AFPPD have been playing an active role in SDGs implementation role with a priority focus on gender equality which was not the fundamental need of human life but also crucial for sustainable development and green society.
He added that traditional stereotypes were leading to gender inequalities for women and special groups, whereas countries with greater gender equality perform well in the development goals. “Gender equality and women empowerment are a catalyst to development. Women in politics, economy, gender equality and other areas need equal representation and Thailand has developed great models in this regard,” he added.
Minister of State for Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan, Toshiko Abe in her guest remarks said the ICPD programme of action and sustainable development goals (SDGs) 2030 agenda could not be achieved without gender equality and women empowerment.
“Worldwide gender equality and diversity are recognized as beneficial for economy and departments. But women lack role in decision making forums globally, whereas access to education and girls’ empowerment is important,” Abe underscored.
She added that the Asia Pacific region made progress in addressing gender equality but it was uneven. However, the AFPPD has important role in gender equality improvement through better legislations in the member states, she said.
Deputy Representative UNFPA Pakistan, Latika Maskey Pradhan said since the member states and partner orgnanisations were celebrating 30 years of Cairo Programme framework of ICPD 1994, the crises and risks indicated then were still relevant as girls and women still faced violence and discrimination in different areas of life.
“Investing in youth, women education, skill development, and economic empowerment of women is essential for enhancing women’s autonomy and role in decision making which is the only roadmap for leaving no one behind,” Pradhan said.
In her closing remarks, Dr Tabinda Sarosh, interim CEO Pathfinder said women vulnerability in the frame of climate change was growing as 2022 Floods alone affected over 600,000 pregnant women. “Today is the international day of youth and the independence day is also ahead. We vow to increase our preparedness in enhancing resilience of women with active youth engagement,” she added.
