Women Day event in Presidency

Islamabad:The Ministry of Human Rights, in collaboration with UN Women and the EU in Pakistan, celebrated the achievements made by Pakistani women at an event organized to commemorate International Women’s Day at the Presidency on Monday.

The event served as an occasion to celebrate the progress made towards the protection and promotion of women’s rights in Pakistan, and evaluate future steps required to foster and ensure greater female empowerment and gender equality in the country. President Arif Alvi was the chief guest on the occasion.

The event acknowledged the achievements of female trailblazers from diverse backgrounds, who were invited to speak about their experiences, accomplishments and the obstacles that they have faced as women in various career fields in Pakistan. This included Fehmida Mirza, currently serving as Federal Minister of Inter-Provincial Coordination. Fehmida Mirza has the distinction of being the first and only woman Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan between March 2008 and June 2013. The other female trailblazers who participated at the event included Zubedia Jalal, Minister for Defence Production; Rukhshanda Naz, Ombudsperson for KP Protection Against Harassment of Women at Workplace; Reem Sharif, the first Transgender police officer in Pakistan; Zara Naeem, the ACCA exam topper; and Erum Baloch, a young athlete from Jacobabad in Sindh.

In her address, Federal Minister for Human Rights Dr. Shireen Mazari spoke about the work of the Ministry of Human Rights in supporting the cause of female empowerment and gender equality in Pakistan. “MoHR has focused on strengthening legislation, improving institutional mechanisms for implementation, and increasing awareness amongst the general population about relevant laws, to promote and protect the rights of women and girls in Pakistan.